Is The Ottawa Sun 'railroading' Heatley out of town?

While Senators fans and hockey fans in general have no shortage of strong opinions about Dany Heatley nowadays, one of the more surprising aspects of The Heatley Saga is the role of the press.

Yes, one expects, and easily understands, the emotions that fans express, from disappointment to outrage, when a superstar like Heatley demands to be traded.

But consider, if you will for a moment, the role of the press in all of this.

Back on June 11, Don Brennan of The Ottawa Sun wrote what might be the one of most vicious articles ever published condemning a hockey player.

This article gives rise to a few questions...

Which news organization has been the quickest and most vocal about publishing Heatley trade rumours--as if they can't get Dany out of town fast enough?

Was the Ottawa Sun the medium for the 'leak' that first broke the news of Heatley wanting out of Ottawa?

Is The Sun guilty of whipping up fan disappointment into a frenzy?

Has the Ottawa Sun's continuous anti-Heatley coverage helped, or obstructed, Bryan Murray's attempts to trade the unhappy star?

The Brennan article is posted below...

DANY SHOULD BE LONG GONE
Don Brennan, The Ottawa Sun, June 11 2009

The ideal destination for Dany Heatley?

How about Long Island?

Think about it.

First of all, the spoiled, selfish suck-hole would hate it there.

Perfect.

Next, the Islanders were victimized by then-Panthers GM Bryan Murray on June 24, 2000 (when they took Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha for Roberto Luongo and Olli Jokinen) in the second-most lopsided trade this decade.

Second only to the fleecing they received by then-Senators GM Marshall Johnston (when they accepted Alexei Yashin for Bill Muckalt, Zdeno Chara and a first-round pick immediately turned into Jason Spezza) just 364 days later.

Surely the Isles can be tricked by Murray and the Senators again.

Granted, the GM was finally booted off the Island. But the same king still rules.
Owner Charles B. Wang.

He would have to love Heatley, who has proven to be the modern-day Yashin.

And if Wang could be fooled into giving away Chara and Spezza for a heartless, one-dimensional Russian, it only figures he'd be okay trading the No. 1 overall pick for a heartless, one-dimensional Canadian.

But wait, before you Ottawa fans start debating whether Murray should draft John Tavares or Victor Hedman, get this: if Heatley has his way, he won't go anywhere he doesn't want to. His no-movement clause has not necessarily been rescinded just because he has now decided he wants to move. The talk is Heatley is pushing for a clause on the clause. He wants final approval on his destination.

There are more than 7.5 million reasons (or 37.5 million over the next five years) why it's going to be tough to move Heatley.

Dany boy has baggage. A loading dock full.

He has now asked for a trade from the only two NHL teams he's ever been on. He likes Ottawa and his teammates so much, yet just four seasons after the Senators gave him a new lease on life, he is ripping it up.

Why? All we have been fed to this point are suggestions that he has a problem with coach Cory Clouston. Never mind that under Clouston, the Senators appear to have turned the corner back to respectability. Never mind that, despite missing the playoffs for the first time in a dozen years, they disappeared over the horizon to the sounds of cheering, not booing. Never mind that some even think next season, they will not just challenge for a playoff spot, but first place in their division, maybe even the conference.

ONE MESSED-UP DUDE
This is not enough to excite or even appease Heatley. How come? Because he doesn't like the fact his ice time slipped under Clouston? Because he was demoted to the second power-play unit? Because he might not score 50 again under this system?

Is that really it, Dany? If so, you truly are one messed-up dude. If not, you better step up and explain what's what. Or we're left to believe it is so.

So now the GM who acquires Heatley must break the good news and bad news to his coach ... that he's traded for Heatley. You'll love him, as long as he likes you.

Left to him, Heatley would likely vote for the obscurity of San Jose and the soft passes of Joe Thornton. But the Sharks would have to do some nifty budget juggling.

Only the Islanders, Kings, Coyotes, Thrashers, Predators and Maple Leafs are able to take on Heatley's salary without dumping some of their own. Of that group, he might consent to the Kings and Predators, where media coverage is minimal. Just the way Heatley will want it.

Forget the Leafs. Toronto Sun columnist Steve Simmons would make Heatley cry like a schoolgirl. Same reason it's hard to imagine the sensitive sniper agreeing to a swap that would put the jersey of the Canadiens, Flames, Oilers, Canucks, Rangers, Bruins, Wings, Flyers, 'Hawks or Sabres over his weak shoulders.

He'd long for the day he was back in Ottawa, where for various reasons he was an object around which a lot of tip-toeing was done.

