Robertus Reacts: Heatley for Hossa & DeVries

Last week, as I put the finishing touches on my Rangers Review, the Ottawa Senators announced they had traded Marian "Stop Calling Me Maid" Hossa and Greg "Rules" DeVries straight up for Dana Heatley.

When Dana Dany Heatley first came into the league, the young Canadian was hailed as the savior of the game. He was lauded for his humility, his brashness, his exuberance; he was smart, he was well spoken (that backhanded compliment handed out to athletes, as though most are monosyllabic), he knew his hockey, his place at the table. Before Sidney Crosby, Heatley was the savior, he was the future, he was The Man. Paired with Russian sensation Ilya Kovalchuk on a young and exciting Atlanta Thrashers team, the sky seemed limit; when he scored four goals in the 2003 All Star Game (tying Gretzky, Lemieux, Mike Gartner, and Vincent Damphousse), the sky was torn away. The Danny Heatley Era had begun. Heatley was awarded the Calder Trophy for Rookie of the Year, and finished his sophmore year with 89 points in 77 games. It seemed a new day had dawned.

That summer, the day turned night:

Following a pre-season team function on September 29, 2003, Heatley and teammate Dan Snyder were driving home when they were involved in a serious accident which would change both their lives.
Atlanta police said Heatley's Ferrari was travelling at approximately 130 kilometres an hour on a narrow two-lane road when he lost control, spun off the road and smashed into a brick and wrought iron fence.
The force of the impact split the car in half. Both player were thrown into the road. Tests revealed alcohol was not a contributing factor in the accident.
Snyder, who wasn't scheduled to start the new season due to ankle surgery, suffered a severe skull fracture and slipped into a coma while Heatley's injuries were less severe, a broken jaw and torn ligaments in his right knee.
Six days after the accident, Snyder succumbed to his injuries and died without ever regaining consciousness

The crash was eerily reminiscent of the accident that killed Flyers goaltending phenom Pelle Lindbergh, but sadder still, because Heatley survived, and has been forced to live with the responsibility (real or imagined) of that night. By all accounts, the Thrashers organization and fans flocked to their player, cheering and supporting him, reaching out with collective open arms, showing the best face of a franchise and fan base. But, as is often the case with hauntings, Heatley felt the need to escape, and so it goes.

Will the trade work for both teams? Statistically, it seems a wash -- although Hossa has not endeared himself to Senators fans, he has quietly been a point-per-game player over the past two seasons, and Greg DeVries adds some veteran presence to a blue line anchored by the afforementioned Tomas Kloucek.

However, all I can say for certain is that Dany Heatley, the future, will play this season in Ottawa, far from Atlanta and, I hope, September 2003.

Coming Soon! Robertus Reviews The New York Islanders, and the Long Cold Winter Toronto.

Robertus Reviews: The New York Rangers

On a warm June night in 1994, I paced around the desolate parcel pick-up lane at the Hickory Ridge Giant, staring at my watch and out into the blackness of the parking lot, waiting for my shift to end. At ten o’clock, John McMahon called me over the intercom -- “Bobby,” he said, “get outta here.”

I ran through the automatic double doors to my 1986 Mercury Lynx, turned over the engine (a miracle in itself), and turned the AM dial until I found John Davidson, Rangers leading 2-1 in the second. I drove slowly down Cedar Lane, hoping to time my arrival at home with a commercial break, hoping to not hit a mailbox or a wayward squirrel, hoping someone could hold back Pavel Bure. And then, Mark Messier, the Miracle Worker (who only a week before had guaranteed a victory against the hated New Jersey Devils, then scored a hat trick to deliver), scored… scored… and I honked my horn and flashed my lights, and pushed the pedal to the floor so I could watch the celebration in the living room with Hockey Dad.

I arrived home as the Zamboni made the last pass between the second and third. When the referee drops the puck, I can hardly watch. When Trevor Linden scores to close the margin, I can’t sit down. When the buzzer sounds, the Rangers’ bench explodes in a mass of gloves and sticks, and for the first time in ten minutes, I breathe. As the Stanley Cup circles the Garden ice, one fan holds a sign that says it all.

Unfortunately, we didn’t die in peace that night. Instead, we’ve been subjected to a decade of hockey from the New York Rangers. Glen Wesley, Esa Tikkanen, Steve Larmer, and a slew of other players retired. Jeff Beukeboom was punched in the back of the head so hard he couldn’t see straight, and so retired. Mike Richter blew out his knees three times in two years. Mark Messier left for Vancouver and then tearfully returned. Alexi Kovalev became a goal scoring machine in Pittsburgh, and then scorelessly returned, only to leave again for Montreal. Finally, the icon, the rock, Brian Leetch, was traded to Toronto.

