Analyzing Heatley Situation

Dany Heatley is the son of a CDN-born hockey pro who enjoyed middling success as a player. In fact, Dany's father ended his career playing in Germany, arguably not the pinnacle of hockey achievement (no offense to DE hockey lovers, but I am sure you would agree that ambitious hockey players look to North America's NHL as the elite leaque in that sport, just as soccer players probably look to Europe as the elite destination for that sport; look at Becker heading back to Spain from LA - yet I digress). Presumably, Dany was affected by his upbringing and wanting to be a hockey pro and avoid relegation to lesser-tier leagues, worked hard to become the elite sniper he is today.

Naturally, becoming the best requires a high degree of self-focus that can sometimes conflict with the external interests of being a good teammate. Some folks manage the balance between individual interests versus group interests better than others. At the good end of the spectrum might be Mark Messier who can help elevate multiple teams to Stanley Cup wins and at the bad end might be Terrell Owens who battles with teammates (Garcia and McNabb) and harbors conspiracy theories against others (Romo and Witten).  Still, they both make valuable contributions to the team effort.

Now, presumably Dany has conflicting individual ideas versus the team goals that Clouston proposes but these are operational details that have to be worked out. Since hockey is a team sport, eventually the team goals supercede those of the individual, so it remains to be seen if Heatley can adjust. But in any case, these obstacles are not "impossibilities" as many in the press would suggest. In fact, many Sens have already chimed in that they can again play with Heatley, so his return to the Sens could certainly be a successful one.

More likely, Heatley's trade request appears to have been a reactionary response to difficulties balancing the individualistic / co-operative orientation conflict. As such, it is probably not a commentary on Heatley's perspective on either playing for the Sens or playing in Ottawa. If he truly disliked either, he would not have signed a long-term contract.

So, that said, Sens fans should not harbour great negative traitorous sentiment to Heatley, since his actions have little to do with the Sens org or playing in Ottawa. Overly negative fan commentary based on the notion that Heately spurns the Sens or Ottawa is misplaced and only serves to fan the flames of controversy and complicate an already difficult situation. Bottom line, adverse fan reaction to Healey's trade request can only worsen a bad situation.

Instead, if Heatley comes back, Sens fans should be happy and accepting that Heatley has overcome his internal demons. With Heatley, the Sens are icing a true Cup contender of which Heatley's contribution will be an important part.

For Heatley's part, a little self-examination may lead him to contemplate whether he wants to lead (1) a Terrell Owens-like career characterized by invitations to new teams based on skill, followed by eventual separations based on personality dysfunction or (2) a more stable career, understanding that his great skills are part of a larger team effort.