Dany Heatley

**Dany Heatley** (born Daniel James Heatley on January 21, 1981 in Freiburg, West Germany) is a German-born Canadian former professional ice hockey winger who played in the NHL for the Atlanta Thrashers, Ottawa Senators, San Jose Sharks, Minnesota Wild and the Anaheim Ducks.

## Playing Career

### Amateur Playing Career

Playing minor hockey in the Alberta Midget Hockey League for the Calgary Buffaloes, Danny tallied 91 points in 36 games in the 1997–98 season to earn the Harry Allen Memorial Trophy as the league's top scorer. He went on to lead the Buffaloes to the bronze medal at the 1998 Air Canada Cup, where he finished as both Top Scorer and Tournament MVP.

As Danny intended to play college hockey in the United States, he joined the Junior A ranks in the 1998–99 season with the Calgary Canucks of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) to maintain his NCAA eligibility (as opposed to playing major junior). Recording 70 goals and 126 points in 60 games, he was named AJHL and Canadian Junior A Player of the Year.

The following season, he began his two-year tenure with the University of Wisconsin Badgers of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. As a freshman, he was named to the WCHA First All-Star Team and NCAA West Second All-American Team, in addition to earning WCHA Rookie of the Year honours.

In the off-season, Danny was drafted second overall by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft (behind goaltender Rick DiPietro).

After his sophomore year (in which he was named to the 2001 WCHA Second All-Star and NCAA West First All-American Teams), he chose to forgo his final two years of college eligibility to turn pro with the Thrashers.

### Atlanta Thrashers

In the 2001-02 season, Danny made his NHL debut with the Thrashers, leading all rookies in points (67) and assists (41) and was second in goal-scoring (26) behind teammate Ilya Kovalchuk. He won the Calder Memorial Trophy for Rookie of the Year, for which Kovalchuk was also nominated.

In the 2002–03 season, Danny emerged as an NHL superstar. Finishing ninth in overall league scoring, he tallied 41 goals and 89 points in 77 games, his best statistical season with the Thrashers.

On September 29, 2003, Danny was seriously injured after he lost control of the Ferrari 360 Modena he was driving. The car struck a wall, splitting the car in half and ejecting him and his passenger, teammate Dan Snyder.

Danny sustained a broken jaw, a minor concussion, a bruised lung and a bruised kidney, and he tore three ligaments in his right knee. Snyder was critically injured with a skull fracture; he died six days later, on October 5, 2003 of sepsis.

He was later charged with vehicular homicide and pleaded guilty to second-degree vehicular homicide, driving too fast for conditions, failure to maintain a lane and speeding. He admitted to drinking prior to the incident, but his blood-alcohol content was below the legal limit.

He was sentenced to three years probation, and the judge, Rowland W. Barnes, required the court to approve his vehicle, which could not have more than six cylinders and would not surpass 70 mph (112 km/h). He avoided having to go to trial as part of a plea deal that dropped the first-degree charge of vehicular homicide.

Due to the injuries that he suffered from the car crash, Danny's season did not start until January of 2004 and he appeared in only 31 games. A disappointing season ended with an early elimination in the race for a playoff spot and 25 points.

During the last part of the season, the Thrashers and the Atlanta community (including Snyder's family) were largely supportive of Danny, including telling Atlanta prosecutors and the judge that nothing would be gained by imprisoning him.

During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Danny initially played for the Swiss team SC Bern. He played consistently well, scoring more than a point per game until he was injured in November of 2004 when he required surgery for a broken orbital bone after being struck in the left eye with a puck; the pupil in his left eye became permanently dilated as a result.

He finished the year with the All-Star-laden Ak Bars Kazan in the Russian Superleague, joining Thrashers teammate and friend Ilya Kovalchuk, among others, but had an unimpressive stint.

### Ottawa Senators

Prior to the end of the NHL lock-out, Danny asked to be traded from Atlanta in hopes of leaving reminders of the tragic crash behind; however, this was unpopular with Atlanta fans, particularly as Dan Snyder's father Graham noted that he owed much to the Thrashers' organization that had particularly been extremely supportive of him during his trial and ordeal.

On August 23, 2005, the Thrashers sent Danny to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Slovak star Marian Hossa and veteran defenceman Greg de Vries. Hossa had just re-signed with the Senators after protracted and often contentious negotiations. A restricted free agent at the time of the trade, he immediately signed a three-year, $13.5 million contract with the Senators.