Anyway, the Senators are better off without him. Heatley doesn't have the spine to fight through the checking done by the Penguins and Wings these days. Anyone who has watched him play can see he doesn't have the jam or desire to excel in the Stanley Cup final.

He's too preoccupied with another goal. His next one.

Yes, what's most important to Dany Heatley is now obvious. It's Dany Heatley.

---

Notice how Brennan basically advocated 'exiling' Heatley to Long Island (suggesting a trade for the Isles #1 pick John Tavares), spelled out why Heatley would face living hell from the Toronto media, and that San Jose was probably Heatley's destination of choice.

But Brennan emphasizes--in no uncertain terms--that in his view, Heatley is nothing but a problem...as he puts it, "One Messed Up Dude".

Brennan even suggests only a 'loser' organization like the Isles would touch Heatley, and implies owner Charles Wang is, basically, stupid.

So which GM would want to take on a 'problem', such as Brennan so unequivocally describes?

What we have seen since that article appeared, is almost every team dropping out of the Heatley sweepstakes; and the one deal with Edmonton that was almost consummated, sabotaged by a leak published in...The Ottawa Sun.

Does this type of attack, then, step over the line and become an irresponsible use of the power of the media?

As passionate and informed Sens fans, the Members of GMHockey may be the most qualified to judge Don Brennan and The Ottawa Sun.

Over to you.

Do these over-the-top comments from Brennan surprise anyone? This is the same asshat who suggested breaking a player's leg (Malkin I believe) as a game strategy. Even in jest that is crossing the line. Thank god I don't have to read that newspaper everyday. It has less value than a pile of Dung tickets.

Dave, what's your thought as to how many GMs and other league officials
read The Sun? How many of them, do you think, have any interest in
what Don Brennan has to say?

It is true that, by stirring up the Heatley-Hate frenzy, a little extra
pressure has been put on Murray to move Heatley -- most fans want him
gone. That said, once Dany said he wanted out, you'd better belive
that he and Murray have been of a single mind on that particular
score. Pressure from fans or not, Murray wants Heatley gone.

One interesting opinion -- or suggestion -- I read somewhere last night
was that, perhaps, Murray has not yet traded Heatley because Melnyk
wants him to squirm. Perhaps that was not the case until July 1, but
when Heatley turned down the Oilers trade and they were forced to pay
him $4M, maybe that made Melnyk just pi$$ed off enough to want to make
him pay back the $4M in embarrassment and humiliation. The only way he
can get his money back is if Dany refuses to come to camp and is
suspended. Even then, there is no guarantee that he will get his $4M
back. However if he *does* come to camp, then he will have to answer
to his team-mates, the media and, eventually, the fans.

Melnyk does not hold all the cards -- after all, he *had* to pony up
$4M. But he does hold one card -- he owns Dany's contract. And a
self-made billionnaire just might have the mean streak in him to want
to do this. If Dany sits out, then he has a chance to get his money
back. If he reports, then he exacts a small measure of revenge. A
win-lose in his favor.

Anyhow, that's my opinion: I don't think the Sun in general;, and
Brennan in particular, have that much of an effect on the Dany Heatley
situation. Certainly not enough to put Murray into a corner, or turn
other GMs away.

Prager>you make excellent points, as always.

I don't know what impact opinions in the press have on the decisions of hockey GMs...but hockey, is after all, an 'entertainment business'.

Can media pressure damage a hockey player's performance and their reputation?

In the same way that positive press can make 'heroes' out of hockey players, can negative press have a negative effect on the market value of a star?

One supposes you could cite what happened to Joe Corvo, Ray Emery and Wade Redden in Ottawa. Did the negative press influence their on-ice performance, and consequently their market value?

Let's look at adjacent hockey cities. Toronto's media brutalizes its hockey team. The power of the press in Montreal is so considerable, hockey fans and players alike agree that Montreal is a 'pressure cooker' because of the media spotlight.

Could the same principles now apply to Ottawa, and in particular, the vitriol that comes out of The Sun?

I would not go as far as to say that the Ottawa Sub "railroaded" Dany Heatley out of town but they are definitely not doing the Sens, their fans and Heatley any favours by such an article. (also why the attack on the Islanders?)

Of course the Sun doesn't need to do Heatley any favours but they don't need to do a character assination.

We can disagree with his decision to ask for a trade and we certainly can't understand the trade requeat. Afterall who signs a 7 year deal with a NMC and then changes their mind and then won't accept a deal to the only team interested. But to write childish inflammatory material as was in that article, was not warranted.

It seems like hockey fans all want the deal to be done but some writers(and rumour mongers) want the dealing to linger as it gives them something to write about. It is easier to keep writing negative stuff about Heatley and the Sens than to do something useful and write about something new such new players coming to the organization, the schedule, where are ex-Senators now, etc.

