The Dany Heatley Era (1999–2005)

Lore & Background

In the late 1990s, the Ottawa Senators were building something special, and Dany Heatley was its most visible engine. Drafted second overall in 1997, the young left winger from the junior ranks arrived with a reputation for speed that bordered on the reckless. By the time the 1999–2000 season rolled around, he had shed his rookie roughness and become a two-way force who could outskate anyone on the ice and then deliver a clean, hard hit that reminded everyone why the Senators' identity was built on physicality. Fans at the Corel Centre learned to associate the sound of his skates carving the ice with a surge of energy that rippled through the building.

Heatley's style was not flashy in the showman sense. He was a player who chased pucks into the corners, forechecked with a ferocity that left opposing defencemen wary, and carried the puck with a low centre of gravity that made him nearly impossible to dislodge. In a league that was beginning to reward pure skill and finesse, the Senators under Heatley's influence played a game that felt older, harder, and more honest. His willingness to drop his shoulder, to take the boards, to play through contact, made him the emotional anchor of a forward line that included players like Martin Lapointe, Daniel Brière, and Al Iafrate.

The era also carried a bittersweet undercurrent. The Senators were competitive, making the playoffs with regularity, but the deep runs that would define the franchise a few years later had not yet arrived. Heatley's departure in the 2006 trade to Minnesota felt to many Ottawa fans like the loss of a founding voice. The team that would eventually storm to the 2007 Stanley Cup Final was built on the competitive culture that players like Heatley helped establish, and his ghost lingered in the dressing room long after his jersey was gone.

In Their Own Story

The Corel Centre was shaking. It was one of those third-period moments where the noise becomes a physical thing, a pressure against your eardrums, and the ice under the skates feels like it's vibrating. Heatley had the puck at the left dot, the kind of low, grinding carry that made the opposing defenceman's eyes go wide. He didn't shoot. He didn't pass. He just kept driving, shoulder low, stick tight, and the crowd's roar climbed another octave. Then the hit came—clean, loud, the kind that echoes off the glass and makes the puck bounce three feet into the air. Heatley was on his knees for a second, then up, and already skating back. The fans didn't cheer for the hit. They cheered for the fact that he was already back in the play, already chasing, already theirs. That was the thing about #12. You never had to wonder where he was.

Reader's Guide

1997: The Senators select Dany Heatley second overall in the NHL Entry Draft, signalling a new era of youth and speed for the franchise.

1997–98 to 1998–99: Heatley completes his rookie season and begins to establish himself as a two-way left wing. The Senators are a solid mid-pack Eastern Conference team, building identity around physical, hard-working hockey.

1999–2000 to 2001–02: Heatley enters his prime. His speed and physical play become the engine of the Senators' forward group. The team becomes a regular playoff participant, and the Corel Centre becomes a fortress on home ice. The franchise identity solidifies around intensity and accountability.

2002–03: A lockout-shortened season tests the roster's depth, but Heatley's motor and leadership remain constant. The Senators continue to compete at a high level in the East.

2003–04 to 2004–05: The arena is rebranded as Scotiabank Place. Heatley remains the emotional core of the team, and the Senators continue their streak of playoff appearances. The 2004–05 lockout season (48 games) is a grind, but Heatley's consistency anchors the group.

2005–06: The full-season return sees Heatley at the top of his game, but in January 2006 he is traded to the Minnesota Wild. The era closes, and the Senators begin the transition toward the next chapter that will eventually carry them to the 2007 Stanley Cup Final.

Did You Know?

• Dany Heatley was selected second overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, making him one of the highest picks in Senators franchise history.
• Heatley was widely regarded as one of the fastest players in the NHL during his Ottawa years, a trait that made him a nightmare for opposing defencemen on breakaways.
• His playing style—low centre of gravity, relentless forechecking, willingness to take hard hits—became a template for the physical, hard-working identity the Senators cultivated in that era.
• Heatley's trade to the Minnesota Wild in 2006 came just before the Senators' historic run to the 2007 Stanley Cup Final, meaning the team that reached the championship game was built on the competitive culture he helped