In his first game for the Senators, against the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 5, 2005, Danny played with Jason Spezza and Brandon Bochenski, but when the Senators were down with five minutes to go, Daniel Alfredsson (who replaced Bochenski) scored the tying goal.

As the 2005–06 season was the first year that the NHL implemented the shootout, Danny became the second player to score in an NHL shootout, scoring against Leafs goalie Ed Belfour after Alfredsson. Later that month, on October 29, he scored four consecutive goals in an 8–0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, marking a career high for goals in a game.

Danny made a spectacular start with his new team, registering points in the first 22 games of the 2005–06 season, breaking Marian Hossa's previous franchise record of 13 consecutive games. Among players with new teams, this was behind only Wayne Gretzky's 23-game streak upon joining the Los Angeles Kings during the 1988–89 season.

In his first game back in Atlanta as a Senator, Danny was frequently booed (indicating that Thrashers fans felt snubbed by his previous trade request). Despite scoring, he and the Senators suffered an 8–3 defeat to his former Thrashers teammates.

Danny finished the 2005–06 season with 50 goals and 103 points, fourth in the league. Incidentally, his first 50-goal season also marked the first time any Senators player had achieved that mark, setting a franchise record for goals in a season (previously held by Marián Hossa, who scored 45 goals in 2002–03).

His 103 points also tied Daniel Alfredsson for the team lead, together surpassing Alexei Yashin's franchise record of 94 points in a season (achieved in the 1998–99 season).

Catalyzed by a rejuvenated offence, Ottawa finished the season with the best record in the Eastern Conference and the second-best in the league. With lofty expectations for the playoffs, they were eliminated in the second round by the Buffalo Sabres. Danny recorded 12 points in 10 games.

At the end of the season, Danny was selected (along with Alfredsson) to the Second All-Star Team.

After a slow start to the 2006–07 season, he recorded 50 goals once more (second in the league to Vincent Lecavalier's 52 goals) and 105 points (fourth in the league). By reaching the 50-goal plateau for the second straight season, he became the first NHL player to do so since Pavel Bure in the 1999–00 season. His 105 points broke the previous franchise record he shared with Alfredsson. His performance earned him a spot on the First All-Star Team.

Danny and the Senators followed up another strong regular season going all the way to the Stanley Cup finals, but finished short in five games against the Anaheim Ducks. The Alfredsson, Spezza and Heatley line was dominant, leading the NHL in playoffs points, all tied at 22.

Fresh off the heels of a Stanley Cup finals appearance, Danny began the 2007–08 season with a new six-year contract extension with the Senators worth $45 million which was signed prior to the season opener against the Maple Leafs.

Since arriving in Ottawa from the Marian Hossa trade, Danny had appeared in 208 consecutive Senators games, until suffering a separated shoulder on January 12, 2008, in a collision with Detroit Red Wings forward Dallas Drake, sidelining him for 11 games. He completed the 2007–08 season with 41 goals and 41 assists for 82 points in 71 games.

Ottawa was plagued with injuries to its superstars all season. Seeding seventh overall in the East, Ottawa met the Pittsburgh Penguins in the playoffs, coincidentally the same first-round match-up of the previous year; however, Danny and the Senators wouldn't make a second run for the Cup and were swept in four games. He managed just one point in the series.

On October 3, 2008, Danny was named alternate captain to Daniel Alfredsson, along with defenceman Chris Phillips; however, the 2008–09 season was met with decreased production for him and the top line as well as an 11th-place finish for the Senators in the Eastern Conference, well out of playoff contention.

Coming off his lowest points total since his rookie season (excluding his shortened 31-game season in 2003–04), TSN reported that Danny had filed a request for a trade on June 9, 2009, despite being only one year into a six-year contract extension signed in 2007. He had reportedly become unhappy with his role with the Senators under new head coach Cory Clouston.

Despite his declining offensive numbers, Danny felt that his decreased ice time and his move from the first power-play line to the second power-play line were unfair to him. Prior to the trade request, these concerns had been addressed in the Senators' year-end meetings.

In an interview with reporters, Senators' General Manager Bryan Murray stated that he was *"shocked and disappointed"* at the request.

In addition, Murray stated that Clouston was hurt by Heatley's remarks, stating:

*"The frustrating part for us is we have gone through several coaches here that we couldn't win enough games with. We brought in a guy the results we were very happy with. The team started to look like a real team again. And then to be kind of blindsided, in his way of thinking anyway, by one of your players – not wanting to fit in. That's hard for a coach to accept."*

Trading Danny was made more challenging due to his large contract, a contract that was to pay him approximately $7.6 million for the upcoming 2009–10 season, with few other teams having the available salary cap space to accommodate.

