http://www.ctvolympics.ca/hockey/news/newsid=1072.html



Heatley knew he was coming to Ottawa with doubts. Had he fully recovered from an eye injury suffered in Europe? Was a changed player from the accident?

"There was talk I wouldn't be as good," he said. "That was a big motivation for me."

He quickly proved the doubters wrong, scoring back-to-back 50 goal seasons while playing mostly with Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson and close friend Jason Spezza. Last fall, after reaching the Stanley Cup final, he signed a six-year, $45-million (U.S.) contract extension.

"It's tough to fathom how much money you can make in a career," Heatley said, shaking his head.

But he learned a long time ago that there are far more important things than money. He talks proudly and hopefully of playing for Canada in the future - for country rather than money. And when he thinks, always privately, of the most important things in the past, he knows money has no currency there, either.

What he thinks about himself also involves something that cannot be purchased but must be earned: "I just want people to know that I'm a good person," he said.

"It's important to me."