No one is going to say Bryan Murray has no guts.
First the trade deadline deal to move Antoine Vermette to Columbus for goaltender Pascal Leclaire. When healthy he has been one of the best goalies in the NHL. Problem is he hasn't been healthy enough over the past few years. Big gamble for Murray right there.
Now Alex Kovalev. When he decides he wants to play, he is one of the very best in the NHL. The skill level and strength are off the charts. Problem is, his game has been dotted with enigmatic play his entire career. He can do almost anything with the puck but on too many nights he looks like he doesn't want the puck.
The wild card for Bryan Murray is the Spezza factor. In his 6 years in Montreal, Kovalev never had a playmaking centre the caliber of Spezza. If anyone can get him excited to play it will be Spezza. The one thing that very creative players love is other creative players. Spezza is certainly all that.
Bryan Murray has been put in a horrible situation by Dany Heatley, but clearly he is not throwing in the towel. This Kovalev move is certainly high risk, but also has the possibility for high reward.
Say what you want about Bryan Murray, but he certainly has the guts.
See you at the rink.
Monday, July 6, 2009
The end of the No Trade
One thing Dany has done through all of this is make no movement clauses more difficult for other players to get in their contract negotiations.
How many GM’s around the NHL are thanking the heavens they are not in the spot Bryan Murray is in. John Ferguson Jr threw no-trade contracts around like nickels and it helped make Toronto more of a mess as they tried to turn things around. Now after just 1 year of a 6 year deal Dany wants a trade and wants to decide where he goes.
It is difficult to move a player who is due 8 million dollars this season. It is more difficult when he gets to pick the team. It is ridiculously difficult when the player you are trying to move has had his reputation ravaged around the NHL as badly as Heatley has been ripped apart.
Trading a player who many other teams believe to be selfish and not a team player is very hard when the guy makes 2 million. Its even tougher when the guy makes 8 million.
Have a look at the LA Kings website. Ron Hextal works for the Kings and there is a video of him speaking at a “State of the franchise” luncheon. He is asked about Heatley since L.A. is appearantly one of the places Dany wanted to go. Hextal admits that their #1 priority is a high scoring left winger, but says the red flags went up because Heatley had problems with his coach in Atlanta, Craig Hartsburg and now Corey Clouston. Wow!
When you are exactly what a team needs and wants and they don’t want you for non-hockey reasons, that’s a shot. Hextall also pointed out the number of prospects they’d have to give up and Dany’s hefty contract go into the mix as well, but if you watch the video, the very first thing he talks about are character issues. Hextal even starts with “I don’t like to say anything negative about players, but….”. Yikes. Camp Heatley better think about a personal image consultant like the Hollywood stars use, because his personal image right now appears to be mud all across the NHL.
Right or wrong there are many teams which now feel this way about Heatley. He may get his wish to leave Ottawa, but it will be a very long time (or maybe never) that his reputation is restored.
See you at the rink.
How many GM’s around the NHL are thanking the heavens they are not in the spot Bryan Murray is in. John Ferguson Jr threw no-trade contracts around like nickels and it helped make Toronto more of a mess as they tried to turn things around. Now after just 1 year of a 6 year deal Dany wants a trade and wants to decide where he goes.
It is difficult to move a player who is due 8 million dollars this season. It is more difficult when he gets to pick the team. It is ridiculously difficult when the player you are trying to move has had his reputation ravaged around the NHL as badly as Heatley has been ripped apart.
Trading a player who many other teams believe to be selfish and not a team player is very hard when the guy makes 2 million. Its even tougher when the guy makes 8 million.
Have a look at the LA Kings website. Ron Hextal works for the Kings and there is a video of him speaking at a “State of the franchise” luncheon. He is asked about Heatley since L.A. is appearantly one of the places Dany wanted to go. Hextal admits that their #1 priority is a high scoring left winger, but says the red flags went up because Heatley had problems with his coach in Atlanta, Craig Hartsburg and now Corey Clouston. Wow!
