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Wednesday, July 1, 2009 12:10 PM

Murray, Oilers been there before

Eric Duhatschek

Here’s one way of looking at the Dany Heatley-to-Edmonton trade that fell through last night but might be resurrected at some time today. It’s not the first time that a deal between Senators GM Bryan Murray and the Oilers came apart, and left both teams with egg on their face.

Way back in 2003, when the Oilers were having trouble signing Mike Comrie, Murray – then with the Anaheim Ducks – made an offer for Comrie’s services that included a junior-aged Corey Perry. In hindsight, it would have been a great deal for Edmonton. Oilers GM Kevin Lowe was all set to pull the trigger on the deal too when the Philadelphia Flyers stepped up and made him what he considered a better offer – that included defensive prospect Jeff Woywitka, plus a first and third-round draft choice.

To say Murray was miffed with the Oilers is an understatement, partly because Perry’s name leaked out – and when things came apart at the seams, it was up to Murray to reassure Perry that the Ducks organization valued his services and that he was still in their future plans.

So now here we are six years later and the shoe is on the other foot. The names of the Oilers players linked to the possible Heatley deal – forwards Andrew Cogliano and Dustin Penner, and defenceman Ladislav Smid – were all reported last night. Everything’ll be fine if the talks get back on the rails today – which would require Heatley to say yes to the move, given his no-trade clause, after he had a chance to sleep on the possibility over night.

But what if it falls apart for good? From Edmonton’s perspective, it’s not a good thing.

OK, Penner knows the team is unhappy with him and would love to shed his contract, and Smid has been playing a five/six role on the team, so that might not be too bad either.

But Cogliano, though small, is a big part of their future, they believe. Some fences will need to be mended there, if Heatley decides Edmonton is not the place where he wants to play the prime years of his career.

Penner and Smid both joined the Oilers from the Anaheim organization, one as a free agent, the other in the Chris Pronger trade, so you’d think that would be the connection to Murray, who used to run the Ducks. But actually Smid was drafted and Penner signed just as Murray was making the move to Ottawa, so while he has a passing familiarity with them, he doesn’t know either player as well as you might think.

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Globe On Hockey Contributors

David Shoalts

David Shoalts, a native of Wainfleet, Ont., joined The Globe in 1984 as a layout and copy editor in the sports section. He attended the University of Waterloo and Conestoga College. After graduating from Conestoga with a journalism diploma in 1978, Shoalts worked at the Calgary Herald and the Calgary Sun, and later the Toronto Sun.

In 1986, Shoalts went back to the writing side of the business. He was the CFL reporter for The Globe for four years and then switched to hockey. He has covered the Toronto Maple Leafs and the NHL ever since and became a hockey columnist in 2003. Among the most memorable events Shoalts has covered are the final hockey game at the old Chicago Stadium (between the Maple Leafs and Blackhawks) and the men's and women's gold-medal hockey games at the 2002 Winter Olympics. He is also the author of a book of humour, Tales From The Toronto Maple Leafs, and co-author with retired Globe columnist William Houston of Greed and Glory, The Fall of Hockey Czar Alan Eagleson.

 
Allan Maki

Allan Maki

Allan Maki joined the Globe in 1997, after spending 19 years as a reporter and columnist at the Calgary Herald. Born in Thunder Bay, Ont., Maki graduated from the Ryerson School of Journalism in 1977.

A past president of the Football Writers of Canada, Maki has covered every Grey Cup since 1980. He's been to seven Olympic Games and covered everything from rodeos to the World Series to the Super Bowl.

A regular commentator on radio and television, Maki hosted a sports program for two years on CBC Newsworld. He has won several awards for his writing and was nominated for a National Newspaper Award in 1995.

 
Eric Duhatschek

Eric Duhatschek

Eric Duhatschek was the winner of the Hockey Hall Of Fame's Elmer Ferguson award for "distinguished contributions to hockey writing" in 2001. A graduate of the University of Western Ontario's grad school of journalism, he began covering hockey in 1978 and after spending 20 years covering the NHL and the Calgary Flames, joined globeandmail.com in September, 2000, where he writes a five-time-a-week NHL column.

A frequent contributor to Hockey Night in Canada's Satellite Hot Stove segment, he has covered four Winter Olympics, 19 Stanley Cup finals, every Canada Cup and World Cup since 1981, plus two world championships. Most recently, he was appointed as the newest member of the Hockey Hall Of Fame's annual Selection Committee.