Sens Buzz

Just wanted to take a quick moment to say thanks to albanada for letting me be part of the SensBuzz team.

Since SensBuzz took a chance on me I was wondering if the Senators should take a chance on Heatley.

Well .. I guess you'd have to ask yourself a couple of questions.
Are we going to get full trade value for Dany Heatley?
If Dany Heatley didn't ask for a trade would you want him on your team?
Is Dany Heatley one of the elite forwards in the NHL?
Are the Ottawa Senators better off without Dany Heatley?
Can Dany Heatley exist in the Senators dressing room?

If the Ottawa media didn't paint Dany as a monster it might be a little easier.
If it wasn't such a slap in the face to the Ottawa fans, it might be a little easier.
If he didn't throw his coach under the bus, it might be a little easier.

But it can be done ... Kobe Bryant wanted to leave the Lakers, then he came back and led them to a championship. Why wouldn't it work here too?

The main question is; why would the Senators want Heatley back? Well, he has been known to score a goal or two. Heatley's had back-to-back 50 goal seasons, a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals and looked like a Hall of Famer that just signed a long term deal that would keep him with the organization for a long time. A potential face of the franchise once Alfredsson retires. When he was traded for Hossa I remember saying he will be the next captain of the Ottawa Senators. That might not be the case now.

Right now the Senators organization is painting Heatley's keepers as the villian and not Dany. This makes be believe that Murray would still like to salvage the relationship. And there is a chance Heatley could be welcomed back to the Senators.

I'm guessing we still don't know the full reason why Dany Heatley wants out. If it's because of the coaching that can be worked out. Cory Cloutson is a demanding coach that expects excellence out of his players. One of my favourite quotes from a coach is Jimmy Johnson; "Treat a person as he is, and he will remain as he is. Treat a person as if he were where he could be and should be, and he will become what he could be and should be." Maximize your potential and that's what Cory expects from his players. Heatley is capable of doing this, the best hockey I saw Heatley play was when Spezza & Alfredsson were out of the lineup in 06-07. He was the best player in all areas of the game and made players around him better. In my opinion Heatley doesn't do this; Spezza makes Heatley better, but I do not believe that Heatley makes Spezza better.

The best thing for the Senators organization is have superstars buy into winning, the Detriot way. Steve Yzerman transformed from a strictly offensive player into arguably one of the top 15 greatest players in NHL history. Dany Heatley can stay a great player score 40 - 50 goals for the next 5 seasons. Or he could develop into a complete player and perhaps become one of the best of his era. I'm not saying this would be easy but maybe Heatley just needs to take a chance on Cory.