Ray Ferraro Interview - 2009 Hockey Fest

Last weekend savvy storyteller Ray Ferraro dazzled attendees of Hockey Fest '09 with his tales of hockey past. Afterwards he spoke candidly about Dany Heatley and his broadcasting career. These are his stories.

Q: Heatley has been portrayed in the media as a bad guy. Is he toxic?
A: First of all, not only have I been in the locker room with Dany, I've roomed with him on the road. I know him really well. The people that are talking that he’s toxic don’t know shit. There’s all kinds of rumors about Dany off the ice. Everybody does whatever research they do. I've known Dany for almost ten years now. He had to mature. Absolutely he did. And he’d be the first guy to tell you that.

Q: If Sharks GM Doug Wilson asked you if he should trade for Heatley, what would you say?
A: I’d say absolutely. He had a terrible year last year because he wasn’t in shape. He signed a $45m contract and he kind of went on what I like to call the 'Summer of Dany'. You know, he had a lot of fun. He was going to ball games and he was half of step out of shape when he got to camp. And so he had a terrible year. He scored 39 goals.

Check all the rosters. How many teams have an extra 39 goal scorer around? And two of the previous three years he got 50. The guy can play. The guy’s a one shot scorer. A lot of teams don’t have a one shot scorer. Calgary does, Iginla. Anaheim has Getzlaf. Minnesota doesn’t. LA doesn’t. Phoenix doesn’t. Dallas doesn’t. I mean you go through the teams, how many guys scored 50 goals last year. There was one. It’s hard to score.

A guy can be divisive. It really can happen. Sean Avery is divisive. Dany Heatley’s not.

Q: Can Dany Heatley go back to the Ottawa locker room?
A: He's going to have to if they don’t make a deal. Hockey players are a funny bunch. They’re pretty forgiving. They may not understand why he requested a trade. If Dany has to go back to Ottawa I’m sure he’s going to have a meeting with the guys. He's going to have to mend the fence. It’s going to be on him to mend the fence. But once the fence is mended and the season starts it’ll be fine. The biggest mistake that happened is that thing went public. Lots of guys ask to be traded. And you never know about it. As soon as it gets public it gets messy. And that’s kind of what happened.

Q: As a player were you able to forgive other players for this kind of stuff?
A: Sure. I have for sure. I’ve been on teams where you had to do that. I don’t care what any of my teammates do off the ice, what car they drive, I could care less. I want to know when I come to work that the team comes first and they’re coming to work. Not all 20 guys love each other. There’s personalities that clash. There’s different ways of doing things. But at the end of the day if you believe that your team is the greater good, as corny as that sounds, then you’re fine. Like I said, Dany has to mend some fences there if he has to go back. I’m sure Ottawa feels in a bind too. If you don’t make a deal you've got to bring him back. And you got to hope that he plays for you.

Q: Will the fans forgive him?
A: Wait until he scores his first hat trick. If I were a fan I’d be pissed off too. Wait a minute we just signed this guy for a long time and now he wants to be traded out of here? I’d be upset too.

Q: What’s your career goal in terms of broadcasting?
A: I love what I’m doing now. When you work on a national broadcast it doesn’t matter who wins. And I like it. I like the challenge of learning about the other players. I’d like to find a way to travel less. But to be honest, I really like the way I’m currently constructed. I do the TSN stuff plus I’ve got the radio stuff in the afternoon. So I really like what I do. I get to do half a dozen pay-per-view games when my schedule allows too.

Many thanks to Ray for speaking with us. Best of luck this season.