Quote:
Originally Posted by N-E-B
Canada has a Canada problem.
We all love Calgary here. Most of us live here and were raised here. But put yourself in someone else’s shoes. If you worked for a company that had headquarters in 32 different cities and you could work making millions in Miami, Nashville, Tampa Bay, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, or Winnipeg where are you choosing to work? I’m willing to bet Winnipeg isn’t the answer.
The reality is that Canada is not attractive to most players when there’s southern US markets on the table. We have to overpay to get guys to be here. And not just in free agency either. The Flames basically had to pay Gaudreau $1,000,000 to play one game just to get him to sign here out of college.
Canada isn’t an attractive market and we’re at an inherent disadvantage because of it. A good agent can work around the tax issues. They can’t work around a rabid fanbase, hypercritical media, and -30 winters.
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This guy gets it. Nobody wants to live in -30 when they don't have to, especially when you can get paid more and live a much higher quality of life in the USA. We're a feeder team for US hockey teams. Guys like Bennett and Tkachuk prove it. We draft them, develop them, then if they have any ambition, they go off to American teams to win.