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PKC> interesting thought, for sure, but if one takes a look around the NHL, discerning that 'mystery team' is a headscratcher.
While the bloggers have had a field day, none of the speculation has amounted to more than the proverbial hill of beans.
For example, Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune put the "Heatley to Wild" rumours in context in his article today. This excerpt:
"I cannot make this any clearer. Other than what I reported to you near the Draft, all Dany Heatley/Wild trade rumors you read have been invented out of thin air. Unless something changes, the Wild has not had trade talks with Ottawa in six weeks regarding Heatley. Additionally, the Wild has no interest in Mike Comrie, I’ve been told."
http://blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/wildblog/
There have been enough rumours about where Heatley is going to ensure hockey blog traffic remained 'fully erect' all summer...Lyle Richardson of Spector's Hockey pretty much nailed it, though, when he said the best opportunity to trade Heatley was just before the UFA frenzy.
It really looks like BM and CC will have to live with Dany for a while at least.
On the plus side, Heatley looked pretty good in the Red-White scrimmage the other night. So if he does his job in Ottawa, that should help the Sens in the short term.
If you look beyond Heatley's massaged statements, he seems to have decided the Senators aren't the team he can win a Stanley Cup with...so he probably wants to go to one he thinks will be a contender.
Of course this is 'selfish'...but as so many Sens fans on this Forum have said over and over again, Heatley's an elite player. He wants to play on an elite team. Call it selfish, but many elite pro athletes are selfish.
For the moment, Bryan Murray has what many call an 'albatross contract'. Too expensive and too restrictive to move easily...Mr. Murray having underscored this on several occasions.
It further complicates Mr. Murray's task because he has no cap room right now. The 'favourite source' (according to the GMHockey Member base), CapGeek.com, appears to confirm this. That means no flexiblity to make the trades he might have wanted to, for example, to add blueline depth.
One also wonders how Coach Cory and DH will be able to work together. It's all very well to say "we're all professionals", but the minute things get rough--as they inevitably do in pro sports--will the tensions flare, and the team suffer?
With getting back to the playoffs the presumed objective, team chemistry may be as important as the assembled talent.
Standing back and watching all of this unfold, The Heatley Affair is probably one of the more unusual events to take place over the last several years: "Megastar signs multi-year megacontract, wants out after one season".
Not very pleasant for Senscentrists, but as the ever reasonable Dr. Rooney has pointed out, 'Heatley Hate' won't fix it.
And if the journos were really doing their job instead of pouring gasoline on the fire, they'd tell us who leaked the trade request in the first place...which may have been the single most damaging aspect to Heatley's trade value.
While the bloggers have had a field day, none of the speculation has amounted to more than the proverbial hill of beans.
For example, Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune put the "Heatley to Wild" rumours in context in his article today. This excerpt:
"I cannot make this any clearer. Other than what I reported to you near the Draft, all Dany Heatley/Wild trade rumors you read have been invented out of thin air. Unless something changes, the Wild has not had trade talks with Ottawa in six weeks regarding Heatley. Additionally, the Wild has no interest in Mike Comrie, I’ve been told."
http://blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/wildblog/
There have been enough rumours about where Heatley is going to ensure hockey blog traffic remained 'fully erect' all summer...Lyle Richardson of Spector's Hockey pretty much nailed it, though, when he said the best opportunity to trade Heatley was just before the UFA frenzy.
It really looks like BM and CC will have to live with Dany for a while at least.
On the plus side, Heatley looked pretty good in the Red-White scrimmage the other night. So if he does his job in Ottawa, that should help the Sens in the short term.
If you look beyond Heatley's massaged statements, he seems to have decided the Senators aren't the team he can win a Stanley Cup with...so he probably wants to go to one he thinks will be a contender.
Of course this is 'selfish'...but as so many Sens fans on this Forum have said over and over again, Heatley's an elite player. He wants to play on an elite team. Call it selfish, but many elite pro athletes are selfish.
For the moment, Bryan Murray has what many call an 'albatross contract'. Too expensive and too restrictive to move easily...Mr. Murray having underscored this on several occasions.
It further complicates Mr. Murray's task because he has no cap room right now. The 'favourite source' (according to the GMHockey Member base), CapGeek.com, appears to confirm this. That means no flexiblity to make the trades he might have wanted to, for example, to add blueline depth.
One also wonders how Coach Cory and DH will be able to work together. It's all very well to say "we're all professionals", but the minute things get rough--as they inevitably do in pro sports--will the tensions flare, and the team suffer?
With getting back to the playoffs the presumed objective, team chemistry may be as important as the assembled talent.
Standing back and watching all of this unfold, The Heatley Affair is probably one of the more unusual events to take place over the last several years: "Megastar signs multi-year megacontract, wants out after one season".
Not very pleasant for Senscentrists, but as the ever reasonable Dr. Rooney has pointed out, 'Heatley Hate' won't fix it.
And if the journos were really doing their job instead of pouring gasoline on the fire, they'd tell us who leaked the trade request in the first place...which may have been the single most damaging aspect to Heatley's trade value.
