This Ain't No Ice Ballet

The playoffs are over and we’re well into the free-agent frenzy. Yet it’s not the moves dominating the hockey headlines. It’s the non-movement of current Ottawa Senator Dany Heatley. In case you’ve been living under a rock, he requested a trade from the Senators.

A deal was nearly done with Edmonton until the Heatley camp decided to wait while he slept on the decision. He did not decide to wave his no-trade clause and as of July 1st, he was due a $4 million bonus. As of today, he’s still sleeping on the decision.

This is Heatley’s second trade request in his career.

We can only speculate as to the train of thought coming from Heatley and his people to not accept the deal from Edmonton. If he’s waiting to be on a Stanly Cup contending team for next year, Marian Hossa would probably be the first in line to say the grass isn’t always greener.

He doesn’t want to play for Ottawa, but apparently he wants to play for Edmonton even less. Word from the NHL states he’s waiting for another offer – a better offer maybe. The NHL is a business and teams don’t usually bend to the requests of players who want to go to certain teams. This didn’t work for Lindros and I doubt it will work for him. He was lucky to be granted a trade request once already in his career.

Besides, his actions may not reflect well if the Edmonton deal goes through. Rumors of poor morale in the Oilers dressing room were rampant last year and the addition of Heatley cannot bode well for the room if there’s a hint that he doesn’t want to be there.

Plus, you can’t help but think that Heatley may request another trade from Edmonton once he doesn’t want to play there anymore. Heatley has played for two NHL teams in his career and has requested trades off both those teams. As we all know, Edmonton fans don’t appreciate players requesting a trade. Heatley’s jersey could be the next one added to the fire that is still smoldering from the Pronger jerseys.

There’s also the possibility of Ottawa filing a grievance for the $4 million bonus will be a hit against any team struggling against the cap.

In my opinion, there’s not room for divas in the NHL and regardless of what happens, I agree with many of the sports commentators – it will probably not end well. Edmonton won’t hold open the door for much longer and with no other teams waiting in the wings, Heatley will have no choice but to report to the Senators training camp.

Celebrate Good Times

We're heading into the Stanley Cup playoffs and while everyone is picking their post-season pools, I'm thinking about goal celebrations. I remember seeing a replay of Ovetchkin's goal celebration after the 50th. It was more than the usual hands in the air. It was said to mirror an NFL touchdown celebration. Seems it upset some. My question is, why shouldn't he celebrate such an accomplishment? Some players barely reach the twenty goal mark.

Since the lockout, the NHL has been faced with selling the game and why not concentrate on one of the current superstars who is breaking away from the mold these players seem to be made in. The interviews are all cut from the same cloth and there's no one actually saying something witty or controversial. A goal celebration should be no different. Why not make it fun and different.

I say, celebrate a goal however you want, because they can be hard to come by. Especially 50 goals, a number untouched by so man other players. Get the fans excited and talking about you and how much you love to play hockey. There's nothing wrong with seeing a player just love to play. Hope you celebrate just as much next year when you get another 50.

Breakaway Queston #6

Who's your Stanley Cup Favourite?

We're on the cusp of the 2009 post-season and it's time to see if the Sharks will finally pull off a Cup or fizzle out like in every other year. Will Detroit take the Cup again? Will Philadelphia or Boston end up on top in the East? Me, I'm betting on Detroit to go far.

Waiting To See Who Wins, No Matter How Long It Takes

We're about a week after the marathon game between the Dallas Stars and the San Jose Sharks and it's no surprise there's talk of changing the overtime format for the playoffs. There's talk of 4-on-4 through to making the shoot-out extend into the post-season, so these games don't go so long.

I stayed up to watch that game last Sunday and at no point did I think it should have played out any other way. I don't think the fans in Dallas cared either. On TV, it looked like half the fans in the arena began to stand and watch the game mid way through the third period. Many of the seats were still full until the 3rd OT period when a few (and I mean few) gaps in the crowd could be seen. They were rewarded for this when Dallas scored to end the game and advance to the Western Conference Final.

I think it's fine the way it is. Yes I was tired, like many of the fans in Dallas were. But there was no way I was turning off that TV, even though I didn't really have anything riding on the outcome. Some things are worth the wait.

It's intense and the embodiment of the sudden death goal. The more OT time that passes, the game settles into that hypnotic fluidity of that awkward state of playing it safe and taking the chance that could end the game. There are interludes of those flashes of speed or the lead pass which get the heart racing. I comes down to that one mistake and, in the Dallas/San Jose game, which goaltender was better. Which team had the determination to stick it out a few moments or that one play more than the other team

It doesn't get much better than that for the devoted hockey fan. Why would you want to change something to make the game more exciting when it's already absolutely edge-of-the-seat entertaining?

Breakaway Question #5

We're about a month into the new NHL season, which team is your favorite for the Stanley Cup?

Tell me what you think. Post a comment.

Breakaway Queston #4

Which re-vamped NHL jersey do you think looks the best?

Tell me what you think. Post a comment.

Another Trend in the NHL?

Is it just me or are injuries happening more in the NHL? We're a few days into the pre-season and players have already gone down with serious injuries. Sammy Salo, wrist fracture; Mathieu Schneider, ankle fracture; Andrew Archer, broken cheek, Petr Sykora, broken nose. Other players have already missed time for precautionary reasons: Roberto Luongo, Ray Emery and Sheldon Souray.

You could argue it's better to have injuries at the beginning of the season versus the end, but injuries never really go away. In addition, every point counts and key players missing from a lineup can result in lost games and unattained points. There's no "i" in team, but contributions from a veteran cannot be replaced by a rookie.Will serious injuries plague the new NHL?

Head injuries were prevalent during last season, but the rules on shots to the head have not been amended, only leading me to believe we will see a repeat of these injuries in 2007/08.

The game has certainly changed, but is a rise in injuries really the result of a loss of respect for fellow players.

To be continued...