Murray speaks out about Heatley trade request

The Guy With The Mustache wrote:

shabbs wrote:Has he been traded yet?

No?

Dammit.

C'mon!

Are trades allowed to happen yet?

Who's the guy who started this "no trades allowed in the NHL until 10 days after the Stanley Cup Final"?

I'm doubting it. I can only think of two times in the season for sure when players can't be traded -- 1) during the holiday roster freeze, when no player from any team can be traded; and 2) during the period from the trade deadline to the end of the player's team's season.

I just ran a word search on "trade" in the CBA. The above two ideas are discussed in passing. This issue that trades are restricted during the playoffs between teams who aren't competing, however, is not mentioned anywhere.

I've heard the rumour before, however, that the NHL really hates it when NHL clubs do anything significant during the playoffs because it takes attention away from the main event. That's an argument I get, but I don't think it's set down in positive terms in the CBA.

DW, you say there is a rumour that the agent is furious from being blindsided by this. Yet the Bryan Murray interview that DTR has posted on the "Who blinks first" thread states that it was the agent who leaked the story. Of course Heatley has more than one agent, so it could be internal strife.

What a diddling mess...

wprager wrote:DW, you say there is a rumour that the agent is furious from being blindsided by this. Yet the Bryan Murray interview that DTR has posted on the "Who blinks first" thread states that it was the agent who leaked the story. Of course Heatley has more than one agent, so it could be internal strife.

Remember this is just a rumor. Unlike Eklund I don't hold much stock in it, I hear tonnes of rumors, however this one was told to me by staff member of another NHL team. For what it's worth I believe (don't quote me on it as I'm not 100% sure) that Heatley has a couple of agents, McAlpine is the one we are all aware of, but the other name mentioned to me was J.P. Barry. If someone knows if this is true then maybe the rumor is a little more solid.

I'm hearing all sorts of interesting things...one urban myth has some teenager standing in a store out west pointing at Heatley. When asked what he was doing, the kid replied "I'm pointing the finger at you, are you going to run away now!"

While I can almost guarantee that it isn't true, it's still funny as hell.

DW

On another note, does anyone know where if at all in Ottawa a person can see the new 'UP' movie in 3D. I have a 7 and 5 year old that wants to see it in 3D as I couldn't get them to a theatre close to our house in burbs in Chicago that showed it in 3D.

cas wrote:

PKC wrote:

cas wrote:I'm 90% certain that a TON of this has to do with Heatley not wanting to play next to Spezza anymore. I'm telling you: I could see it when they were at the World's.

Then Diddle him, good riddance.

Let me make it clear that the following isn't the reason why I believe Heatley doesn't want to keep playing with Spezza. In fact I've believed that since the initial skid of 2007-08 after that blazing 16-3 start.

Anyways, if you look at the timing of these events, it kind of supports my theory: Murray throws his support behind Spezza. Heatley demands a trade.

I'm not saying its the whole issue and I'm sure there's an aspect of the relationship with Clouston that comes into play, but I've watched the dynamic between the two for so long and its been this gradual slide away from comfort and success to unease and failure.

I won't put a guarantee behind it or anything, but its something to think about.

As I pointed out in the "who blinks" thread, the "Spezza staying" article was published only one day prior to Heatley's agent calling Murray and asking for a trade.

I am positive that this is a primary reason for the request.

Dawg's Wife wrote:
Remember this is just a rumor. Unlike Eklund I don't hold much stock in it, I hear tonnes of rumors, however this one was told to me by staff member of another NHL team. For what it's worth I believe (don't quote me on it as I'm not 100% sure) that Heatley has a couple of agents, McAlpine is the one we are all aware of, but the other name mentioned to me was J.P. Barry. If someone knows if this is true then maybe the rumor is a little more solid.

I'm hearing all sorts of interesting things...one urban myth has some teenager standing in a store out west pointing at Heatley. When asked what he was doing, the kid replied "I'm pointing the finger at you, are you going to run away now!"

While I can almost guarantee that it isn't true, it's still funny as hell.

DW

On another note, does anyone know where if at all in Ottawa a person can see the new 'UP' movie in 3D. I have a 7 and 5 year old that wants to see it in 3D as I couldn't get them to a theatre close to our house in burbs in Chicago that showed it in 3D.

For sure JP Barry is his agent as well - he uses both McAlpine and Barry.

cas wrote:

cas wrote:

PKC wrote:

cas wrote:I'm 90% certain that a TON of this has to do with Heatley not wanting to play next to Spezza anymore. I'm telling you: I could see it when they were at the World's.

Then Diddle him, good riddance.

Let me make it clear that the following isn't the reason why I believe Heatley doesn't want to keep playing with Spezza. In fact I've believed that since the initial skid of 2007-08 after that blazing 16-3 start.

Anyways, if you look at the timing of these events, it kind of supports my theory: Murray throws his support behind Spezza. Heatley demands a trade.

I'm not saying its the whole issue and I'm sure there's an aspect of the relationship with Clouston that comes into play, but I've watched the dynamic between the two for so long and its been this gradual slide away from comfort and success to unease and failure.

I won't put a guarantee behind it or anything, but its something to think about.

As I pointed out in the "who blinks" thread, the "Spezza staying" article was published only one day prior to Heatley's agent calling Murray and asking for a trade.

I am positive that this is a primary reason for the request.

Are you saying that Heatley wants out of Ottawa because of Spezza?

I'm saying its a part of his reasoning...

Really, I am not sure Heatley will stumble upon a better setup man, much less a guy who will willingly get in over his head and take on Phaneuf for him....