When you are exactly what a team needs and wants and they don’t want you for non-hockey reasons, that’s a shot. Hextall also pointed out the number of prospects they’d have to give up and Dany’s hefty contract go into the mix as well, but if you watch the video, the very first thing he talks about are character issues. Hextal even starts with “I don’t like to say anything negative about players, but….”. Yikes. Camp Heatley better think about a personal image consultant like the Hollywood stars use, because his personal image right now appears to be mud all across the NHL.
Right or wrong there are many teams which now feel this way about Heatley. He may get his wish to leave Ottawa, but it will be a very long time (or maybe never) that his reputation is restored.
See you at the rink.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Tom, stop helping!
Last Tuesday Wayne Scanlan wrote in the Ottawa Citizen about the comments from the former neighbor of Dany Heatley’s parents in Calgary. The guys name is Tom Malloy. He is a development coach in Austria so clearly he has the type of resume you need to have solid opinions in this situation.
Let’s go through some of his comments and see if they helped 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."
I would expect his mother would be upset. She is a mother. Hard to imagine she is surprised that the attacks are about his character. Also hard to imagine the rest of Canada should be kissing Dany’s feet because he gives up a month of his summer to play for Team Canada. He has always said it was a privilege but I guess the country owes him. Also maybe Dany has played in too many of these events. Had his teams done better he wouldn’t be available.
Tom talked about how Redden was crucified despite all his charity work, Hossa was traded and he thinks Melnyk should ask Murray “why don’t guys want to play here anymore”.
Well Redden didn’t want to leave Ottawa; the Senators could not justify his salary based on his current level of play. The Rangers are finding out the same thing. Wade was and is admired for all his charity work, but the hockey part didn’t work. As for Marian Hossa, he was told that if he got the money he wanted he would be too expensive for Ottawa to keep. When he got the money he said he was surprised to be traded. He also wanted to stay in Ottawa.
“Dany wants to play on a team that believes in his abilities”.
I think its pretty clear the franchise believes in his abilities since they signed him to a 45 million dollar contract and paid him 10 million dollars last year for his 39 goals. I think the point here is Corey Clouston and the Senators have a different idea about how to maximize those abilities and it does not correspond with Dany’s views on how his abilities should be used. Questioning whether he has them is not the point.
"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."
Translation. Clouston didn’t do what Dany told him the way that Hartsburg and Paddock had done. I can imagine Dany would be perturbed about a coach who wouldn’t do what he was told. It is also preposterous to call Heatley a second or third line player. He didn’t always play with Spezza but neither did Alfredsson. In fact neither do Zetterberg and Datsyuk. Those two don’t always play on the same power play either. Does that mean Datsyuk has been demoted or is the coach just trying to force the opposition to defend against 2 great power plays because both units have elite players on them? And the playing time issue. Yes there were a few games where Heatley played 15 minutes or less. Most games he played over 20 and sometimes 23 minutes. Please let’s not pretend Dany didn’t get enough ice time to produce more. That is just laughable.
"Two years ago, they looked like the old Montreal Canadiens," Molloy said, "but they haven't been able to right the ship since."
As a guy who makes 10 million a year and asked for and received a letter and more team responsibilities, wasn’t Dany supposed to be one of the key guys to stop that slide? Now the responsibility lies with “they” and Dany is just a bystander?
Malloy says that maybe the Senators wanted to force Heatley to move by making things hard for him.
What? Are you kidding? What part of this is good for the franchise? What GM would intentionally put himself in this situation? This may be the dumbest of all the dumb comments from the Austrian Hockey teacher.
"Alfie is a god," Molloy said of Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson, "and nobody wants Spezza in a trade."
Mr. Malloy really thinks he’s helping the Heatley’s here. I believe the average person would surmise this is an opinion from Heatley’s parents which was likely former after private comments to them from Dany himself. So Mr. Malloy has now helped Dany to smear the team captain and his best friend on the team. Nice. Really nice.
