[News] Official: Monahan, Bouma, & Gaudreau scratched against Leafs

[MrMastodonFarm]

Three players were late, three players were punished.

Gaudreau wasn't known to the media until he announced as a scratch yesterday. Johnny wasn't lumped in with Monahan and Bouma Monday. They could have avoided it with him but choose not to? They could have avoided some circus but decided to follow team protocol despite the multicoloured cone tents being set up already.

Healthy scratching your top players doesn't happen all that often so narrowing it down the window it happens obviously make it rarer. Star players are scratched though, earlier this year with Ovechkin, the brightest of stars in the NHL.

It's a team rule, it was broken, they were punished.

That's putting two and two together, not adding another number for dramatic effect.

[old-fart]

It is not entirely out of the realm of possibility that the opposition last night played into it. Had the Flames been facing a real NHL team, Johnny and Sean may have been playing and only Bouma taking the night off. Looking at that Leafs roster though, the team probably thought "now is an excellent time to send a bit of a reminder - work hard and follow the damn team rules" and to do so by ensuring Johnny and Sean were included in the poopstorm.

Honestly, the Heat should have been able to hang with that craptastic Leaf team last night. I'm not sure there are more than 3 players on that team that I'd want on the Flames.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by old-fart

It is not entirely out of the realm of possibility that the opposition last night played into it. Had the Flames been facing a real NHL team, Johnny and Sean may have been playing and only Bouma taking the night off. Looking at that Leafs roster though, the team probably thought "now is an excellent time to send a bit of a reminder - work hard and follow the damn team rules" and to do so by ensuring Johnny and Sean were included in the poopstorm.

Honestly, the Heat should have been able to hang with that craptastic Leaf team last night. I'm not sure there are more than 3 players on that team that I'd want on the Flames.

Did you watch the game? For long passages it looked like the Heat or worse out there in Red.

[Funkhouser]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

The flames would have avoided last night's circus around the scratches if they could've but obviously felt like it was worth it to bench THREE players (2 leading scorers).

This tells me it was pretty much the nuclear option and that those 3 are all on thin ice.

Honestly, has a team ever made their 2 top scorers a healthy scratch in the middle of the season? As far as I know, it's pretty much unprecedented which I think tells you even more about the seriousness of the punishment.

I think you're making way too many assumptions and believing them as truth. It could be a chronic problem and this is the last straw. It also could be an isolated incident and management wanted to nip it in the bud. I would rather take them at their word than speculate fan fiction.

THIS is why many players prefer to play outside of Canada. Lets not get all Toronto/Montreal over our team.

[sureLoss]

Aaron Vickers @AAVickers
Hartley on the media attention surrounding Gaudreau, Monahan and Bouma scratches: "You guys are creating a tsunami in a fishbowl." #Flames

[Coach]

They have team rules. Those three broke one of them. I would imagine the consequences for such were discussed before the season began. The three faced said consequences. That's it. Done. End of story.

[Benched]

Originally Posted by sureloss

aaron vickers @aavickers
hartley on the media attention surrounding gaudreau, monahan and bouma scratches: "you guys are creating a tsunami in a fishbowl." #flames

finally! Bobisms!

[saillias]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Aaron Vickers @AAVickers
Hartley on the media attention surrounding Gaudreau, Monahan and Bouma scratches: "You guys are creating a tsunami in a fishbowl." #Flames

Regarding the media, I don't think they are. Hartley is trying his best to take the heat off the 3 by painting a picture of crazy media blowing things out of proportion, but this isn't Kessel & hotdogs. They scratched 2 leading scorers for off-ice reasons. It warrants full scrutiny and questioning from the media, or they aren't doing their job.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by saillias

Regarding the media, I don't think they are. Hartley is trying his best to take the heat off the 3 by painting a picture of crazy media blowing things out of proportion, but this isn't Kessel & hotdogs. They scratched 2 leading scorers for off-ice reasons. It warrants full scrutiny and questioning from the media, or they aren't doing their job.

It warrants questioning, but not speculation/fabrication. The coach has to adhere to his own rules, whether it's Gaudreau or Granlund, these are the rules. It's unfortunate that it happened to the two best forwards at once, but you can't make special exceptions or the rules go out the window along with any accountability. Especially for young players.

[bob-loblaw]

Did any reporters have a chance to talk to the offenders today after practice?

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by bob-loblaw

Did any reporters have a chance to talk to the offenders today after practice?

Yes, but judging by twitter silence, they didn't say anything overly interesting, controversial, or enlightening.

Derek Wills @Fan960Wills
I give Lance Bouma, Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan lots of credit for answering all of our questions like pros today

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by MattyC

It warrants questioning, but not speculation/fabrication. The coach has to adhere to his own rules, whether it's Gaudreau or Granlund, these are the rules. It's unfortunate that it happened to the two best forwards at once, but you can't make special exceptions or the rules go out the window along with any accountability. Especially for young players.

Agreed. If Hartley starts giving slack to anyone, how long until other players (especially younger ones) start following that behaviour.

Inmates running the asylum is probably the worst thing that can happen to a team (and a coach).

[sureLoss]

Wes Gilbertson @WesGilbertson
#Flames C Sean Monahan on discipline: "The other day, we made a mistake and that’s the first and last time that’s going to happen."

[Locke]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Wes Gilbertson @WesGilbertson
#Flames C Sean Monahan on discipline: "The other day, we made a mistake and that’s the first and last time that’s going to happen."

Perfect. Thats the answer you want especially from someone who wears a letter.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Wes Gilbertson @WesGilbertson
#Flames C Sean Monahan on discipline: "The other day, we made a mistake and that’s the first and last time that’s going to happen."

This statement is exactly why you have to be hard on your rules. If they weren't I doubt it would be the "last time".

[sureLoss]

Aaron Vickers @AAVickers
Gaudreau on scratch: "We want to apologize to the organization, the coaches, our team especially and the city of Calgary and the fans."

Aaron Vickers @AAVickers
Monahan on scratch: “We’re professionals and we’re all men. We have to take the consequence and learn from it and be better from it.”

Aaron Vickers @AAVickers
Bouma on scratch: “It’s tough. We made the mistake and we have to live with the consequences of it, for sure.”

[Benched]

sounds awesome. assuming they walk the talk, this is just going to be a funny 'remember when' story

[sureLoss]

Wes Gilbertson @WesGilbertson
#Flames LW Lance Bouma on Monday's late arrival: "It’s something that I’m not proud of. I’m disappointed in myself."

[CroFlames]

I like the sound of those replies. Hopefully it's genuine and these young men are better for it in the long run.

[Gaudfather]

One more tweet from Wes.

More from #Flames Gaudreau: "I think the best apology for us three is come out against San Jose and have our best game of the season."

Good response from the boys - time to drive on.