My points were that Murray wants to get Heatley out; pressure from the fans wanting him gone is only pushing him in the direction he is already headed. I don't think the fans' pressure could make him any more likely to take an inferior deal.

The fans, themselves -- montageese excepted -- are mostly gullible sheep and will follow whoever yells louder. If they (the Sens) wanted, they could line up press interviews with a half dozen Sens players and management, in print, on TV, on the web, all saying how they will welcome Heatley back with open arms, and the sheep will quickly follow. That is an opinion I have, of course, but I am very solid in that opinion. I have seen it on many occasions. In Heatley's case, of course, that would only be used to buy Murray some time to deal Dany. I don't see any long-lasting neagatives -- cancer in the locker room? Please, these guys are professionals, and we're not going anywhere this year anyway. If nothing else, once he is gone, it could actually make this group closer.

As for other GMs, they may be influenced a bit by public opinion. Some of them, for sure, may think Murray is pressured into dealing Heatley. But once that particular cat was out of the bag (leaked trade request) everyone knew that Murray had to move him. I don't think that any of Brennan's spewing has made much of a difference to that perception. If anything, the Sens' more recent stance has had more of an influence. I read somewhere -- it may have been hearsay, or it may have been an actual report, the lines have blurred -- that Murray has now given a deadline lf next Friday to get some deal done. If Heatley is not dealt by next Friday, he is going to be in camp and starting the season in Ottawa. And at that point all bets are off. If he's playing well Murray has no reason to rush a trade. Might as well get your full $8M worth of his production.

jawal wrote:I would not go as far as to say that the Ottawa Sub "railroaded" Dany Heatley out of town

A typo or something else?

jawal wrote:but they are definitely not doing the Sens, their fans and Heatley any favours by such an article. (also why the attack on the Islanders?)

Because Brennan is a hack. He is going for the easy prey.

jawal wrote:
Of course the Sun doesn't need to do Heatley any favours but they don't need to do a character assination.

We can disagree with his decision to ask for a trade and we certainly can't understand the trade requeat. Afterall who signs a 7 year deal with a NMC and then changes their mind and then won't accept a deal to the only team interested. But to write childish inflammatory material as was in that article, was not warranted.

It seems like hockey fans all want the deal to be done but some writers(and rumour mongers) want the dealing to linger as it gives them something to write about. It is easier to keep writing negative stuff about Heatley and the Sens than to do something useful and write about something new such new players coming to the organization, the schedule, where are ex-Senators now, etc.

You have to remember that the Sun is not a newspaper as much as it is a rag. Sunshine Girl, anyone? This is not the Citizen or the Montreal Gazette.

Heatley and History -- very interesting take on things:
http://www.faceoff.com/hockey/columnists/story.html?id=10fafa9a-e0fa-495e-885f-13d4850015c8

Basically, puts the Heatley situation in the context of Cobe Bryant and Manny Ramirez's very public trade requests. Coby led the Lakers to a championship; Manny led the Bosox to two World Series titles.

While the Heatley situation is best resolved by moving him, he could come back under this three-part action plan.

1. SPEAK (and be free):Had Heatley suffered through just one media conference this summer, he could have been a free man, free to walk the streets without fear of a reporter leaping from the bush, free to attend buddy Jason Spezza's wedding, free to speak at the OneGoal hockey summit (he has withdrawn), free to go the Olympic orientation camp without a major fuss. Instead, he is a prisoner of his own silence.

2. BE HONEST (like Kobe):If Heatley's concerns involve the direction of the organization and not just his personal situation, he will have an audience. There are plenty of fans upset with the Senators' decline since 2007. If Heatley were
perceived to have a legitimate issue, and didn't come off the way he is being depicted by fans and media -- ie. selfish -- it would be easier for him to function here or wherever he may land. Speak from the heart, apologize for becoming a distraction. He can be forgiven.

3. BE FLEXIBLE:Your time will come. As it did for Manny Ramirez. Manny stuck it out for a few years, won two world titles and today is adored in L.A. despite a
positive test for a female fertility drug. If Manny can find peace, why can't Dany? Miracles do happen. Restless Kobe found peace (and champagne) with the team he vowed to leave.

Oh, this is by Wayne Scanlan of the Citizen. Quite a difference from The Sun, eh?

Brennan's a fan not a writer. It's a problem because he goes too far without being edited. Garrioch and Murray are close, so he wouldn't sabotage things for Murray. He's done okay with this IMO.

You can't blame Ottawa writers for being pissed when it appears Heatley is somewhat blaming them and the coach for wanting out.