MurderOnIce wrote:Really, I am not sure Heatley will stumble upon a better setup man, much less a guy who will willingly get in over his head and take on Phaneuf for him....

Not that I want to do a thesis on Spezza right now, but he made Heatley a 50 goal man - to that no one can argue. Without Spezza, Heatley's a 43 goal man tops IMO.

But, perhaps more astonishing is that Spezza was directly responsible for Alfie hitting 43 goals. 43 goals for Alfie - who is one of the elite two-way players in the NHL, but a 40+ goal man? No one would have thought that until Spezza started setting the table for him.

We're not arguing the merits of Spezza as a centre here...
All I'm saying is that maybe Heatley doesn't enjoy playing with Spezza anymore and feels that the real change he needs is a change in his linemates.

He also got a taste of playing with Getzlaf (who's personality is much more similar to Heatley's than is Spezza's) and experienced some significant success in the stats column. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the team at the top of Heatley's list is Anaheim.

SpezDispenser wrote:

MurderOnIce wrote:Really, I am not sure Heatley will stumble upon a better setup man, much less a guy who will willingly get in over his head and take on Phaneuf for him....

Not that I want to do a thesis on Spezza right now, but he made Heatley a 50 goal man - to that no one can argue. Without Spezza, Heatley's a 43 goal man tops IMO.

But, perhaps more astonishing is that Spezza was directly responsible for Alfie hitting 43 goals. 43 goals for Alfie - who is one of the elite two-way players in the NHL, but a 40+ goal man? No one would have thought that until Spezza started setting the table for him.

Whoa whoa, Spezza didnt turn anyone into anything. Heatley and Alfi are still 2 of the best wingers in the game who have shown the ability to get it done on their own. Spezza has not. Spezza has proven to struggle when taken away from one of the two, the other two dont.

Like I said in another thread, it's all good to back the guy now but dont turn him into something he clearly isnt, and thats a top center in this league that makes everyone around him better.

You're theory of Heatley not being a 50 goal guy without Spezza is just basically saying, "if he wasnt on the 1st line, he wouldnt hit 50". Well, probably not. There are a number of guys in the NHL who can get him 50... if he goes to LA with Kopitar that could very well happen.

cas wrote:We're not arguing the merits of Spezza as a centre here...
All I'm saying is that maybe Heatley doesn't enjoy playing with Spezza anymore and feels that the real change he needs is a change in his linemates.

He also got a taste of playing with Getzlaf (who's personality is much more similar to Heatley's than is Spezza's) and experienced some significant success in the stats column. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the team at the top of Heatley's list is Anaheim.

Good news! I'll take Booby Ryan or Corey Perry.

If it's Corey Perry, I want more added. But, realistically, nothing less than Booby (drafted by B.Murray) will do!

Game on!!

So we're all resolved to the fact that the trade demand is partly because of Clouston, partly because of his role on the team, partly because of the fearless wrath of mighty Don effing Brennan, and partly because of something under the covers that we don't know about.

There are two other options to consider here. One is that our team is a mess and Heatley doesn't want to be on a sinking ship, telling Murray he wants to get out of this organization before we go and miss the playoffs for the remaining years of his contract. He wants to win and knows he can't do it in Ottawa. I, for one, don't buy this, but you never know...

The other option that I'm considering is that Murray is slowly, but surely putting an end to the country club atmosphere created by Muckler and Mlakar. I know everyone thinks Mlakar was the greatest executive to set foot in Ottawa, and he is an incredible salesman, but he also had his hands in far too many cookie jars. Together with Mucks, these guys did everything within their power to protect their players from the media and the community. While taking care of the players is part of a well-run organization, I think RAM let it get a little out of control and players started to put themselves above the well-being of the team and the organization. I truly believe that Murray recognized this two years ago and brought it to Eugene's attention. They've now spent the past two years cleaning house, starting with Mucks and now ending with RAM and Heatley. The message is now clear - if you want to play in Ottawa and compete for a Cup, you had better be prepared to work your Donkey off, do what the coach says, and play as a team. Enter guys like Kuba, Gator, Ruutu, exit guys like Schaefer, Corvo, Meszaros, and now Heatley. Less star power, more team players.

This will take a few more years, but we are slowly going to become a world-class TEAM, as opposed to a decent organization with a lot of star power that can win a President's Trophy but Dung the bed when it matters most.

Long story short, the departures of RAM and Heatley this month are, in my opinion, all part of Murray's housecleaning and we're on track for some great years ahead.

Neely4Life wrote:

Whoa whoa, Spezza didnt turn anyone into anything. Heatley and Alfi are still 2 of the best wingers in the game who have shown the ability to get it done on their own. Spezza has not. Spezza has proven to struggle when taken away from one of the two, the other two dont.

Like I said in another thread, it's all good to back the guy now but dont turn him into something he clearly isnt, and thats a top center in this league that makes everyone around him better.

You're theory of Heatley not being a 50 goal guy without Spezza is just basically saying, "if he wasnt on the 1st line, he wouldnt hit 50". Well, probably not. There are a number of guys in the NHL who can get him 50... if he goes to LA with Kopitar that could very well happen.

We'll see this upcoming year. When Spezza/Heatley/Alfie were clicking, they were clicking hardcore. Spezza was at the center of it all (ha ha). I'm interested to see where Heatley goes where he can get those kinds of passes handed to him on a silver platter.

Kopitar? Maybe. Horcoff? No. Thornton? For sure. Spezza? Well, yeah, it happened twice.

Ryan wasn't drafted by Murray.

I hope/think that's the mindset Duffy. I can see that being accurate.