[joe_mullen]

Originally Posted by kirant

Ultimately, you have to be a bit friendly as a team. The impression has to be positive or else your ability to compete for players is compromised. You have to convince your up and coming UFAs/RFAs want to stay here and don't take the next bus out. You have to convince the players with NMC/NTC to come here if you wan them...and, of course if it comes down to it, you need to convince UFAs/RFAs (whether your own or ones on the market) to sign here. Not all of this come down to dollars for the players. Some definitely want the stability. Being known as the team that cuts you loose at the best business opportunity isn't going to make it easier to do some moves. I mean trading Ference for Stuart, while probably a smart hockey move had Stuart agreed to stay, looks bad from a reputation point of view because Ference just took a hometown discount to be here...and Sutter turns around and deals him off for Stuart. From a business point of view, that looks great had Stuart re-signed. But it would hurts the ability for player looking at the Flames and think "You know, I would like to be part of that". Not the be all or end all, mind you, but it certainly plays a part in their mind. I mean, if you were a player, would you prefer to sign with the team which takes no player emotion into opinion, or one which actually tries to treat the team as a community to be part of and does its very best to help the players?

To some degree, you're right; at some point, you have to be a competitor and not get wrapped up in the nostalgia or being a fun place to work. Moving Iginla was a good sign there that management understood it was time to stop pretending that the Iginla era will yield playoffs, let alone a Cup and made the business decision to trade him. But you need to play both sides of the equation and ensure that players want to be here or else you'll have problems acquiring and even retaining players. Worst case scenario is players like Gillies and Gaudreau actually become great players, but refuse to be here because the team doesn't treat them well and want out as soon as they are UFAs.

The Flames can't hang their hat on being an effective competitive team like Detroit used to, nor can they claim great off time like the California teams. There are few tools aside from money that the Flames can offer and in a cap world, that isn't going to last long. It seems to be part of the equation to keep the players happy so you retain at least a reputation of being a place that players want to be a part of and certainly part of what it takes to be a competitive team.

Players care about 2 things and 2 things only. Winning and getting paid. Being classy sounds nice but will not pay it forward in the future. The New England Patriots have been cutting players unceremoniously for years. They do just fine attracting players to come there. Furthermore, the Los Angeles Clippers have an owner that has discriminated against minorities, yet once they started winning, players flocked there. Detroit is an awful city, but people love playing there. Why? Because they win. The way the Flames treated Kipper will have no positive impact in the future. Just another lost opportunity to get something for a depreciating asset.