They REALLY coddled Heatley when he sucked last year and dug into Spezza. Spezza was man enough to take it, it appears Heatley was not.

Grow some stones Heater.

Melnyk is a self made billionaire and he is still making money not loosing it. These guys have a whole different perspective than you or I. Many of them own these teams for fun, like a hobby-like you or I would buy a fishing boat or an RV.
The 4 million he paid Heatley is alot of money, but for a billionaire its the eqivalent of pocket change. Thats what alot of these players don't get, they start to believe because they have a few million they can play with the big boys, when in reality, the big boys don't even know who they are. Look at how many ex players open a restaurant when they retire-the owners meanwhile own the restaurant chain....
If Melnyk was not interested in winning the cup he could easily just tell Murray to cancel all negotiations and inform Mr. Heatley he is a senator for the next 5 years, he is not tryng to move him for any finacial reason, just to improve the team by getting rid of a bad apple.
Part of me would love to see Melnyk enforce the contract, but luckily we have an owner that wants to win-that is why in the end Heatley will be gone.

I love Melnyk. I thought I should say that again. This guy is amazing. Cool, NEEDS to win, has $$, isn't cheap.

How easy would it have been for him to say Diddle you all, you can't sign Kovalev because season tickets are down.

In fact, shed salary.

But no, he says, DO IT, sign him for 10 million and let's do it!

Love him.

Cheers Melnyk.

wprager wrote:My points were that Murray wants to get Heatley out; pressure from the fans wanting him gone is only pushing him in the direction he is already headed. I don't think the fans' pressure could make him any more likely to take an inferior deal.

The fans, themselves -- montageese excepted -- are mostly gullible sheep and will follow whoever yells louder. If they (the Sens) wanted, they could line up press interviews with a half dozen Sens players and management, in print, on TV, on the web, all saying how they will welcome Heatley back with open arms, and the sheep will quickly follow. That is an opinion I have, of course, but I am very solid in that opinion. I have seen it on many occasions. In Heatley's case, of course, that would only be used to buy Murray some time to deal Dany. I don't see any long-lasting neagatives -- cancer in the locker room? Please, these guys are professionals, and we're not going anywhere this year anyway. If nothing else, once he is gone, it could actually make this group closer.

As for other GMs, they may be influenced a bit by public opinion. Some of them, for sure, may think Murray is pressured into dealing Heatley. But once that particular cat was out of the bag (leaked trade request) everyone knew that Murray had to move him. I don't think that any of Brennan's spewing has made much of a difference to that perception. If anything, the Sens' more recent stance has had more of an influence. I read somewhere -- it may have been hearsay, or it may have been an actual report, the lines have blurred -- that Murray has now given a deadline lf next Friday to get some deal done. If Heatley is not dealt by next Friday, he is going to be in camp and starting the season in Ottawa. And at that point all bets are off. If he's playing well Murray has no reason to rush a trade. Might as well get your full $8M worth of his production.

Some things to consider, perhaps...

SunMedia is owned by Quebecor; Pierre Karl Peladeau wanted to buy the Habs and now he is lobbying for a team in Quebec City. Former PM Brian Mulroney is on the board of Quebecor, by the way.

Who stands to gain, by trying to diminish Heatley's trade value from spinning a series of negative articles on Dany?

And we KNOW that the media CAN influence the perceived value of many things...politics, the economy, the stock market, the housing market, what entertainment we decide to spend money on, etc etc.

Does the media influence what fans think of hockey players and hockey teams? No question.

So who would benefit if Eugene Melnyk and Bryan Murray were stuck with an untradeable Dany Heatley?

Does Melnyk have any enemies in the media, in business, and/or the NHL, who might wish to see him fail?

Because none of these things happen by accident.

And do you think Murray wants Heatley out? I don't believe so, otherwise he would have never signed him to that megadeal.

You think Melnyk wants to make Heatley 'squirm'? What could Uncle Gene possibly derive from making his most expensive hockey asset look bad?

Something simply doesn't add up.

Don Brennan is a terrible columnist. I am surprised he has a job. I am repeatedly embarassed by what they allow him to print. I cancelled my subscription to the Sun a long time ago and they only get hits from my web browser when a story is linked from somewhere else.

In days when the traditional newspaper is in jeopardy of disappearing as we know it, you would think they would do better by the people who got their hands dirty from the ink.

Honestly, I never read Brennan. Not going to start now, everyone knows he is a total hack.

Neely4Life wrote:Honestly, I never read Brennan. Not going to start now, everyone knows he is a total hack.

Neely, my friend, if Dany Heatley never plays another game as an Ottawa Senator, you may just have Mr Don Brennan and his partner Bruce Garrioch to thank for it.