relievedAfter a complete Summer of Discontent among Ottawa Senators hockey fans, the Dany Heatley saga here is over (other than the media analysis of the trade and the fans comments).
Senators Trade Heatley to the Sharks
Personally, I feel that Dany Heatley held Brian Murray and the Ottawa Senators hostage this summer, with the demand for the trade, his silence, and the vow that he didn't want to return to the team. No NHL team would want a player that badly who has the record of "team movement" that Heatley now has. When it comes right down to it, Heatley cost the Senators getting a decent return on him in the trade, and I suspect that Brian Murray did the best that he could do. While I don't believe there's a lot of salary cap room, perhaps now that Brian Murray knows where his team stands can swing another deal before or during the early part of the NHL season.
And what of the two players that Ottawa received? Well, Milan Michalak seems like a good pick-up. At only 24 years of age, he's proven that he can score a few goals here and there, and seems to be a decent player. And then there's Jonathan Cheechoo. While he's had a few good years in the NHL, his best being one where he scored 56 goals, he doesn't seem to have the consistency of putting the puck in the net that Dany Heatley does, but it really is going to be a question of whether Cheechoo fits in with the Ottawa Senators.
However, when all is said and done, I'm just glad that Heatley's gone from the team, and the Ottawa Senators can just get back to getting ready for the 2009-2010 NHL hockey season. And so, the post-Dany Heatley era begins for the Ottawa Senators and their fans.
I don't know what's going to shake out from this trade, but we'll all know within a few months of how things stand.
Go, Sens, go! :)