Quote:
Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina
I don't have any feelings about their reasons. Their reasons are their own and who are we to judge them? They are also in very different stages of their lives. If Matthew picked Florida because of low tax rate, or just because he likes the beach - that's cool with me. And if Johnny picked for family reasons, that's cool too. These guys are making decisions on where to live - so I don't question any of that.
For me it has always been more about how they handled things. And in this way I have two primary issues with Johnny
1. He needed to get more real with himself about whether or not he wanted to be in Calgary. I appreciated he was conflicted, but get to a point of clarity sooner.
2. I do believe the Flames matched his offer, and thought it was done, and he backed out last minute.
That's why I respect how Tkachuk went about things more than Johnny.
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Serious question on #1 - why? Why did he need to decide any sooner? Why should we expect him to decide before seeing the actual best offer? The Flames could have put that offer on the table at any time, though I'm sure they had their own strategic reasons for playing it as they did (and Johnny bears no responsibility for that). Wouldn't fans be pissed if he slammed the door before letting the negotiations play out?
We can speculate that stating his intentions sooner might have improved his UFA frenzy. Or it might not...it's been known for months that Klingberg and Kadri would hit the market, and they are still looking for deals.