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Losing the Heat Fires up the Hype.

Written by: admin on 14th September 2009

Losing the Heat Fires up the Hype. | read this item

The Ottawa Senators and (more importantly) Bryan Murray have just won the lottery. Not only did they rid themselves of left-winger Dany Heatley (and a fifth round draft pick in 2010), but they acquired a plethora of offensive talent in wingers Milan Michalek and former Rocket Richard winner, Jonathan Cheechoo (and a 2nd round draft pick in 2010) from the San Jose Sharks.

This trade could not have come at a better time for the Senators as the NHL off-season draws to a close. The dramatic story of Heatley asking to be traded began in mid-May 2009 after his most disappointing offensive regular season statistics since the 2004 lockout season. An offer from the Edmonton Oilers was sent to the Senators this past summer, but Heatley (still under contract with the Senators) used his no-movement clause to deny the trade from going through.

“It has nothing to do with Edmonton. It has everything to do with the options. To this date there has only been one option, and I know that there are other teams out there. I don’t feel I can make the right decision until there are a few options and I can make the right decision for my career,” Heatley told reporters at that time.

With that quote, Heatley joins the ranks of players who want to be traded to a different team, but have a pre-made choice in their head before the offers roll in. ‘I don’t want to play here, and don’t trade me to that team.’ According to Heatley’s former teammates there was no time like the present for this trade.

Captain Daniel Alfredsson spoke of the trade, “I still think we could have worked it out and we would have been OK, but this is obviously something that would have happened eventually, and getting it done earlier is a big plus for us.”

Although Heatley’s scoring prowess has been shipped out West, bringing in Michalek and Cheechoo is going to be beneficial to the depth of the Senators forward lines. Along with the off-season acquisition of Alex Kovalev, the Senators will shy away from the one line powerhouse and give up and coming superstars like Nick Foligno a chance to fit into the mix.

Only time will tell to see which team benefitted or faltered from this trade; Senators fans are hoping for the former.

For OpenIceHockey.com, I’m Eric Badger from The Badger’s Den.

Topics: Bryan Murray, Dany Heatley, Eric Badger, Jonathan Cheechoo, Milan Michalek, Ottawa Senators, Rocket Richard, San Jose Sharks, Trade