Ottawa Gives Heatley a New Lease on Ice

There are two indelible images of Dany Heatley.

There is the image of the magnetic young star with the gap-toothed smile on the hockey rink with the world at his feet. And then there is the sullen mug shot of a troubled athlete in a hospital room facing a world on the verge of collapse.

Heatley’s life was changed one horrific night in Atlanta nearly 2 1/2 years ago by an automobile accident that killed teammate Dan Snyder and almost ended Heatley’s career.

But that unmistakable grin has returned.

“You can see it on the ice,” said John Muckler, general manager of the Ottawa Senators. “That’s his home.”

Heatley is again an elite player, this time with the Senators. After being granted a trade by his original team, the Atlanta Thrashers, the big right wing is one of the NHL’s leading scorers with 34 goals and 37 assists.

As a reward, Heatley is on Canada’s roster for the Winter Olympics as the hockey-mad nation begins defense of its Salt Lake City gold medal Wednesday.

Life is good these days.

“I feel great,” said Heatley, born in what was West Germany but raised in Calgary. “The lockout was good for me. I got a chance to think about a lot of things..”

Not so long ago, happiness seemed unlikely for the former NHL rookie of the year.

Heatley pleaded guilty to second-degree vehicular manslaughter for his role as the driver in a high-speed accident in the upscale Atlanta neighborhood of Buckhead and received probation.

The accident put Snyder in a coma; he later died of head injuries.

Heatley received a serious knee injury in the accident; that injury healed well before the emotional wounds. With reminders of the crash and Snyder’s death ever present, Heatley asked for a trade from the Thrashers even as he grew to be the team’s first franchise player.

The request blindsided Atlanta General Manager Don Waddell, who had drafted the youngster second overall six years earlier and had envisioned building the Thrashers around him and high-scoring Russian forward Ilya Kovalchuk.

“I got to talk to him for about 15 minutes and I said, ‘Dany, take a day to think about this and I’ll give you a shout back tomorrow,’ ” Waddell said. “Obviously, disappointment was the biggest emotion. And then I thought, ‘How am I ever going to trade a player of this value?’ ”

Ottawa was having contract issues with its star forward, Marian Hossa, and the teams swapped their young stars in the first blockbuster deal after the NHL lockout had ended.

“It was a win-win situation, no question,” Muckler said. “These are two elite hockey players. Would we have looked at that trade if we didn’t have a cap problem? No. Probably not.”

Waddell said he understood why Heatley wanted out.

“Dany and I were pretty close,” he said. “When he called me, I knew he was sincere what he was asking for.”

Heatley said he needed a fresh start.

“Looking back on it, I think it was a really great thing for me, hockey-wise and everything else,” he said. “Who knows? I think I probably could have played there again. I spent three years there and have some good friends there.

“But this trade has been a great thing, in all honesty, for my career and my life.”

The road back to stardom hasn’t been without its bumpy moments.

Heatley returned to Atlanta in January for the first time since the trade and was booed every time he touched the puck by fans, who felt jilted after having supported him through his ordeal.

An 8-3 loss to the Thrashers only added insult to the depressing night. Looking back, Heatley realized that there were some hard feelings.

“Maybe,” he said. “But that’s something that’s out of my control. I had to do what I felt was best. There’s still a lot of people there that gave me a warm reception.”

In Canada’s capital city, Heatley has received plenty of support and has flourished on a line with young center Jason Spezza and team captain Daniel Alfredsson while becoming a leader in the locker room.

As Chris Neil, the Senators’ gritty checking center, said, “What happened in the past ... well, you obviously think about it. But, you know, life does go on.”