Mr. Malloy my advice to you is to stay in Austria developing hockey players. You have to be better at that than helping Dany Heatley and his parents repair their public image.
Don’t do the Heatley’s anymore favors.
See you at the rink.
Let’s go through some of his comments and see if they helped 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."
I would expect his mother would be upset. She is a mother. Hard to imagine she is surprised that the attacks are about his character. Also hard to imagine the rest of Canada should be kissing Dany’s feet because he gives up a month of his summer to play for Team Canada. He has always said it was a privilege but I guess the country owes him. Also maybe Dany has played in too many of these events. Had his teams done better he wouldn’t be available.
Tom talked about how Redden was crucified despite all his charity work, Hossa was traded and he thinks Melnyk should ask Murray “why don’t guys want to play here anymore”.
Well Redden didn’t want to leave Ottawa; the Senators could not justify his salary based on his current level of play. The Rangers are finding out the same thing. Wade was and is admired for all his charity work, but the hockey part didn’t work. As for Marian Hossa, he was told that if he got the money he wanted he would be too expensive for Ottawa to keep. When he got the money he said he was surprised to be traded. He also wanted to stay in Ottawa.
“Dany wants to play on a team that believes in his abilities”.
I think its pretty clear the franchise believes in his abilities since they signed him to a 45 million dollar contract and paid him 10 million dollars last year for his 39 goals. I think the point here is Corey Clouston and the Senators have a different idea about how to maximize those abilities and it does not correspond with Dany’s views on how his abilities should be used. Questioning whether he has them is not the point.
"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."
Translation. Clouston didn’t do what Dany told him the way that Hartsburg and Paddock had done. I can imagine Dany would be perturbed about a coach who wouldn’t do what he was told. It is also preposterous to call Heatley a second or third line player. He didn’t always play with Spezza but neither did Alfredsson. In fact neither do Zetterberg and Datsyuk. Those two don’t always play on the same power play either. Does that mean Datsyuk has been demoted or is the coach just trying to force the opposition to defend against 2 great power plays because both units have elite players on them? And the playing time issue. Yes there were a few games where Heatley played 15 minutes or less. Most games he played over 20 and sometimes 23 minutes. Please let’s not pretend Dany didn’t get enough ice time to produce more. That is just laughable.
"Two years ago, they looked like the old Montreal Canadiens," Molloy said, "but they haven't been able to right the ship since."
As a guy who makes 10 million a year and asked for and received a letter and more team responsibilities, wasn’t Dany supposed to be one of the key guys to stop that slide? Now the responsibility lies with “they” and Dany is just a bystander?
Malloy says that maybe the Senators wanted to force Heatley to move by making things hard for him.
What? Are you kidding? What part of this is good for the franchise? What GM would intentionally put himself in this situation? This may be the dumbest of all the dumb comments from the Austrian Hockey teacher.
"Alfie is a god," Molloy said of Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson, "and nobody wants Spezza in a trade."
Mr. Malloy really thinks he’s helping the Heatley’s here. I believe the average person would surmise this is an opinion from Heatley’s parents which was likely former after private comments to them from Dany himself. So Mr. Malloy has now helped Dany to smear the team captain and his best friend on the team. Nice. Really nice.
Mr. Malloy my advice to you is to stay in Austria developing hockey players. You have to be better at that than helping Dany Heatley and his parents repair their public image.
Don’t do the Heatley’s anymore favors.
See you at the rink.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
What does Dany want?
I need someone to explain this to me.
I know that people expect those of us in the media to do the explaining, but this time I need some help.
Dany Heatley asked for a trade. He wants out of Ottawa and away from Corey Clouston and his outrageous demands that all players on his team play hard at both ends of the rink.
None of the teams Dany wanted to play for want Dany or at least some of them did not want him bad enough to make an offer that was reasonable. Edmonton wants Dany very badly. Presented a nice package to Bryan Murray. Dany was asked if he would consider Edmonton and he said “yes”. Then when the deal was done Dany said “no”. His agent JP Barry claims Dany needs more time to think about it. Well, thinking time ended at mid-night last night. Dany knew that was when his 4 million dollar cheque was to be paid and if a deal could not be worked out by then, there might not be a deal at all.
