[Signing] Gaudreau to Columbus (7 x $9.75 million)

[Jiri Hrdina]

Still nothing from Johnny thanking the city or fans eh?

[chedder]

Originally Posted by browna

He wanted to stay here for the hockey, the organization, teammates, owners, coaches, fans…but the pregnant wife and own family, a family he vowed to come back to for past number of years, and he didn’t want to go back on that promise of where he was spending

I think the player wanted out of here at all costs for reasons we'll never know. Maybe he started to loathe the organization, teammates, the city, etc.

Maybe he hated the way Darryl coached even though it catapulted him to his never to be repeated numbers. Maybe there was too much pressure here for him.

Either Johnny completely pulled the wool over everyone's eyes or Flames management totally misjudged.


Whatever the reason now that that he left the way he left, good riddance. I just hope there is a plan for the team going forward that isn't just 'let's see what happens'.

Tkachuk needs to be signed or traded before training camp.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Regular_John

Huh, I just can’t figure out why Johnny wouldn’t want to stay in Calgary playing for the gracious and considerate fan base on display in this thread.

You might want to go observe some other fanbases before throwing that stone towards Flame fans.

[devo22]

if he was truly torn and 50/50 about it, closing the door completely on Tuesday makes even less sense. Why wouldn't you want to have the option to circle back, at the very least as a bargaining chip? It makes absolutely no sense.

[Azure]

After his comments yesterday I am even more confused as to what is going on.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

That should drive players. Gaudreau is not a man. That's my conclusion, I'm glad he's gone.

If what I surmised is true (and I'm not saying it us, to be clear), I'm quite certain we shouldn't be belittling a person with anxiety issues.

He may not react to situations the same way other players would..

[Wolfman]

I'm not upset he's gone. I'm upset the way he left the team standing with there snake in their hand.

I do believe Treliving thought it was a done deal after being led on by Gaudreau and his agent. Gaudreau deserves the reception he gets when he comes back for his first game.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Literally every other fan base would have reacted as poorly or worse. Once again, I think Flames fans are taking this rather well.

Exactly.

Think about any passionate fanbase. Would they be gracious in the shoes of Flames fans?

This is pretty tame.

When T.O. fans are reacting and throwing Johnny under the bus as outsiders witnessing this just imagine if he was a leaf.

Imagine if Matthews went about it the same way.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald

Yes, the Flames should have known this. They should have known what made the guy tick and appeal to those aspects of his personality. If the Flames are not having a sports psychologist to work with these guys and get inside their heads to know how they tick and what motivates them, they aren't doing things right. But based on the mental weakness of the team as a whole, this is a distinct possibility, but I digress. There is more to convincing someone with extrinsic motivators. You want to sell someone on something, appeal to their intrinsic motivators and show how you align with those. We know the Flames backed up the Brinks truck, but the extrinsic motivator was not what drove the player.



Of course the Flames are at fault. Jesus, they are making an $80M+ investment, don't you think they should do due diligence and understand the people they are investing in? If you're trying to woo someone it is your responsibility to know them and appeal to what drives them. Obviously the Flames thought it was one thing when the reality was it was another. Gross did his job in escalating the money angle, but I wonder how many times the Flames actually sat down with Johnny and actively listened to what he had to say and what motivated him? I think this is where things failed. The two sides were never on the same page about what was driving Gaudreau and the Flames made it out to be all about money and legacy. Both were wrong, but the Flames shoulder most of the blame because they were the ones making the investment and not completing the due diligence to understand their investment.

LOL

First, what makes you think they don't try to understand the players? Of course they do. But unless the player actually states the issue, no sports psychologist is going to make a diagnosis like that. Once again, you start with reasonable premises, and then draw extreme conclusions.

Also, I am done debating this, so knock yourself out with your next wall of text post, trying to prove you're smarter than everyone else, but I won't be replying to it.

[Nadal Fan]

Here is what I don't understand. I have never seen a baseball player refuse to play for the Yankees or Red Soxs due to the pressure and then sign with Tampa or a NFL player say they don't want to play for the Patriots or Cowboys because of the pressure and don't want to be recognized out and about and then sign with Jacksonville. But in the NHL it happens to every Canadian NHL team, is the pressure that much worse playing hockey I'm Canada?

[Ashasx]

Remember how Islanders fans reacted after Tavares left?

