This and That

Well Dany Heatley finally spoke about his desire to leave the Senators. Somehow he feels that he’s a loyal fellow and a great teammate. He says that his problem with the Senators is that his role has been diminished. This argument doesn’t appear to hold water since neither his ice time or production have not gone down with the new coach. He pointed out that he didn’t want his trade demand to become public, but that does not take away from the fact that he did demand to be traded after signing a contract that included a no trade clause that he asked for. He said that he loves Edmonton as a hockey town, but he wanted to have more options and choices. Strange isn’t it, you demand a trade, but in his case I guess that means the team must find several trades for you so that you can choose which one you, the player, like the best. Of course Heatley is not about to walk away from all his money out of principle, so if a trade that he likes isn’t made, he’ll show up with the Senators at training camp anyway. It seems to be all about Dany in his world.

Balsillie probably made a big mistake by including Melnyk in his court filings. Melnyk was one person that may have been an ally to Balsillie if the NHL’s stand against him started to break down, but now he may have lost that ally. Melnyk certainly took exception to being drawn into the court case, but I was surprised by him wanting to make this more public. I think everybody is pretty bored by the details of Balsillie’s legal filing and Melnyk’s OSC settlement is old news so nobody really raised an eyebrow when Balsillie included him in the filing. I think he would have been smarter to just let this slide by instead of taking shots back at Balsillie. Maybe the NHL nudged him into making the public statement, though I really don’t see the point.

The Rogers tennis tournament produced some good tennis and upsets. Normally upsets are great, but you always have to wonder about them when it happens at this tournament. Serena Williams seemed particularly disinterested in her semi-final loss on Saturday. The reality is that many of the top players use this tournament as a tune up for the US Open and do not plan on a long stay here so the top seeds going down quickly has become the norm. All said though I must admit that I can’t complain too much about watching Maria Sharapova make it all the way to the finals in her comeback bid. There is something about her game that I just like.

Also in the world of woman’s sport we had the Solheim Cup in golf which pitted the top US golfers against those from Europe. This year’s version not only produced some great golf, but the enthusiasm of team golf is a great change from the routine tournaments that we see each week. For me, the Ryder Cup, President’s Cup and Solheim all compare right up there with the majors as must see TV. The US women’s team featured a changing of the guard with Creamer, Pressel, Kim, Wie and Gulbis all involved. Michelle Wie had a great weekend and seemed to rediscover some of her fire for the game. Hopefully her success in this tournament puts her career back on track. The tournament was also likely a finale for Julie Inkster and Laura Davies on the world golf stage.

Lastly, let’s congratulate Toronto’s newest champions. A champion in Toronto you ask? Yes, the Toronto Nationals won the 2009 Major League Lacrosse Championship in their first season. For those not familiar with this league, it is outdoor lacrosse played on the equivalent of a football field. Somehow I managed to find it on television and witnessed the last two minutes. As of yet I have not heard of a planned parade on Bay Street but I’ll let you know if anything gets planned.