Thursday, March 01, 2007

Oh Dany Boy

I could probably get shot for this in Buffalo right now, but the non-Sabre I most enjoy watching is Dany Heatley. The man totally owns us. If the rest of his team played us as well as he does, the Sens would've been playing in the Conference Finals last season. He just amazes me. He comes seemingly out of nowhere and he puts the puck in exactly the right spot to beat the goaltender. Even during last week's brawl I was a little relieved when Henrik Tallinder managed to find Heatley so they could finish out the fight with their arms wrapped harmlessly around each other. (Double bonus since Hank is one of two or three Sabres that I absolutely, positively do NOT want hurt for the playoffs.) I know there are some mixed opinions about his role in Dan Snyder's death and the legal consequences - or lack thereof - he had to deal with so I won't go into that except to say that I'm glad he seems to have found a place to re-settle in Ottawa. It was hard to watch the chemistry between the Dan(n)ys Heatley and Briere during the All-Star game and not salivate over the idea of them on the same regular line. (For us, Senators fans, not for you.)

This season I've also loved watching Vincent Lecavalier. In the past I've always focused more on Martin St. Louis because I'm tickled by how small he is, but this year Vinny has had an awesome fire in his eyes when he's played against us. There have been a few games the Lightning have come close to winning on his will alone, I think. He just seems like a guy willing to put his team on his back if necessary and that kind of player is so much fun to watch.

Over in the Western Conference I enjoy what I manage to see of Scott Niedermayer and Jarome Iginla. I'd love to both of them more often.

6 comments:

Paige said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Paige said...

Dany Heatley, the nerve! I actually disagree with both of those people. I have a near-obsession with Afinogenov, and I remember a game where Vinny kept doing these stupid hits on Maxim that were just random shoves, giving us a PP about 3 times. I like to think that he was just jealous.

Margee said...

If you've ever been to SportSquee, I think you know how I feel about (my beloved) Dany Heatley. Excellent choice.

HG said...

Nice work, Heather, well said. I totally agree with you re: Heatley and Vinny. Yeah for you for knowing Iggy's game!

Meg said...

I quite like Heatley as well. I just wish he would score all those goals against someone other than the Sabres.

Heather B. said...

Paige: I know exactly what game you're talking about and I have to admit, it made me like Max *and* Vinny. I don't know what was going on between them that night but neither was going to take the other's guff which was, I thought, fun to watch.