Ottawa coach defends Heatley's diminished role with Sens

Ottawa Senators coach Martin Short character Cory Clouston had his turn in the ping-pong match with Dany Heatley(notes) today, defending the "slightly diminished" role for the star winger last season and claiming that "his ice time was not going to be diminished by any way, shape or form" if Heatley had come to camp with the right mindset this season.From James Gordon of the Ottawa Citizen, the money quote from Clouston:"As far as a diminished role, it was very slightly diminished and, in my opinion, it wasn't diminished," Clouston said. "It was to try and spread out the scoring, as it's been printed on several occasions."Everybody knows (Heatley's) production actually went up over the last while as well," he added.More from the Ottawa Sun. There are quantifiable facts in this case. As Mirtle showed, Heatley's time on ice dipped at even strength and on special teams after Clouston's arrival. But the coach has a rather ...