Quote:
Originally Posted by browna
There's a fine line for pro athletes and their performance affected by the direct and indirectly and the pressure and spotlight they are under in certain places.
Hockey and Canada is one of them. The expectation of fans of the players and organization, and the need for the organization to go over and above to engage fans and link with the team, thus dragging the players into all that, is a lot different for players to have to manage, and it always has been and will be a lot different than the US.
Some players are cut out for that, most aren't. Benn and Seguin, for example, would get ripped for years to the point of wanting out of wherever they would be in Canada, considering how much they make and what they have sometmes produce in a season or playoffs if they played in any Canadian market. In the series vs Calgary, Seguin especially was terrible, Benn not much better, both being paid more than any Flame in the ice.
In Dallas though, outside of the owner calling them out (which died after a few days) they've continued to be hot and cold in Dallas, playing without that pressure or spotlight or sense of obligation that players that play for Canadian NHL teams have to contend with.
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Feels like an excuse to me TBH.
Is it potentially harder to play in a Canadian market...sure. But outside of Toronto I don't think the media scrutiny is that bad.
Edmonton media are all homers until you're off the team. Flames market and media is pretty calm and casual with no real pressure. Not much pressure in Ottawa: Vancouver maybe a bit more but even then I don't think it's any worse than New York or Boston as major U.S. examples.
Mismanagement is why no Canadian team has won in the salary cap era, nothing else.