(Warning: blogger is still kind of angry.)

Regarding the question of why our soon-to-be former sniper has decided to spit in Sens’ fans faces and skip town, answers beyond “he doesn’t like Coach Clouston” are few and far between. I have, however, come across a couple of items that may shed some light on the subject.

First, from Wayne Scanlan in the Citizen:

When I was in Switzerland to cover the world championship, I had a chance to speak to Heatley about the fan response he receives in Europe, especially in Switzerland, where he played briefly during the lockout. He is THE most admired Canadian player abroad … at least he was on the recent worlds team. It’s different in Ottawa. The “old guard,” Heatley said, referring specifically to Alfredsson, Mike Fisher and Chris Phillips, own the town. He and Spezza hadn’t been here long enough.

I get that, to an extent. It’s valid, particularly in Mike Fisher’s case, to say that Ottawa fans will let a player get away with more on the ice if he’s perceived to do more in the community. But at the same time I’m left wondering: what did he want from us? The people of Ottawa embraced him, as far as I can tell. He was, until he ditched us, my favourite player. Ask Scarlett Ice’s DHS, now in need of a new screenname, how he feels right now. One of the guys on The Team yesterday pointed out that if you look at the jerseys in the crowd at a Sens game, the ones with #15 on them are probably outnumbered only by the #11s, which leads me to ask: is this guy seriously complaining about the fact that people love Alfie more than they love him? Dude. It’s Alfie.

Second, I listened to The Team 1200’s interview with Heatley’s agent, Stacy McAlpine, yesterday morning. The guy didn’t give a lot of big answers, that’s for sure, but one thing he did say was that Heatley wanted a large role on the team — presumably a larger role than he’d been given — and that he’s “entitled” to that. (Yes, he used the word entitled.) Hearing this, I have to wonder again what exactly Heatley thought was going to get. He was given the A this year at his request — over “old guard” member Fisher — and, as Scanlan points out, when Alfie was injured early in the season he was given the C — over “old guard” member Phillips. What more could he have wanted? The captaincy? Let me say this again, really clearly so there’s no mistake:

IT’S ALFIE!

As fellow OBC blogger Sherry said in an email, “the only way you’re getting that C is to pry it off of Alfie’s dead, lifeless carcass.”

Geez. And anyway, when we get our hearts stomped on every couple of seasons by some diva who wants more from us, is it any wonder Ottawa fans will give more leeway to the ones who’ve stuck it out? Good luck getting your new team to make you the captain, Mr. I Just Bailed on My Team a Year Into My New Contract. I’m so very, very sorry we couldn’t provide quite enough food for your ego.