R&R: Heatley's Request Granted

When I saw the ESPN.com headline earlier that read "Thrashers trade Heatley," I had to do a double-take. But reading a little more into it, it makes a lot more sense. Not only will the Thrashers collect ex-Sens Marian Hossa and Greg de Vries out of the deal, but Dany Heatley asked to be traded.

When he got drafted, he was touted as the next big thing. He didn't get the press Sidney Crosby has had this year, but he was a young player to keep an eye on. Things took a turn in the wrong direction, however, when Heatley was the driver in a car wreck that killed friend and teammate Dan Snyder in 2003.

A change of scenery might help to abate the dark cloud around him. As for Hossa, it's been anyone's guess as to whether or not he'd sign with or hold out in Ottawa. But when he finally did sign, his contract was transferred to Atlanta with stunning speed.

Hossa may be as or more skilled a player than Heatley is, has been, or ever will be (based on, if nothing else, Heatley's turbulent personal life). Hossa will obviously be a tremendous help to the Thrashers in the scoring department, as will de Vries on the blue line. Prior to this, Atlanta's only other big move of the summer involved the signing of free agent Bobby Holik.

Now all that is fine and interesting, but what I really care about is Marty St. Louis jotting his name down on a new Lightning contract. I understand that championship contenders (and defenders) are always going to have trouble keeping their best players under the thumb of a salary cap, but I really want Marty to come back.

I recognize the business of sports, like anything else, and I'm not blind to the fact that there's a very little amount of cash left in the till for a guy who went from making the league's minimum salary to winning the scoring title and NHL MVP in just a few short years. And as much as he deserves to make the big bucks, surely he can see the logic in staying with a team he knows he fits so well into.

All right then. Consider my peace said. It was a slow weekend on the free agent market, but below is the list of notable moves that happened the last two days.

• Teemu Selanne decided the hot California sun beats the cold Rocky Mountains and so left the Avalanche to return to Anaheim;


• Todd Simpson left Ottawa to join the Blackhawks;


• Ex-Bolt Paul Mara re-upped with Phoenix;


• The Blackhawks sent Steve McCarthy to Vancouver;


• The Mighty Ducks shipped Mike Leclerc to Phoenix;


• and Petr Sykora signed with the Washington Capitals.

What might be the most amazing thing is that I didn't know we ever had Jamie Storr until he was signed by the Flyers. That's weird, right? I only remember him ever having talent years ago when he goaltended for the Kings. So I guess it's no big loss.

The last piece of news for today is Stephane Quintal's retirement announcement. After 16 years in the NHL, he's ready to hang up his skates. Quintal considers his dreams fulfilled — he got the chance to skate for Montreal. Then during last year's entry draft, he was traded to Los Angeles. He signed a one-year contract with the Kings, which was nixed by the lockout. So he felt compelled to end his career on his own terms.

Nothing wrong with that.




Georgian Hockey   I wrote a lot about Atlanta today, so I was going to post the Philips Arena satellite picture until I remembered I was there last year and have my own picture from the front. It's cooler anyway because of the way they spell out "Atlanta" with the beams. When you're standing in front of it, you don't notice it right away.