Dany Heatley vs Jason Spezza

[JagerMeister]

who was the better player during their time in ottawa?

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

This one is a very good question...and one that can't be easily answered because it depends on what you look for in "better".

 

Not looking at numbers right off, I want to say Dany Heatley was definitely the 'better' player in terms of pure goal scoring output...he was a flat out monster scorer.

But much like a comet, he flashed brightly and vividly, but then then started to see some sharp decline as his time in Ottawa came to an end.

 

Jason Spezza, meanwhile, never was the pure monster scorer Heatley was, but he was more consistent as a balanced type player (on offense anyways)...he could score, he could set other players up...and he did so over a longer period of time, with his real nemesis being some injury plagued seasons.

 

Neither player could ever be said to have played a solid defensive forward role, but when you have guys like these who could produce the way they did during their Sens days, you didn't worry too much about that.

 

It is only nowadays that both these guys' skills aren't quite they used to be that you may look for other areas in their game to compensate for their declined offenses.

That said, these days, Spezza is your bet for the better player in Dallas, while Dany Heatley, relegated to 4th line status for the last two or three seasons in the NHL, now finds himself trying to get BACK to the NHL via the AHL where he currently plays.

 

Pure goal scoring over a shorter time (numbers ranged in the 50's for goals scored I believe)...edge goes to Heatley...

Consistency in Ottawa over a longer stretch with goal scoring in the 30's or so...Jason Spezza is your man.

[JagerMeister]

This one is a very good question...and one that can't be easily answered because it depends on what you look for in "better".

 

Not looking at numbers right off, I want to say Dany Heatley was definitely the 'better' player in terms of pure goal scoring output...he was a flat out monster scorer.

But much like a comet, he flashed brightly and vividly, but then then started to see some sharp decline as his time in Ottawa came to an end.

 

Jason Spezza, meanwhile, never was the pure monster scorer Heatley was, but he was more consistent as a balanced type player (on offense anyways)...he could score, he could set other players up...and he did so over a longer period of time, with his real nemesis being some injury plagued seasons.

 

Neither player could ever be said to have played a solid defensive forward role, but when you have guys like these who could produce the way they did during their Sens days, you didn't worry too much about that.

 

It is only nowadays that both these guys' skills aren't quite they used to be that you may look for other areas in their game to compensate for their declined offenses.

That said, these days, Spezza is your bet for the better player in Dallas, while Dany Heatley, relegated to 4th line status for the last two or three seasons in the NHL, now finds himself trying to get BACK to the NHL via the AHL where he currently plays.

 

Pure goal scoring over a shorter time (numbers ranged in the 50's for goals scored I believe)...edge goes to Heatley...

Consistency in Ottawa over a longer stretch with goal scoring in the 30's or so...Jason Spezza is your man.

Heatley was the goal scorer, Spezza was the playmaker. Here are their 2 best seasons.

 

Spezza

GP  G   A    P

68  19  71  90

67  34  53  87

 

Heatley

GP  G   A   P

82  50  53  103

82  50  55  105

 

The only thing stopping Spezza from getting 100 point seasons were injuries. It depends what is more impressive to you, getting more assists then games played, or scoring back to back 50 goals. IMO though, i would have to give the edge to Heatley, goals over assists.

 

Now, These are their career totals as an Ottawa senator

 

Spezza

GP    G     A     P

686  251 436  687

 

Heatley

GP    G      A     P

317  180  182  362

 

If Heatley played more games in Ottawa, well he would have started declining, But since we are only talking about their time spent in Ottawa, Heatley gets the edge, clearly has a better ppg as an ottawa senator.

 

So overall, i would say Heatley was the better player during their time as Ottawa senators. Although if we were talking overall, i would say Spezza has been better. Heatley declined wayyy to fast.

So yeah, thats my two cents, what do you guys think?

[flyercanuck]

Out of the two i thought Spezza was the better player. But I also thought Alfreddson was better than either.

[J0e Th0rnton]

Heatley. I was excited when the Sharks got him. He played well the first year.

 

Then his skating somehow became 10x worse the second year, and he played on a line with Logan Couture. People thought Couture's numbers were due to heatley.....except Shark fans, who saw how good Couture was and what a pylon Heatley had become. Fortunately, the worse aspect of Logan Couture was speed, so Heatley could keep up with him.

 

The time in Ottawa for me goes to Heater. He was actually an amazing player then.

 

A lot of people Joke that Thornton is a talent Vampire because many of his former linemates go sharply downhill after playing with him. Murray, Cheechoo, Heatley.

[Hatrik98]

Overall Spezza was the better player. When he was out on the, the threat to score was increased. Healthy might have been more of a threat individually but Spezza made everyone on the ice better.

[JackStraw]

Out of the two i thought Spezza was the better player. But I also thought Alfreddson was better than either.

QFT

[fanaticV3.0]

I'm doing fantasy hockey for the first time in years. In fact, the last time I did it, I remember him being a big name. He was still young enough to where he was an early pick. In the years in between, he's sort of been forgotten, but his numbers are very respectable.