Once upon a time, star players craved the spotlight of centre stage – even if that meant going under the microscope in a Canadian city.

If that were the case today, Rick Nash and Dany Heatley would be getting ready for training camp as teammates on the Ottawa Senators.

Alonzo Mourning. Steve Francis. Eric Lindros. Koji Uehara. Steve Nash. All were offered millions of dollars. All refused to play in Canada.

David Wells, Chris Pronger, Sheldon Souray, Vince Carter. All were offered millions of dollars. All demanded to be traded out of Canada.

It’s enough to give a country a complex.

Prior to this summer’s entry draft, Ottawa Senators general manager Bryan Murray offered a king’s ransom for Nash – a package that reportedly included forward Nick Foligno, goalie Ben Bishop and blue-chip prospect Mika Zibanejad. To make the deal even sweeter, Murray was willing to throw in the Sens’ first-round pick, 15th overall.

“With the prospects we have, if we decided to jump in full bore, I think we have as good a package as anybody,” said assistant GM Tim Murray.

But no, Nash doesn’t want to play for Ottawa. He’s asked to be traded from the Columbus Blue Jackets and has provided GM Scott Howson with a list of six teams he would waive his no-trade clause for, and none of them are Canadian.

It’s not money. Nash still has six years left in his contract, which carries a steep $7.8 million cap hit. Only a handful of NHL players make more than he does, and only a dozen or so teams can actually afford to pick up his salary.

It’s fear. Nash doesn’t want to play for a team where he’ll be criticized. He doesn’t want to be recognized on the street and he doesn’t want to be on the front page of the paper if he messes up. And for Nash and others, that’s exactly what would happen in a Canadian city where hockey is king. Heck, even an all-star like Phil Kessel ­– who has performed admirably for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the toughest hockey market – gets trashed in the press on a regular basis.

The six teams Nash has agreed to be traded to are Philadelphia, Detroit, New York, Pittsburgh, San Jose and Boston. All are Stanley Cup contenders with all-star centres that can get him the puck. All are in comfortable, big, American cities where hockey isn’t a religion. All are cities with bigger professional sports teams where he can get the remaining $47.4 million on his contract in relative anonymity.

“It says he wants to get away,” says NBC analyst Bryan Engblom, a former player. “I played in Canadian and U.S. markets, and I can tell you, it is different. To each his own. Some guys thrive on being under that microscope, of having that daily pressure of everybody watching you. And some guys really don’t like that.”

Back in the not-too-distant past, players relished the idea of being the centre of attention, of being the hero. They wanted to be the biggest star on the biggest stage, and they were paid accordingly.

But not Dany Heatley, who held the Ottawa Senators hostage until they traded him to San Jose, where hockey has the same visibility as jai alai. And not Steve Francis, who refused to play for the Vancouver Grizzlies. And clearly, not Rick Nash.

But what goes around comes around. Lindros never won a Stanley Cup after refusing to play for the Quebec Nordiques, while the Nords went on to win two Cups as the Colorado Avalanche. Francis played a total of five playoff games in a career that fizzled out in China. And true to form, Heatley was a bit player in San Jose before being traded to Minnesota. He’s yet to win anything.

So Nash will get his trade, he’ll collect his bloated salary and he’ll play out his career in some comfortable American city and he’ll live happily ever after.

But he’ll never be mistaken for being a star.