A deal was in place to send Danny to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Andrew Cogliano, Dustin Penner and Ladislav Smid on June 30, 2009, but he refused to waive his no-trade clause, further angering fans in both Ottawa and Edmonton.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly suggested that the Senators may have grounds to file a grievance, as Danny's contract stipulated the team pay a bonus (due July 1, 2009) of US$4 million. The Edmonton trade would have spared the Senators that expense.

### San Jose Sharks

On September 12, 2009, Danny was traded to the San Jose Sharks (along with a fifth-round pick in 2010) in exchange for Milan Michálek, Jonathan Cheechoo and a second-round pick in 2010.

In the Sharks' fourth game of the season, their home opener against the Columbus Blue Jackets and Heatley's first game in front of the San Jose fans, he capped a hat-trick with a penalty shot goal in the third period, bringing his season totals to four goals and five assists (nine points) in the first four games of the season.

On November 20, 2009, Danny recorded his second hat-trick in as many months, as he scored three times from passes from teammate Joe Thornton in a 6–3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Sharks were eliminated in the 2010 Conference Finals. With Danny in the penalty box, the Chicago Blackhawks scored the game-winning goal, sweeping the series; however, Head Coach Todd McLellan revealed that he had been playing the entire playoffs with a torn groin muscle.

On December 2, 2010, in his first return to Ottawa, he was frequently booed. The Sharks won the game 4–0, and he had an assist.

In the following season, Danny put up the worst full-season point totals of his career, registering only 26 goals and 64 points in 80 games. After the season had concluded, it was revealed that he had been battling multiple injuries during the season, and especially during the playoffs.

### Minnesota Wild

On July 3, 2011, Danny was traded to the Minnesota Wild for Martin Havlat. There he joined former teammate Devin Setoguchi who had also been traded by the Sharks to the Wild on June 24, ten days before him. While producing a solid season, scoring 53 points, the Wild ultimately failed to reach the playoffs despite a hot start to the year.

On February 9, 2012, he recorded the fastest goal in Wild history, scoring 13 seconds into a game against the Vancouver Canucks.

In the lockout-shortened 2012–13 season, he recorded 11 goals and 10 assists in 36 games with Minnesota; however, during a game against the San Jose Sharks in April, an altercation with former teammate Marc-Edouard Vlasic dislocated his left shoulder, requiring surgery that ended his season.

The 2013–14 season saw Danny's production decline dramatically, as he recorded only nine goals and 19 points in his first 55 games. Approaching unrestricted free agency, speculation began that his NHL career might be over and that he might move to Europe to continue his hockey career.

Even though Danny had showed glimpses of his former abilities (registering seven points in one ten-game stretch) by the 74-game mark of the season, he had recorded only 27 points. On March 29, 2014, he was a healthy scratch for the first time in his career after being demoted to the fourth line for several games.

### Anaheim Ducks & Florida Panthers

On July 9, 2014, Danny signed a one-year deal as a free agent with the Anaheim Ducks worth $1 million. He was a healthy scratch after four games with no points.

On December 11, 2014, he was assigned to the Ducks' American Hockey League affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals. On December 29, 2014, he was placed on waivers. On February 28, 2015, he was traded to the Florida Panthers along with a 2016 third-round draft choice for Tomas Fleischmann

Danny finished his tenure with the Ducks with no points in 6 games, but recorded 7 in 25 games with Norfolk.

### European Playing Career

On September 17, 2015, Danny signed with German club, the Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. He reached the DEL playoff-semifinals with the Ice Tigers, where they fell short to the Grizzlys Wolfsburg.

He played a total of 59 games in the 2015–16 season, tallying 19 goals (including the Ice Tigers' final goal of the season) and 18 assists.

## Career Statistics

### NHL All-Star Games

 2007 | Dallas | 1
 2008 | Atlanta | —
 2009 | Montreal | 1
 All-Star totals

## International Play

Heatley competed in two World Junior Championships during his two-year career at the University of Wisconsin.

His first (in 2000) ended with a bronze medal win against the US in a shootout; he scored a goal in the 4–3 victory.

In 2001, he scored three goals and five points as Canada won a second-straight bronze.

Heatley made his senior international debut with Team Canada at the 2002 World Championships, after his rookie season with the Atlanta Thrashers. He scored four points as Canada was defeated in the quarter-finals by Slovakia.