Besides everything, I don’t know exactly what Dany Heatley wants.
He won’t speak and his agents are extremely vague when they speak to the media.
His parent’s neighbor seems to be the only guy speaking out and I think he inadvertently damaged Dany’s reputation more with the logic he used to defend Heatley.
Will someone please explain to me exactly what Dany Heatley wants?
Dany if you are reading this send me a private email. I won’t divulge its contents. I would just really like to know what you want.
See you at the rink.
I know that people expect those of us in the media to do the explaining, but this time I need some help.
Dany Heatley asked for a trade. He wants out of Ottawa and away from Corey Clouston and his outrageous demands that all players on his team play hard at both ends of the rink.
None of the teams Dany wanted to play for want Dany or at least some of them did not want him bad enough to make an offer that was reasonable. Edmonton wants Dany very badly. Presented a nice package to Bryan Murray. Dany was asked if he would consider Edmonton and he said “yes”. Then when the deal was done Dany said “no”. His agent JP Barry claims Dany needs more time to think about it. Well, thinking time ended at mid-night last night. Dany knew that was when his 4 million dollar cheque was to be paid and if a deal could not be worked out by then, there might not be a deal at all.
Besides everything, I don’t know exactly what Dany Heatley wants.
He won’t speak and his agents are extremely vague when they speak to the media.
His parent’s neighbor seems to be the only guy speaking out and I think he inadvertently damaged Dany’s reputation more with the logic he used to defend Heatley.
Will someone please explain to me exactly what Dany Heatley wants?
Dany if you are reading this send me a private email. I won’t divulge its contents. I would just really like to know what you want.
See you at the rink.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Too many clowns in the car.
For such a smart, successful guy, its amazing Jim Balsillie isn’t getting the hint.
The NHL is not Walmart. You can’t go in and take what ever you want off the shelves just because your Visa card has no limit.
In the tech world he lives in, you can make your own rules. Out maneuvering and out marketing your opponent works. Those techniques guarantee a losing campaign in the NHL world or almost any other franchise based industry. Just because you can afford the franchise fee to acquire a Tim Horton’s store, doesn’t mean they have to grant you one. If they do, Tim’s decides where that store will be and how it will look. If you don’t like those rules you don’t have to apply for a franchise.
The NHL is no different. In effect this is a private club and its members have decided what the rules, procedures and protocol will be. If Jim Balsillie wants to be a franchisee he must go by their rules. I use the word “their” intentionally. Some believe this is a personal battle between Balsillie and Garry Bettman. Bettman is the commissioner but it’s the governors (owners) who decide what the rules are. In fact Bettman doesn’t even get a vote when it comes to ownership purchase or transfer. He is fighting the fight the owners want.
Why would an owner like Toronto arbitrarily give up a piece of the region they legally own and control just because Jim Balsillie doesn’t think it’s fair that they control it?
I don’t think it’s fair that the Shriners jam all those clowns into one car, but if that’s they way they operate what right do I have to challenge it. The Shriners have a private organization with their own rules and bylaws for their members and all the individual units which make up their organization. They are allowed to by law and I have no right to challenge it.
Jim Balsillie is now organizing a rally to keep the dream alive of buying and moving Phoenix to Hamilton. He is great at tech and marketing just lousy at reality.
When Jim Balsillie understands he has to go through all the laid out channels to acquire a team, the sooner his relationship will get better and maybe one day to the point where he would be accepted as a prospective owner. Right now he’s just that annoying freshman who keeps knocking on the door of the frat house party. He doesn’t know the password, but thinks that more knocking will do the trick.
Learn the rules and you’ll need less useless knocking.
See you at the rink.
The NHL is not Walmart. You can’t go in and take what ever you want off the shelves just because your Visa card has no limit.
