Kukla's Korner Hockey
Why Dany Heatley Signed With Anaheim
by Paul on 07/10/14 at 08:25 AM ET
Comments (8)
from Lisa Dillman of the LA Times,
Heatley, 33, represents a low-cost gamble — a bargain-basement one-year contract worth $1 million. A two-time 50-goal scorer — both times with the Ottawa Senators — Heatley is a reclamation project in the truest sense of the term. As recently as 2010, he played for the Canadian men's Olympic hockey team that won the gold medal in Vancouver.
"He's a guy, over the years, I've always liked," Ducks General Manager Bob Murray said. "He's been intriguing because he is a pure goal-scorer. He's much better away from the puck than people think he is.
"He's struggled the last couple of years for different reasons. A great opportunity presented itself. We're a good match for each other at this moment.… I think he's a very proud athlete. It hasn't gone quite right and I think he knows that somewhere down the line the end is coming. And I don't think he wants it to end like this."...
"I feel good," Heatley said. "I feel leaner. I know the knock on me is that I'm not quick enough anymore. I disagree with that. I can still play this game. I'm still quick enough, fast enough, and I can score goals.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Anaheim Ducks, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: dany+heatley
Comments
He signed with ANA because ANA needed to take a chance on someone to fill a role, and nobody else was particularly interested in Heatley.
Posted by Primis on 07/10/14 at 09:17 AM ET
As an Ottawa fan I’m obliged to tell you that Heatley is a bum, terrible human being, and a washout as a player.
Indeed. I took a fair amount of pleasure in heckling that ungrateful bum when the Sharks played here in 2009-10. I don’t know if heckling him is worth the energy any more though, particularly when he’s on a team with Perry and Kesler. Ducks are possibly the most heckleworthy team of our generation.
Posted by shazam88 from SoCal on 07/10/14 at 11:41 AM ET
Ottawa fans hate Heatley because he wanted out of Ottawa but he wanted out because of the coach which a year later was fired by the Senators. Alfredsson and Spezza wanted out too. They wanted out because they want to play for a team that has a chance of winning a cup. Where is the hate for them? Ducks get a player on the decline but is a good character guy in the dressing room that can supply secondary offense at a fair price. Good signing.
Posted by Puckbubba on 07/10/14 at 12:58 PM ET
we all saw what numbers Dustin Penner put up ... yes, Dustin Penner ... playing along side Getzlaf and Perry. This is a good move for Anaheim considering Heatley only needs to park himself next to a goal post and knock in 12-20 goals to make this worthwhile.
Posted by scooter on 07/10/14 at 01:01 PM ET
Posted by Puckbubba on 07/10/14 at 12:58 PM ET
For someone that received a pretty HUGE break or two over the past decade…all things considered, he’s managed to come across as a classless ingrate. I suppose that perception might just be everyone else’s fault, but perhaps just maybe a lot of it lies with Heatley. It’s easy to forget the details and retrospectively slap some Sens criticism on a post, but that team was loaded offensively and Heatley had everything going for him…but oh wait, his power play minutes were done 13.5 seconds a game after his second 50 goal season and he felt disrespected. Or maybe I just heard the wrong narrative.
Posted by shazam88 from SoCal on 07/10/14 at 01:21 PM ET
Heatley vocally demanded a trade out of Ottawa shortly after signing a long term deal - went directly to the media to say he wanted out in order to diminish his value, and then proceeded to nix a trade that was on the table - not only denying the team the best return, but also requiring the owner to pay a hefty bonus. Very different from Alfredsson who left as a UFA (and still lost a TON of accumulated good will with Sens fans), and Spezza who was traded in the last year of his deal when he indicated a further long term deal wasn’t something he was interested in.
As much as I wish the Sens would do more to keep top players interested in playing for them, I think the different treatment of Heatley compared to Spezza and Alfredsson by fans is probably justified.
Though, as someone else said, booing Heatley seems like a waste of breath at this point - and I do think this is a good signing for the Ducks primarily because there is very little risk to them.
Posted by Da lil Guy from Guelph, Ontario on 07/10/14 at 01:56 PM ET
By this point it should be pretty clear that something is rotten in Ottawa.
Posted by tuxedoTshirt from the Home of the 1937 World Champions on 07/10/14 at 10:28 PM ET
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As an Ottawa fan I’m obliged to tell you that Heatley is a bum, terrible human being, and a washout as a player.
...but at $1 million for one year, this is a pretty low risk contract for Anaheim. The only real knock on it is that it potentially takes away a roster spot from a young player.
Heatley will either get some of his form back or go the way of Jonathan Cheechoo.
Posted by Da lil Guy from Guelph, Ontario on 07/10/14 at 08:46 AM ET