The following year, he led Team Canada in scoring (seven goals and ten points) at the 2003 World Championships in Finland, en route to his first gold medal.

Having missed the playoffs once more with the Thrashers, he participated in the 2004 World Championships in the Czech Republic. He dominated with 11 points to lead all tournament scorers, earning his second-straight MVP award. Canada captured a second-straight gold medal, defeating Sweden 5–3 in the final.

Heatley scored his eighth goal of the tournament in the third period, starting a rally from a 3–1 deficit.

Several months later, he competed in the 2004 World Cup and contributed two assists as Canada defeated Finland in the final to capture the second-ever World Cup championship.

At the 2005 World Championships in Austria, his fourth-straight World Championships, Heatley did not achieve the same success, with seven points in nine games, as Canada was shut-out by the Czech Republic in the gold medal game.

On December 21, 2005, Heatley was chosen by Team Canada to participate in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin – his first Olympic games.

Heatley managed three points in six games as Canada, defending its 2002 gold medal, was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Russia.

As Heatley returned to the World Championships after a three-year absence in 2008; he was added to the roster with teammate Jason Spezza after the Ottawa Senators were eliminated from the playoffs.

He became Team Canada's all-time goal-scorer and then all-time point leader for the World Championships, passing Marcel Dionne and Steve Yzerman, accordingly.

He finished the tournament with a staggering 12 goals and eight assists in nine games, however, Canada was defeated by Russia in overtime of the gold medal game. Heatley was given MVP, Best Forward and All-Star Team honours.

In the summer of 2009, Heatley was invited to Team Canada's Olympic tryout camp in Calgary, where he was booed on the ice by fans.

On December 30, 2009, he was selected to play for Team Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics. He helped lead Team Canada to an 8–0 win in the first game of the 2010 Olympic tournament by scoring two goals.

On February 28, 2010, the team defeated the United States to win Canada's eighth gold medal in Olympic men's hockey.

## Accolades

### Records and milestones

**NHL**

* All-Star Game record for most goals in a game (4, tied)
* All-Star Skills Competition record for shooting accuracy (2004) – 4 for 4 (shared with \*Ray Bourque, Mark Messier, Tomas Kaberle, Evgeni Malkin and Jeremy Roenick)
* First NHL game-winning shootout goal

**Team**

* Atlanta Thrashers franchise record for most points by a rookie (67)
* Ottawa Senators franchise record for most goals in a season (50)
* Ottawa Senators franchise record for most points in a season (105)
* Ottawa Senators franchise record for longest point-scoring streak (22 games)
* Ottawa Senators franchise record for most points in one post-season (22, tied with Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson)
* First Ottawa Senator in franchise history to score 50 goals in a season
* First Ottawa Senator in franchise history to score back to back 50 goal seasons

**International**

* Team Canada's all-time leading goal-scorer – 42 (as of 2010 Winter Olympics)
* Team Canada's all-time leading point-scorer – 69 (as of 2010 Winter Olympics)

## Personal Life

Because of his mother's German ancestry, Heatley holds dual Canadian-German citizenship.

### Endorsements

Heatley was selected as the cover player for the EA Sports video game, NHL 2004, but due to the fallout from Heatley's crash shortly afterwards, EA switched the cover photo to Joe Sakic, although many copies of the game were shipped with his photo on them.

### Lawsuit against agent

In August of 2012, it was revealed that Heatley had filed an $11 million lawsuit against his longtime agent and business adviser Stacey McAlpine, McAlpine's parents Gerald and Eugenia, and several companies.

The suit (filed in the Calgary Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta) alleges that the defendants lured Heatley into several real estate ventures across Canada and the United States with promises of huge returns that never materialized.

It is also alleged that Stacey McAlpine made unauthorized withdrawals of more than $4 million from Heatley's bank accounts. The defendant companies named in court documents are Presidential Suites Inc., Waterfront Development Inc., McAlpine Sports Management Inc., and NSEM Management Inc.

One month later, it was revealed that Heatley's former Senators teammate Chris Phillips was also initiating a $7.5 million suit against Stacey McAlpine to recover lost money as a result of bad real estate deals.

The suit (launched at the Ontario court in Ottawa) alleges Phillips felt that he was misled by McAlpine and has not been able to recover monies invested.

After a lengthy court process, Heatley was awarded $6.5 million from a judge in Calgary, Alberta on July 21, 2017.

On October 18, 2017, McAlpine was later arrested and charged with fraud, money laundering and theft by authorities in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.