In a city where he'll be cheered on the ice and then left alone off it, it looks like new San Jose Sharks winger Dany Heatley is where he wants to be.
"It's a very easy room to come into, and everyone has made me feel really welcome," Heatley told TSN. "It's a great city with a great rink."
Heatley has said he doesn't want to discuss his ugly departure from Ottawa and claims that he's said all that he's going to say about his reasons for wanting to be dealt.
When asked if he has any regrets about how the situation was handled on his end, he was direct.
"No," he said flatly. "I think I talked to all the people I feel I needed to talk to. The biggest regret on both sides is how it became public. That's the biggest thing. Other than that, I don't have any regrets at all."
Sharks general manager Doug Wilson has no concerns about his star winger or the drama surrounding his trade being on his team.
"I'm very comfortable with Dany, first of all as a hockey player and as a person," he explained. "I support his conviction, whatever his belief and reason for it, I support that. People are entitled to that, just as a team is entitled to move a player."
While Heatley would like to leave the past in the past, the fact is this ordeal has affected his reputation. He made it clear that he didn't like what he perceived to be a diminished role under Senators coach Cory Clouston.
Many felt that was Heatley putting himself ahead of the team, which begs the question to his new coach, what if Todd McLellan feels the need to make similar coaching moves?
"We want to make sure that the expectations from the coaching staff are very clear, so I have no issues with that one bit," McLellan said. "If we did, he wouldn't be a San Jose Shark."
And for his part, Heatley doesn't feel he will have those issues in San Jose. "This is a completely different team, a completely different roster," he said. "They brought me in here for a reason, and I think they'll use me accordingly."
His second game as a Shark on Monday night was fairly average, recording no points in 17 minutes playing on a line with Joe Thornton and Devin Setoguchi in the Sharks' 3-2 pre-season loss the Anaheim Ducks.
After the game, there was just one camera and a few reporters on hand to ask Heatley about the game.
When asked to compare it to the media he faced in Ottawa, Heatley didn't pull any punches.
"There's only so many things you can talk about, or write about," he answered. "I think that's the biggest thing between the two cities.
"They're going to cover here, up there if there's nothing going on, they have a tendency to try to cover other things, or make up stories for the papers."
With files from TSN reporter Ryan Rishaug.