I am of the opinion that this isn't necessarily a BIG story but it definitely a unique one in a lot of ways for a variety of reasons.
For almost all practices and road games there are 2 team bus's that leave the hotel to go to a rink that's generally fairly close by. In some markets where the weather might be really nice players sometimes even opt to walk to practice or to the game, no need to wait around for a bus to a game when a 5 minute walk in sunny Florida during a February road trip is quite nice.
What makes THIS scenario a little bit different is the fact that the team all got changed into their practice gear in a conference room at the team hotel and that everybody took the team bus to the rink. Keep in mind how rare it is to be practicing outdoors and all the unusual logistics involved for both the team and equipment managers/ NYC traffic etc.
Johnny reportedly taking a taxi to practice although not a bad thing, probably wouldn't have been recommended by ANYBODY on the Flames side due to the potential for things to go wrong. When it comes to being a PRO on and off the ice there are certain scenarios you need to examine and put yourself into the best position to succeed.
As for the recent bye week, you may have heard a little bit of chatter of how the team players arrived in Calgary on Saturday so that everybody could be ready to go for a 4:01 pm practice on Sunday. Although the CBA mandated break didn't allow teams to start practicing until 4 p, nobody would have advised flying in from Mexico or wherever at 1 pm for a 4 pm practice. Cam Talbot in Edmonton ended up getting stuck in San Diego and wasn't able to fly in until game day which caused a little stir. It just isn't advisable BECAUSE of the potential for things going wrong.
As for Johnny's fitness, I can't ever recall hearing anything negative in the news outlets and the eye test doesn't show anything in terms of fatigue during shifts, goal production aside. In player interviews and videos from multiple outlets the players are always bugging Johnny about his diet which could be a concern later on, sooner or later it's the care of your body that distinguishes a lot of players as they get older.
One of the biggest issues with young players in general is they don't need to EARN the big time contract in sports today. Players are signing huge contracts with massive signing bonus's with super large guaranteed dollar values, sometimes before they have even played a single game in the pro's (NFL, NBA etc)
Wayne Gretzky I believe was earning a million dollars a year during the 80's run which in today's dollars might be $2.5??? His production and winning success is of course legendary but today's players are signing 50, 60, 70 million dollar deals and sometimes without having ever won anything. At least with guy's like Towes, Kane, Kopitar etc the argument can be made that they contributed heavily to multiple championships which inflated franchise values, brought back the fans to historic franchise's etc etc
Sorry about the long post, just my $.02
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