A friend of mine asked me what I thought of the 2005-2006 incarnation of the Rangers. Here’s what I wrote:

Actually, I like the Rangers up the middle -- Nylander's been a point-per-game guy for the last few seasons, Jamie Lundmark won the Thomas Klouchek Memorial "Bob Says He'll Be Good Any Minute Now" Award last season, and Straka is a decent pickup if he stops breaking his legs.
"Straka is a decent pickup if he stops breaking his legs." I just typed that. Twice.
They're OK on the left with Ville The Villian Niemenan and Martin Rucinsky, and I scored six goals in one game with Garth Murray in NHL 2004 on the Rookie setting, so that's a good sign.
They've got one of the 5-10 best players in the league on the right side in Yaomir Yagr (as maligned with the caps as he was, he still put up numbers), Jason Ward is solid if unspectacular, and Russlan Balej "With Diamonds" just won the Jim "Well En" Dowd Award for Biggest Nickname Stretch.
And the D ain't bad. Kaspo the Unfriendly Ghost, Marek the Freak Malik, Poti Tang, Fedor Tyutin (the forerunner for next year's Thomas Klouchek Memorial Award), Dale “The Pylon” Purinton, and Jason "the R is silent" Strudwick.
And we could do worse than Kevin Weekes in goal. We could do better, but we could do worse.

Of course, I was writing this e-mail off the cuff, so I made one major error and a few minor omissions. Ruslan Balej’s first name is actually Jozef. I forgot to mention Heinrich Lundqvist and Al "Stop Calling Me Inigo" Montoya are waiting in the wings behind Kevin Weekes. Since I wrote the e-mail, they've added Maxim Kondratiev and Jarko Immonen and signed draft pick Hugh Jessiman.

Will the Rangers make the playoffs? Maybe as the 7^th or 8^th seed, thanks to the weaknesses of Buffalo, Carolina, Florida, and the Capitals. For the Rangers, this season needs to be about next season, and the season after. Despite the presence of Jagr, Nylander, and Rucinsky, the Rangers are a young team. If they can get minutes to Jessiman, Lundmark, et al. and throw some rubber at Lundqvist, they could solidify the core of the 2007-2008 Stanley Cup Champion New York Rangers.

Coming Soon! Robertus Reacts to the Ottawa Senator’s trade for Dany Heatley.

The Great Outdoors

Behold, for I bring you tidings of great joy! Earlier this week, the National Hockey League announced their hotly anticipated partnership with the Outdoor Life Network. In a deal that has twice been described as multifaceted, the Outdoor Life Network will air at least 58 games across the United States, beginning with the Rangers @ Flyers contest on October 5^th.

Realizing the essential role of the Outdoor Life Network in the surging popularity of bull riding and cross-country cycling in the States, NHL Commisioner Gary Bettman proudly announced that "[w]e recognize and appreciate that Comcast is making a tremendous investment in the NHL and that hockey will be a priority on OLN."

Games will be available in High Definition through Comcast's Video On Demand, which means that both hockey fans across the country will spend the next six weeks shopping online for HDTVs.

In a related development, the Outdoor Life Network has followed the lead of its television rival The Nashville Network, and is now simply known as OLN. Several years ago, The Nashville Network acquired the television rights for the WWF. Quickly realizing their mistake, they bought out the contract and signed a television deal with the World Wrestling Federation.
Seeking to capitalize on the popularity of professional wrestling and distance themselves

Welcome!

Spent the pleasantly springlike early evening hanging up hockey equipment that I've had since my playing days at Saint Joe's and Howard County, looking forward to starting a new season officiating and, for the first time in half a decade, playing (now in the Laurel Men's League and, for the first time in 300-odd days, watching hockey.

And so sitting in the bumblebee office, enjoying a pint, I realized that I could fill an entire blog ruminating about sports, and then realized that I could.

And so I will -- Robertus on Ice -- ruminations about sports, hockey-centric (you'll get enough of Terrell Owens here or here or here), the games I play, the games I watch, the games I ref, the games I love.

Once the rosters have been finalized, look for The First Annual Robertus Reviews of all 29 professional teams and the Washington Capitals.