Connolly and Smith-Pelly were released for the 2012 World Juniors from Tampa and Anaheim and were away from their teams for 28 days.
The camp usually starts around December 10th and tournament ends January 5th so it's not a small time commitment. If the Flames think sending him there to play 2 or 3 somewhat meaningful games would be better for his development I wont argue. At the same time if they think Monahan playing 17 minutes a night against the Penguins, Bruins, and Blues is worth more than playing similar time against 18 year old Germans, Czechs and Slovaks I'm not going to argue with that either.
As for money, and it's important to remember he would be making peanuts in juniors right now if not for the Flames, that's over $100,000 plus the shot at bonus money so it's not a small loss. I wouldn't blame a kid for not wanting to go if given the option considering the cost.
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