| 30 June 2009
Today I was doing my usual morning reading routine when I stumbled across this gold mine in the Ottawa Citizen. In it, one of Heatley's neighbors and former coach comes forward to defend his former pupil. Below, I've posted the original article by Wayne Scanlan and have also attached my thoughts which will be in bold. Enjoy.
If it's Tuesday, then Dany Heatley is being flogged somewhere.
No no no. Heatley is being flogged 7 days a week sir. Make no mistake about it. Although flogging sure beats waterboarding or trial by fire.
On the Internet. On talk radio. In a newspaper.
Those are all places where news is presented, distributed and discussed. Full marks for identifying media. To be fair though, he is being 'flogged' a lot in person too. Some of my friends have said some horrible things. Things that would make Bob Saget blush.
That's how it has been for the National Hockey League scoring star since his trade request from the Ottawa Senators was made public during the Stanley Cup final.
Sorry who was it that leaked this information again? Let's be clear here. Heatley's agents are the ones to blame for this becoming public knowledge. Why would Murray make this more difficult than it already is?
Tom Molloy, an international hockey coach and former neighbour of the Heatleys, says the one-sided Heatley bashing from fans and media has been difficult for the family.
Oh thats right, there are two sides. Too bad we haven't heard the other one yet. Until we do, the one side will do just fine.
"Dany's parents (Murray and Karin) dropped over to our place the other day," Molloy said by telephone from Calgary. "They said, 'Everyone is crucifying Dany.' His mother is very upset. And the attacks are all personal stuff, about his character. Nobody mentions that this is a guy who gives up a month of his summer every year to play for Team Canada."
WOW A MONTH FOR TEAM CANADA! HOLY SHIT! AND ON THE 7TH DAY DANY DEFEATED THE BELARUSSIANS! Congratulations Dany for donating a month of your time to escape Ottawa reporters, take in a free trip to Europe and hope people don't remember that you should be playing for the German national team. That'd be three teams that you've walked out on? No? Thanks for playing for Canada though Dany, we're forever in your debt. When I think about what has Dany Heatley ever done for me, I can now say, "Every summer he plays for Team Canada." Of course the flip side to Heatley playing for Team Canada every summer is that it's an indication of how shitty the teams have been that he's played for. Perhaps I should just be grateful that when he decided not to play in the CHL, he didn't get his American citizenship while down in Wisconsin.
Molloy wrote a letter to The Citizen sports department because the Heatleys told him they didn't have "a forum" to express the other side of the story.
YES YOU DO. IT'S CALLED "TELL YOUR SON TO START TALKING". Or just Google 'make your own message board' and quit whining. But why the fuck should it be Heatley's parents who are out there to defend them? How old is Dany, 12? After his agents are done invoking irreparable harm to his reputation, he should have the balls to step up to the plate and defend himself.
The Heatley camp, including the two-time 50-goal man himself, doesn't see the merit in speaking out so close to the July 1 launch of NHL free agency and a potential trade. Molloy is trying to get out the story of a strong player wanting to be a go-to guy.
The Heatley camp doesn't see the merit but his parents feel that their voice needs to be heard? Talk about a conflict of interest. Well Dany, your character is certainly being called into question and it would appear that it's been a stumbling block for a lot of teams. I know this because executives have come out publicly and slammed you. What was it that Ron Hextall had come out about your behavior having raised some red flags? And what was that tirade all about from Mr. Burke? If you can't see that your on-ice achievements aren't talking loud enough for anyone to look past your actions, then you're delusional.
"Nobody talks about all the good he has done," Molloy said, "or that his teammates like him."
According to Molloy, Heatley was with many of those teammates at a "bachelor party" last week for Senators centre Jason Spezza, Heatley's longtime linemate.
Was he also voted Mr. Ottawa Senators Hockey Club Prom King? Seriously though, we've heard guys like Chris Neil and Mike Fisher come out say that he was a good teammate so who cares if his teammates like him or if he's attending a friend's bachelor party. Wake me up when these bachelor stories become public or when Dany decides to talk.
"This is an organizational thing," Molloy said. "Wade Redden was crucified in Ottawa despite all the work he did for underprivileged kids. They ran him off.
No. Wade's contract expired, actually. By the time that happened, he was as limp and stale as a jack in the box without a spring. If Malloy was a coach who watched the team regularly, he should be able to identify this quite easily. And if he's really as dense as he sounds, he'd easily be able to find out that Redden is at risk of being buried in the AHL for this upcoming season.
Remember when we chose Redden over Zdeno Chara a couple of years ago? Wasn't his community involvement a huge factor in that decision? Ran him off? Who is this guy again? His neighbor? When I was growing up, I had a neighbor who was a hermit that made animal tracking devices. If my actions were being called into question publicly, I certainly wouldn't want him speaking to the press about my character. He did sell us nice fresh eggs though.
"Marian Hossa signed a contract (with previous Senators management) and then they traded him the next day to Atlanta.