In the tech world he lives in, you can make your own rules. Out maneuvering and out marketing your opponent works. Those techniques guarantee a losing campaign in the NHL world or almost any other franchise based industry. Just because you can afford the franchise fee to acquire a Tim Horton’s store, doesn’t mean they have to grant you one. If they do, Tim’s decides where that store will be and how it will look. If you don’t like those rules you don’t have to apply for a franchise.
The NHL is no different. In effect this is a private club and its members have decided what the rules, procedures and protocol will be. If Jim Balsillie wants to be a franchisee he must go by their rules. I use the word “their” intentionally. Some believe this is a personal battle between Balsillie and Garry Bettman. Bettman is the commissioner but it’s the governors (owners) who decide what the rules are. In fact Bettman doesn’t even get a vote when it comes to ownership purchase or transfer. He is fighting the fight the owners want.
Why would an owner like Toronto arbitrarily give up a piece of the region they legally own and control just because Jim Balsillie doesn’t think it’s fair that they control it?
I don’t think it’s fair that the Shriners jam all those clowns into one car, but if that’s they way they operate what right do I have to challenge it. The Shriners have a private organization with their own rules and bylaws for their members and all the individual units which make up their organization. They are allowed to by law and I have no right to challenge it.
Jim Balsillie is now organizing a rally to keep the dream alive of buying and moving Phoenix to Hamilton. He is great at tech and marketing just lousy at reality.
When Jim Balsillie understands he has to go through all the laid out channels to acquire a team, the sooner his relationship will get better and maybe one day to the point where he would be accepted as a prospective owner. Right now he’s just that annoying freshman who keeps knocking on the door of the frat house party. He doesn’t know the password, but thinks that more knocking will do the trick.
Learn the rules and you’ll need less useless knocking.
See you at the rink.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Goodbye Roy.
The Roy Mlakar era with the Ottawa Senators is now over. 13 years has flown by and the Prez has much to be proud of. He would never run through that list of things for you because Roy would much rather talk about the kid he met at CHEO last week or the new piece of equipment they just moved into Rogers House. That to me marks the Mlakar era. All the things Roy did not only for the franchise but for this community. The selfless use of his time and power to make things better for a great many people, while running a franchise from bankruptcy to the top of the NHL’s list of best run franchises.
Roy and his wife Tami will be missed of that there is no doubt. Get your office pool going now and try to predict what in this city will be named after him. You know something will.
I am very relieved that the reigns of the franchise have gone to Cyril Leeder. I think I am not alone when I say I like the fact that one of us is the new man. Someone from outside Ottawa would have a difficult time fitting in, filling the shoes and being accepted while doing it. Cyril has been around since before day #1 and in fact was one of the architects to put the bid together to get the franchise in the first place. Cyril is loyal, hard working and very, very smart. If two jobs are now going to be combined into one, Cyril is the right choice. He cares deeply, he is fully committed and he is the kind of competitive person who wants to win at everything. You have to admire that.
It is the nature of business and also the hockey business. The owner always has the prerogative to structure his company the way he likes and Mr. Melnyk has chosen this route.
My father once told me that change is not to be feared, it is to be expected. Still change can be hard. This franchise and this city is losing a very good man.
See you at the rink.
Roy and his wife Tami will be missed of that there is no doubt. Get your office pool going now and try to predict what in this city will be named after him. You know something will.
I am very relieved that the reigns of the franchise have gone to Cyril Leeder. I think I am not alone when I say I like the fact that one of us is the new man. Someone from outside Ottawa would have a difficult time fitting in, filling the shoes and being accepted while doing it. Cyril has been around since before day #1 and in fact was one of the architects to put the bid together to get the franchise in the first place. Cyril is loyal, hard working and very, very smart. If two jobs are now going to be combined into one, Cyril is the right choice. He cares deeply, he is fully committed and he is the kind of competitive person who wants to win at everything. You have to admire that.
It is the nature of business and also the hockey business. The owner always has the prerogative to structure his company the way he likes and Mr. Melnyk has chosen this route.
