Oops

Over the last week or so, I have wondered if media types ever get tired of getting what they wanted.

All summer long the media has been salivating over the prospect of an actual media event with Dany Heatley. Without real, hard news to go on, the media has enjoyed the opportunity to speculate as to Heatley's real or imagined complaints, as well as to drag what is left of his character through the mud. The resulting column inches have ranged from insightful analysis through studied indifference and ending at borderline-libelous vitriol.

But last week, Heatley ran out of time to hide and popped up at a media event just before the Olympic team orientation camp.

At which he said precisely nothing new.

This led to another brief round of analysis touting how selfish and unrealistic Heatley's views on his role in the team really is. But since then, since Heatley has continued to say precisely nothing new, the story has almost totally run out of air.

Which I suppose is a 20-20-hindsight lesson for the Heatley camp. If he'd had this media event in June when the story broke, it would have been all over by Canada Day. Well until his refusal to go to Edmonton breathed new life into it, but even that would have lasted less than a week.

In the absence of facts, the media is free to churn itself into a frenzy over theories, rumors, and speculation. Throwing facts on the fire will result in a brief burst of coverage, but after that it will fizzle out for the most part.

Now the collective media has a problem: how to continue to breathe life into this story now that speculation is off the table.

Personally my view hasn't changed -- I have been a proponent of trading Heatley for hockey reasons since last season. I still think that Heatley could be traded for the proverbial bag-o-pucks, just because $7 million in cap space can buy a lot of second-line talent in today's league; any value above that, assuming it is real value and not just an assortment of random parts, would be a bonus.

But what is probably going to happen is that Heatley will still be an Ottawa Senator in the fall. He'll get roundly booed the first few games, but his trick of putting the puck in the net will win back the fans. The result will be that the fanbase will be once again firmly behind him and will feel betrayed by the Senators organization when the inevitable trade happens around Christmas.

All of which will probably generate more column inches all over the place, here included. But only on matters which are truly speculative.

Fighting: You're doing it wrong

Off The Posts talks about fighting in baseball:

Oh, I completely understand why Kevin Youkilis charged Rick Porcello. The kid has a good fastball and he planted it right in the middle of Youk's back. But how does Youkilis get away with throwing his helmet at the pitcher? And why does everyone have to jump in? They should be left to settle their differences, like men. Like hockey players.

Or, you know, maybe we'd have the designated hitter, who'd be permitted to charge the mound and try to fight the pitcher. Unless the shortstop got to the mound first, in which case the DH would be obligated to fight him, instead.

To The Point

Bitter Leaf Fan Page has an article about describing something in six words or less. The author took this concept and asked people to describe their relationship with the Maple Leafs using this form of self-expression.

I didn't hear about this in time, but I wonder if they'd have published my first thought:

It's funny because it's true.

...of course, that kind of describes the Senators right now, doesn't it.

Alfredsson on Heatley

This has probably been quoted to death already, but here's what the captain thinks:

“It’s so surprising. I thought we were a team that had kind of turned things around and were going in the right direction. We underachieved all year...and we could see a lot of positive signs going forward — maybe try and reach the playoffs next season and go far in the playoffs. Dany, obviously, was a huge part of our success before and I thought would be going foward as well.”

At least he found different words to describe how shocked and disappointed he was. It was kind of sad when Fisher, Neil, Murray and Melnyk all used more or less the same words when asked by the media. Sure, you expect a certain lack of imagination from Fisher and Neil, but Melnyk I'd expect to be a little more eloquent.

I think of all the parties involved, Alfredsson is showing the best mindset possible -- he is looking towards having Heatley in the dressing room this fall and is trying to make sure that the room will be as friendly as possible.

No word on the wires regarding Heatley going to Edmonton today, so I wonder if that is really dead. More likely it is management on both sides trying to play games with each other.

I still think the most likely scenario is that Heatley joins the team, does really well, and is traded by Christmas. While the team offensively looks great with Heatley, Kovalev, Spezza and Alfredsson, the fact is that defensively the team will still be weak. I'd look for Heatley to go to another contending team, probably in exchange for some defense.

SuperAlfie

Silver Seven celebrates Daniel Alfredsson becoming the longest currently-serving team captain with his top-ten Alfredson memories.

My favorite is the game where he scored three goals and four assists against Tampa in 2008. This set a franchise record for points scored in a single game and led to such brilliant headlines as "Alfie 8, Tampa Bay 4".

From his list though I do not agree with the hit on Darcy Tucker which led to the game-winning goal. This was a game-altering, potentially series-altering play (although the Senators managed to choke and give the series to Toronto). I thought that hit should have been called, but since it was "playoff hockey", it wasn't. While the incident shows that Alfredsson is able and willing to play "playoff hockey" I disagree with the culture that insists that it is necessary to have "playoff hockey" be different from regular season hockey. </sermon>

Good News, Everyone!

The new guy apparently doesn't read the papers:

Kovalev says Stanley Cup within reach

[...]“Ottawa is a pretty good team that has a chance to win the Stanley Cup,” the flashy Russian star said in a conference call from Russia Tuesday, when asked about why he chose to sign a two-year, $10 million U.S. deal here on Monday.[...]

Make no mistake, if Kovalev has his game on, he could be a producer which would fill the hole Heatley leaves if when he leaves. But while many are still drooling over the prospect of a top-four instead of a top-three this year (assuming Heatley stays), I'm with those who are a bit worried about how we are going to pay for it all... especially since there is still a lack of top-tier defense on the team.

Trivially Obvious

James Gordon wonders:

Can someone tell me how Heatley can ever come back and play here if a trade doesn't materialize?

My answer:

Oh, that's almost trivially easy: put the puck in the net a dozen times in the first dozen games, including one OT winner against Toronto. If he does that, all sins will be forgiven. At least they will at the stadium, even if the media will enjoy grinding their axes longer than that.

If anything, the media will enjoy this kind of situation -- having a hero they can tear down, so that they can build him up again, giving them the opportunity to tear him down again.

The problem is that Ottawa fans are fickle. (Or at least, the media and blog-o-sphere is.) So any excuse to pile on, and people will pile on. See for example practically any thread about Jason Spezza. However, the good news is that Ottawa fans are fickle -- should Heatley start producing, and winning, and the fans will love him again. All of which will make the sense of betrayal even sweeter when the inevitable trade gets arranged around Christmas.

That's Ottawa for you. We can't do hockey, but by god we can do dramah.