Fact. Whats next? The temperature of ice? The number of fingers humans have? Are kittens cute? It's also a fact that Hossa was incensed that he was duped by John Muckler. He never wanted to leave. It was a valiant attempt to manipulate the facts to support your argument but you still failed. I feel like imposing two rules: If you don't live in Ottawa or follow the team regularly, you shouldn't be allowed to post a commentary on the team. And if you feel that compelled, you shouldn't blame the current team structure for any misfortunes during the John Muckler era.
"If I was the owner of the Senators, I'd be calling my manager in and say, 'Why don't guys want to play here anymore?'"
Exhibit A
Molloy has 17 years of experience coaching hockey at the Canadian college and university levels, including eight years as a University of Calgary assistant in the 1990s. He used to instruct Heatley, and provide him extra ice at Molloy's international clinics for kids. One summer, the extra ice helped Heatley become a midget AAA scoring star in Calgary.
Molloy spent last season as a development coach in Salzburg, Austria, and he has co-developed a coaching video called Hockey Coaching ABCs.
I'll alert the dumpster behind Play It Again Sports to make room. Now I see the motive behind all of this. You're not writing this letter to defend Heatley, you're writing it in hopes of hocking some videos. Some washed up university coach just needs some validation that he did one thing in the hockey world that mattered. Without you, there would be no Dany Heatley. Nice shameless plug asshole.
Molloy's letter to the newspaper began this way:
"I can't express how disappointed I am in the press and hockey fans concerning Dany Heatley's request to be traded. I was talking with his parents ... and they can't believe the awful things that people are saying about Dany. He simply wants to play on a team that believes in his abilities.
Oh so he wants to play for a team that endorses taking shifts/games off entirely? A team which thinks conditioning is secondary to netting 50 goals and finishing below .500? Maybe this guy can get Heatley a gig playing for that Austrian team of his.
"The new coach (Cory Clouston) has decided that Dany is a second- or third-line player, uses him on the second power play and plays him 14 minutes a game. Dany had many closed-door conversations with him and was told that the situation would improve, but it didn't in the two months they were together."
Wasn't this because of his conditioning? The guy couldn't play 1st line minutes? Isn't this why we have a new strength and conditioning coach?
Though he was used on the second-unit power play, referring to Heatley as a "second- or third-line player" under Clouston is a stretch. Though his ice time did dip, Heatley usually played alongside Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson on the first line.
A stretch? At least Wayne Scanlan can see through this bullshit. Lack of conditioning aside, I'm sure the Senators braintrust saw 7.5 million reasons not to have Dany wasting away beside Chris Kelly and whatever else ended up on our 3rd line that game.
"I have been in this game for a long time and make my living coaching hockey," Molloy wrote. "I see Dany making the right plays and doing his job defensively. Dany isn't a hitter, but he wins his one-on-one battles using skill. I ask myself, 'How can a guy with the best one-timer in hockey, and great vision, be on the second power play?'"
You make your living coaching hockey and you think Dany plays well defensively? And you keep turning down NHL head coaching job offers because....? As a coach, aren't you supposed to make the tough decisions that put the team in the best position to win? Under Clouston, weren't the Senators doing infinitely better?
Some other interesting tidbits from this Heatley family friend:
Heatley was injured in Game 1 of the 2007 Stanley Cup final against the Anaheim Ducks when Chris Pronger "cross-checked Dany and then sat on him." After that chest injury, Heatley was not effective the rest of the series, Molloy said.
People never play hurt in the playoffs. Getting hurt in the playoffs doesn't happen to anyone else but Dany Heatley. Nobody plays effectively through pain, especially not the Anaheim Ducks.
The Senators' decline since '07 was a factor in Heatley wanting out.
That's because Heatley's a front-running parasite who's only interested in padding his goal totals. Honestly though, I think this should have read Heatley's decline since 2007? I think i need my Reading ABC's video to help me out.
"Two years ago, they looked like the old Montreal Canadiens," Molloy said, "but they haven't been able to right the ship since."
I agree Heatley looks more and more like Stephane Richer every year.
There is no question Heatley's power-play production fell off noticeably under Clouston. Past the halfway mark of the season under Craig Hartsburg, Heatley had 11 power-play goals. In the final 33 games with Clouston, Heatley scored four.
Heatley also saw his ice time drop in many games -- a shockingly low 12 minutes 44 seconds on Feb. 11 -- though he played significant minutes, 23:07 and 22:24 over the final two games of the season.
Molloy surmises, and this will make management cringe, that maybe the Senators wanted to force Heatley to move by making things difficult for him.
"Alfie is a god," Molloy said of Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson, "and nobody wants Spezza in a trade."
When you're done laughing you can resume reading. I can see him sobbing now. "Heatley plays well defensively. I make coaching videos for Austrians. Jason Spezza is a bad hockey player that no one wants. People are being too real when it comes to discussing a guy I used to know who doesn't even know my name."
Is it too late to resolve this mess and patch things up between Heatley and the Senators organization?
Said Molloy: "It never hurts to talk."
It does. Your letter proved that.
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