Leave Heatley Alone!
Posted 2:45 PM ET | Comments 0
The day of reckoning is fast approaching! The Senator's annual golf tournament goes today and rumors are that Heater's on his way back to town sometime in the next few days. Old number fifteen. Enemy number one! To be honest I've been rather shocked at the fan and media reaction to my man Heater's off season act. It seems like the whole city is out for blood but I'm here to tell you that there's at least one guy left in Ottawa, a season ticket holder at that, who has Heater's back.
While the Heatley trade demand has obviously shocked everyone in the hockey world, when you take a step back is it really that surprising? Honestly, why would a young guy with Heatley's looks and charisma want to be stuck in a backwater town like Ottawa? This guy belongs in LA or New York where the action is. Making movies, dating starlets, being seen at clubs. He should be running with the likes of Paris Hilton or Snoop Dog or whoever the hell the A-list celebrities are these days. Who's he supposed to roll with here in Ottawa, Max Keeping? Wayne Rostad? And name me one place where a guy can be "seen" after 10 pm in this town. The salad bar at Scores Chicken House? "How about some more croutons out here junior? I'm Danny freakin' Heatley!"
If Heatley had any backers before the infamous press conference he certainly had a lot fewer after it. But I'm sticking with him and to be honest I can see his point. This guy's a star, a 3 time 50 goal man, a member of Team Canada. He's a dedicated athlete who spends hours in the gym over the course of a year. Just take a look at his physique...maybe tens of hours. Why should he be made the scapegoat for an under performing team? Why should he be the one who's sent to the second powerplay unit? Why should he be forced to skate hard and backcheck? He's Danny freaking Heatley! Sure, it might look like he's dogging it but do you know how much energy it takes to skate up and down the ice holding your stick up over your head? Try it sometime.
The one thing more than anything that seemed to upset Ottawa fans and media alike was Heatley's explanation for rejecting the proposed trade to Edmonton, that being needing "more options". Hey who among us does not want options in deciding our future? I know I do. In fact the day of Heatley's presser I was given a rather unpleasant assignment by my manager. Inspired by Danny's "options" justification I walked into my manager's office that afternoon and let him know in no uncertain terms that I wasn't doing any work on my assigned task until I was given more options. And guess what? It worked! My boss immediately gave me a second option. Unfortunately I can't print it here. In the end I chose the first option but the point is, like Danny, all I really wanted was more options. That's all the guy's asking for....OPTIONS! Is that so unreasonable?
While Heatley's press conference was almost universally panned for being nothing but lip service, what people refuse to acknowledge is the level of character Danny showed toward the end of the presser when his representative stated that they would take no more questions; press conference over. Most guys in his position after being forced to recite vague, scripted answers for a good 20 minutes would have taken that opportunity to bolt, but not Heater. He immediately interrupted his agent and bravely stated that he would take "two more questions". TWO MORE! Above and beyond the call of duty if you ask me. I really think that was Danny's way of paying back Ottawa fans for their support over the past four years. Either that or his flunkies hadn't yet returned from gassing up his boat and picking up the beer for their afternoon on lake Okanagan. Either way, how can you take cheap shots at a guy who takes time out of his extremely busy off season to give vague, scripted answers to two additional questions. What a guy! And he does it all for under $8 million a year!
Let's face it folks, it's gonna be ugly. Whether he arrives today or this weekend, like an army of jilted lovers the Ottawa hockey community will be ready to pounce. I say give the guy a break; turn the other cheek. The guy's been through a lot already. Word is he was so broken up over this mess it was all he could do to drag himself out to the nightly Okanagan lakeside beach party. Oh he made them all, and was usually the last to leave, but witnesses say this affair was weighing heavily on him. Heater's been through hell these past 3 months my friends and it can only get worse. The poor kid; you couldn't pay me enough to be in that guys shoes. Not even 8 MILLION DOLLARS!
While the Heatley trade demand has obviously shocked everyone in the hockey world, when you take a step back is it really that surprising? Honestly, why would a young guy with Heatley's looks and charisma want to be stuck in a backwater town like Ottawa? This guy belongs in LA or New York where the action is. Making movies, dating starlets, being seen at clubs. He should be running with the likes of Paris Hilton or Snoop Dog or whoever the hell the A-list celebrities are these days. Who's he supposed to roll with here in Ottawa, Max Keeping? Wayne Rostad? And name me one place where a guy can be "seen" after 10 pm in this town. The salad bar at Scores Chicken House? "How about some more croutons out here junior? I'm Danny freakin' Heatley!"
If Heatley had any backers before the infamous press conference he certainly had a lot fewer after it. But I'm sticking with him and to be honest I can see his point. This guy's a star, a 3 time 50 goal man, a member of Team Canada. He's a dedicated athlete who spends hours in the gym over the course of a year. Just take a look at his physique...maybe tens of hours. Why should he be made the scapegoat for an under performing team? Why should he be the one who's sent to the second powerplay unit? Why should he be forced to skate hard and backcheck? He's Danny freaking Heatley! Sure, it might look like he's dogging it but do you know how much energy it takes to skate up and down the ice holding your stick up over your head? Try it sometime.
The one thing more than anything that seemed to upset Ottawa fans and media alike was Heatley's explanation for rejecting the proposed trade to Edmonton, that being needing "more options". Hey who among us does not want options in deciding our future? I know I do. In fact the day of Heatley's presser I was given a rather unpleasant assignment by my manager. Inspired by Danny's "options" justification I walked into my manager's office that afternoon and let him know in no uncertain terms that I wasn't doing any work on my assigned task until I was given more options. And guess what? It worked! My boss immediately gave me a second option. Unfortunately I can't print it here. In the end I chose the first option but the point is, like Danny, all I really wanted was more options. That's all the guy's asking for....OPTIONS! Is that so unreasonable?
While Heatley's press conference was almost universally panned for being nothing but lip service, what people refuse to acknowledge is the level of character Danny showed toward the end of the presser when his representative stated that they would take no more questions; press conference over. Most guys in his position after being forced to recite vague, scripted answers for a good 20 minutes would have taken that opportunity to bolt, but not Heater. He immediately interrupted his agent and bravely stated that he would take "two more questions". TWO MORE! Above and beyond the call of duty if you ask me. I really think that was Danny's way of paying back Ottawa fans for their support over the past four years. Either that or his flunkies hadn't yet returned from gassing up his boat and picking up the beer for their afternoon on lake Okanagan. Either way, how can you take cheap shots at a guy who takes time out of his extremely busy off season to give vague, scripted answers to two additional questions. What a guy! And he does it all for under $8 million a year!
Let's face it folks, it's gonna be ugly. Whether he arrives today or this weekend, like an army of jilted lovers the Ottawa hockey community will be ready to pounce. I say give the guy a break; turn the other cheek. The guy's been through a lot already. Word is he was so broken up over this mess it was all he could do to drag himself out to the nightly Okanagan lakeside beach party. Oh he made them all, and was usually the last to leave, but witnesses say this affair was weighing heavily on him. Heater's been through hell these past 3 months my friends and it can only get worse. The poor kid; you couldn't pay me enough to be in that guys shoes. Not even 8 MILLION DOLLARS!