My father once told me that change is not to be feared, it is to be expected. Still change can be hard. This franchise and this city is losing a very good man.
See you at the rink.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Crosby not the villian.
With all due respect to Chris Draper, he may want to buy a stopwatch.
Draper was very vocal about his displeasure with Pittsburgh Captain Sidney Crosby after game #7 of the Stanley Cup Final. Draper contends Crosby showed a complete lack of respect for Nick Lidstrom and the rest of the wings by not being in line quick enough to shake hands after the final buzzer.
Crosby shook about half of the Red Wings hands, but missed the first half of the team as he was celebrating and doing network TV on-ice interviews.
Crosby has refused to apologize saying there was no attempt to slight or disrespect anyone. If the Wings wanted to get off the ice fast, then that’s their choice.
Draper has a great deal more experience than Crosby being in the final, but he doesn’t have much more experience in losing the final. There is as much etiquette for the vanquished as there is for the victor.
Simply roll back the video from last year when the tables were reversed. Put a stopwatch on the time it took the Wings to line up for the hand shake. We have all seen the pictures of the Penguins leaning against the boards waiting. Do you think they enjoyed that? Do you think they wanted to get off the ice fast? The answers are absolutely not and absolutely yes. But they didn’t. They suffered through the painful wait and were forced to watch the Wings celebrate.
Chris Draper I believe spoke out of frustration and emotion after just losing the cup. When you are expected to win, believe you are the better team, and don’t win, your ego crashes as hard as your hopes do. The loser is required to work off the winner’s time table, not the other way around.
In fact it’s not just the winners time table, it is also the NHL’s. They have network TV partners who have been promised immediate interviews with key players while the emotion is fresh and the time is now. Crosby can not dismiss those obligations.
The stopwatch would also be helpful is looking at almost every other final since the lockout when the NHL developed this new partnership with Network TV. You will find every losing team waiting for the hand shake.
Despite their great regular season and the premature anointment as champs long before the final was even played, Detroit lost. There may well have been a lack of respect issue in this case, but the accusers may well be the offenders.
See you at the rink.
Draper was very vocal about his displeasure with Pittsburgh Captain Sidney Crosby after game #7 of the Stanley Cup Final. Draper contends Crosby showed a complete lack of respect for Nick Lidstrom and the rest of the wings by not being in line quick enough to shake hands after the final buzzer.
Crosby shook about half of the Red Wings hands, but missed the first half of the team as he was celebrating and doing network TV on-ice interviews.
Crosby has refused to apologize saying there was no attempt to slight or disrespect anyone. If the Wings wanted to get off the ice fast, then that’s their choice.
Draper has a great deal more experience than Crosby being in the final, but he doesn’t have much more experience in losing the final. There is as much etiquette for the vanquished as there is for the victor.
Simply roll back the video from last year when the tables were reversed. Put a stopwatch on the time it took the Wings to line up for the hand shake. We have all seen the pictures of the Penguins leaning against the boards waiting. Do you think they enjoyed that? Do you think they wanted to get off the ice fast? The answers are absolutely not and absolutely yes. But they didn’t. They suffered through the painful wait and were forced to watch the Wings celebrate.
Chris Draper I believe spoke out of frustration and emotion after just losing the cup. When you are expected to win, believe you are the better team, and don’t win, your ego crashes as hard as your hopes do. The loser is required to work off the winner’s time table, not the other way around.
In fact it’s not just the winners time table, it is also the NHL’s. They have network TV partners who have been promised immediate interviews with key players while the emotion is fresh and the time is now. Crosby can not dismiss those obligations.
The stopwatch would also be helpful is looking at almost every other final since the lockout when the NHL developed this new partnership with Network TV. You will find every losing team waiting for the hand shake.
Despite their great regular season and the premature anointment as champs long before the final was even played, Detroit lost. There may well have been a lack of respect issue in this case, but the accusers may well be the offenders.
See you at the rink.
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