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by devo22

if he was truly torn and 50/50 about it, closing the door completely on Tuesday makes even less sense. Why wouldn't you want to have the option to circle back, at the very least as a bargaining chip? It makes absolutely no sense.

I have no intel here at all...

But it's quite possible that maybe it wasn't Gaudreau that closed that door Tuesday night. He could have just said he was testing free agency.

If things that are said about Murray Edwards are true...then maybe it was him that shut that door when the $10.5M x 8 was turned down.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

That should drive players. Gaudreau is not a man. That's my conclusion, I'm glad he's gone.

“Not a man”.

I’m sorry Girly but this is an utter joke of a comment. Surely you can be better than this.

[mogwai]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Still nothing from Johnny thanking the city or fans eh?

Probably still deciding whether to add "Sorry guys, I screwed it up" before or after "thank you"

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

I think it is simply a part of the American culture to be more focused on numero uno - it's all about Me Inc. Again, everyone is an individual, and there are a lot of exceptions, but if I were GMing a Canadian team, I would be minimizing my exposure to American players.

Problem is that a lot the best under 18 players are American now. If all Canadian teams minimize their exposure to US born players the US franchises all get a big leg up in team building. The Flames got nine great years out of Gaudreau so I don't really see a problem here as he could have been Canadian born and still left for an Ontario team at 29 years old. The Flames have also got a lot of good seasons from Tkachuk but as a Canadian organization you have to know when to cut a player like this loose. The Jets do this very well and it's just a matter of the Flames making the difficult decisions of maximizing the value of their assets and trading them before they lose control of the situation.

We will probably face the same situations with Coronato. Best thing is for the Flames to develop him and keep him until he gets to his RFA bargaining and if he pulls a Tkachuk then you just make the difficult decision this time.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Still nothing from Johnny thanking the city or fans eh?

Not that I have seen but his sister, wife and someone else all hit twitter about it.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Heavy Jack

To be willing to dump 84 mill on a player who seemingly had no intentions of ever staying long term in Calgary is extremely concerning. Tells me that management doesn’t have a pulse or true feel on the roster as much as one would hope and leaves me concerned with the rest of this roster that’s been built and how it’s handled moving forward. Tkachuk is now the piece that really dictates what this franchise is all about for the next 3 to 5 years.

Well if he accepted the $84M, he would be staying long term. So kind of a moot point, no?

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

“Not a man”.

I’m sorry Girly but this is an utter joke of a comment. Surely you can be better than this.

No, she just gets it. It's true. That should drive a man. You're not being one if you're running away from that to be a recluse in an irrelevant market. What does it say about the make up of your character? Let alone handling this in the way he did with his former team.

Don't be so sensitive.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

I have no intel here at all...

But it's quite possible that maybe it wasn't Gaudreau that closed that door Tuesday night. He could have just said he was testing free agency.

If things that are said about Murray Edwards are true...then maybe it was him that shut that door when the $10.5M x 8 was turned down.

Maybe.

Also possible that Gross believed he was negotiating in good faith and it was a last second swerve by the player.

Although if your speculation is correct, I feel the Flames would have said something to that effect. They were very clear they wanted the player at all costs and were rejected. Would have much preferred saying they couldn’t come to terms on an agreement that was in the best interests of the club.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by TOfan

You seem incapable of acknowledging that this was not Treliving’s decision alone. Ownership is equally responsible, a twelve year old should be able to see that.

Of course ownership is at fault – they keep employing Brad Treliving To be the general manager Of their hockey team.

The guy who didn’t interview anyone else before he hired Peters, whose greatest coaching accomplishment seems to be “holding the Carolina Hurricanes back”.

Who didn’t interview anyone else before he named Geoff Ward a full-time head coach after Peters was found out to be a racist ####bag. Which was honestly a blessing - he’d lost the team by then.

The guy who had no plan to replace Ward until the ownership group ordered him to hire Darryl. And because Darryl is a BAMF, he was able to get as much out of this roster as anyone possibly could.

There’s a pattern of behaviour here.

He puts all his eggs in one basket, and doesn’t have anything to fall back on.

Even here, I can guess what his plan was: “win the Stanley Cup and everyone extends”.

Uh huh. And what if you don’t win the Stanley Cup?

You get the last 48 hours.