What would you do for 7.5 million a year?
There may be other reasons why Heatley wants out of Ottawa, but we haven’t heard what those reasons are. What we have heard is he’s unhappy about his playing time, being on the second power-play line and he doesn’t like how the coach tells him what to do.
Honestly, it’s not his place or job to worry about that. Heatley’s place is on the ice, shooting that black thing called the ‘puck’ between these two connected pipes called the ‘net’.
Let’s look at Heatley’s stats shall we:
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2005–06 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 82 | 50 | 53 | 103 | 86 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 11 | ||
| 2006–07 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 82 | 50 | 55 | 105 | 74 | 20 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 12 | ||
| 2007–08 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 71 | 41 | 41 | 82 | 76 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2008–09 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 82 | 39 | 33 | 72 | 88 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 507 | 260 | 283 | 543 | 456 | 34 | 11 | 25 | 35 | 31 | ||||
2006-07 was his best season ever. 105 points, 50 goals, 55 assists and only in 74 Penalty Minutes. To top it off, he had 22 points, 7 goals, 15 assists in 20 playoff games ending in the Stanley Cup Final.
2008-09. Down 22% in goals compared to 06-07; Down 20% in assists, same period. Total production down 31% while increasing his Penalty Minutes by 19%. And there are no playoff stats because… The Sens didn’t make the playoffs for the first time in 10 seasons. While it is not all Heatley’s fault in not making the playoffs, he is part of the team that FAILED.
Now the money:
In 2006-07 he made 5.5 million, in 2008-09 he made 7.5 million; An increase of… 2 million or 27%.
What it means:
For 27% more salary, the Senators got 31% less of a player who took 19% more penalties.
In conclusion:
Heatley’s coach wants more out of him, don’t blame him. Scoring 50 goals in a season once is a stroke of luck and good timing. Scoring it twice in a row is a sign of talent, we know Heater has it. As for ego… Someone forgot to check it at the door.
$500,000,000 does not equal $15,000,000,000
Filed under: Government, History, Hockey, Media, Ontario, Politics
It was posted in several places including TSN and in the Toronto Star that Dalton McGuinty supports a third NHL team in Ontario. Great. Thanks McGuinty. As usual you spend lots of time dealing with stuff that DOESN’T MATTER and not deal with what is really important like the economy, jobs or oh… I don’t know. How the Finance Minister budgeted for a $500M deficit and now we’re heading for a $15B deficit.
Perhaps Mr. McGuinty should have paid attention in math class. $500,000,000 does not equal $15,000,000,000
How low can they go?!?
The Ottawa Senators have dropped from being Stanley Cup finalists 2 years ago to being the second-worst team in the league. IN THE LEAGUE!!!
Just making the playoffs right now is a stretch considering how far off the pace they are. My Opinion (and we all know that’s why you came here to this site), let them fail. The Sens should take a page out of the book of the Toronto Maple Leafs, aspire to fail. Make failure your number one goal. Sounds crazy right? Remember what’s awarded after the Stanley Cup, the NHL Entry Draft.
2009′s Entry Draft has a really powerful graduating class with names like Tavares, Hedman, Cowan, Duchene and Schenn. The Sens can rebuilt and also stick it to all of those Leafs fans who thought they’d have a chance or the divine right to have John Tavares play for them.
So to this years Ottawa Senators I say to you… Dare to Fail. Fail, choke like only the Ottawa Senators can do. There will always be next year. The grass is always green at golf courses in April!
Disclosure: Yes I am still a Senators fan, no hopping off the bandwagon for me, just unhappy with the losses and trying to find SOME silver lining that is the dark cloud of this season!
Time to go Bettman
Let me just say, I applaude Mr. Blackberry for his moves to secure the Nashville Predators and move them to Hamilton. Good on you. It just goes to show that if you resist something that is right, it will eventually happen, so why resist?
Markets like Nashville, Carolina and Atlanta are in the Sun Belt and are not healthy when it comes to fan support. Instead of allowing these teams to move to where they could be successful, Bettman wants them to stay. Note to Gary, if the fans aren’t there, how are they to buy tickets and support the team.
There are markets that are natural for the NHL to relocate teams to. Kansas City has a brand new arena and good fan support since they tried to woo both the St. Louis Blues and the Pittsburgh Penguins there (I still think the KC Penguins is a good name). Another market would be Las Vegas because of the gamblers who happen to also be.. Canadian.
Markets like Hamilton, Winnipeg and Halifax. Even Quebec City. Wait… What was that.. oh right those cities are in CANADA!
We all know Gary Bettman has a hate on for Canada. Here we have a guy who signs two deals for TV rights. One to CBC for 100 Million, and one to NBC for nothing. One is in Canada, one is in the USA. Which one gets to dictate the playoff schedule? Logic would dictate the one who forks of 100 Million.. Right????
Two teams have moved from Canada to the US during Bettman’s time in the NHL. Meanwhile the league has expanded and more teams have moved in the US. The problem is that instead of creating demand for the product, thus markets wanting their own, Bettman has thrown whatever on the wall and expected it to stick. Hockey in Atlanta… Didn’t they try that once before?
And there is my case in point. Atlanta. Had the Flames, who moved to Calgary. Then they got a second team. If a city like Atlanta, that HOTBED of Hockey fandom can get a second chance, why not Winnipeg, or Quebec City?
Why? CANADA. That nasty six letter word that Gary Bettman hates.
Now flash over to Mr. Blackberry. Not only does he have the money, but the balls to even go and get a lease deal done with Hamilton, where he wants to move the Predators to. All without having approval of the league. And I say good on him. He has a city that wants a team, with an arena that is somewhat acceptable (but is willing to sink the money in to improve it) and a fan base in the Golden Horseshoe that can definately support it. Not only that, you don’t see many people lining up to go and buy the Predators do you? No. So why move it, because its a market that has seen the product, loves the product and can support the product. There is demand so supply it.
For all of the good Gary Bettman has done (ballooning salaries, lamebrained expansion, lockout), you’d think he had the business sense to put product where there is demand… right???
That’s why he has to go.
On a side note: Great move by Balsillie. Get a lease, start showing support from the location you want the team, so that if the NHL Board of Governors denies Balsillie the team or the move, the NHL will get a huge black eye. I love it. Excellent play. And besides, Toronto area fans should be happy with Hamilton getting a team. It will be the first time in a long time the GTA has seen winning hockey. 
Vote for Rory!
The NHL has implemented a write-in ballot on their voting for the 2007 All-Star game. Thanks to a grassroots (read Fark.com) movement, Rory Fitzpatrick, a defenceman for the Vancouver Canucks, is second in the All-Star voting. Personally I know I have voted a couple of times for Rory Fitzpatrick.
Why is voting for Rory a good idea? Mainly due to the NHL using this as a marketing tool. Word of Mouth has rolled in and there are more votes now than ever for the All-Star voting. I’d say give them what they want. Here is a player who’s been… average, about to get to go to the second biggest thing players can play in, the All-Star Game. Next to the Stanley Cup this is a big thing. Rory’s stats speak for themselves. In the last season he had 9 points. He’s the everyman player.
VOTE FOR RORY!