That's a good interview. Very good questions, and finally pulled some good answers out of Johnny. Nice to see a genuine answer from him about how hard this was for him, which makes sense with how this all unfolded. More of that and he'll be able to get back in good graces before his first game back in the dome. It'd be better for everyone if he's welcomed back with a highlight pack and not a standing boovation.
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Based on everything I’ve seen and read from legit sources (and not just random third party encounters), I think this comes down to two decisions: (1) whether to leave a Calgary and (2) where to sign next.
Facts:
- Flames were at the table and offered 10.5x8
- Treliving believed until the last minute there was a deal to be done
- Flames were not informed until late that he wasn’t coming back (decision #1)
- As for decision #2, there was an offer from New Jersey and an offer from Columbus
- Gaudreau’s first choice was Philly but they weren’t able or interested to make on offer
- Gaudreau signs with Columbus instead of NJ
I’m going to leave the Calgary negotiation piece out of this because nobody knows for sure what happened or if Edwards was involved. But it sounds like Johnny was ready and willing to sign in Calgary, but in the very end decided not to. Whether it was because his wife convinced him to leave, or he couldn’t convince his wife to stay in Calgary, or his mom begging him to be closer I don’t know, but I believe Johnny personally would have been happy to continue playing in Calgary and in the end was crushed to leave. Decision 1.
When free agency opens, I believe Johnny is open to seeing what’s out there, and probably (his wife) had Columbus high on the list (I’d be curious to know what other cities might have made the cut). Presented with offers from Columbus and NJ, the former won out for “lifestyle” reasons because it definitely wasn’t for hockey reasons. I can believe being in Columbus was “close to home but not too close” and probably was more attractive than playing in Newark. From there, the agent got the offer has high as he could before Johnny accepted.
I can live with that. Sucks for Calgary but the wildcard for me was Johnny and wife starting a family. That’s the biggest thing that changed from last offseason to this offseason IMO.
Also, the fact that Johnny didn’t really care about what team he plays for or how competitive they might be signals to me that winning a Stanley Cup was probably far from the top of his list of priorities at this stage of his life and career. He’ll still be a good player and help Columbus win some games, but NJ had much better potential of becoming a contender IMO.
Last edited by tvp2003; 07-16-2022 at 12:41 AM.
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The same Iginla who turned the dressing room into a country club his last couple seasons? Who when he finally agreed to a trade at the deadline and submitted a list of four teams for Feaster to negotiate with, changed his mind at literally the last hour and said actually no, there’s only one team I’ll accept a trade to, scuppering the deal with Boston and completely hamstringing Feaster’s negotiating position with the Penguins? That Iginla?
Iginla’s a good guy. But he was as ruthlessly selfish as other pro athletes when it suited him.
Don't forget Jarome telling the media that he wasn't going to abide by Brent Sutter's system.
At least Johnny worked hard to follow on-ice instructions from the coach.
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Newark isn’t the greatest and maybe they didn’t want to raise their kid in Metro New York.
Newark has a total area of about 26 square miles. Turning down New Jersey for that reason would be like turning down Calgary because there are rough neighbourhoods near the Saddledome.
There are some very high-priced and high-toned districts a little further out in New Jersey: Morris County, for instance (which happens to be the richest county in the state). From Morristown to Newark is a half-hour commute. From Morristown to the south end of New Jersey is about two hours, no plane required.
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Last edited by Jay Random; 07-16-2022 at 12:48 AM.
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Yeah, I’m sure it being so dumb is why you’re the only person I have to explain it to. Must be it.
Oh I understand what you were trying to say in that smooshmortion of a post, you just contradicted yourself continuously throughout it. Next time you'll be better off rolling your face across the keyboard instead of typing out.. whatever that was.
No hate toward Johnny.. He admitted he was not prepared for the question..which is tough..when it comes out like that..
Wife made the call.... On both accounts..
1. No calgary
2. No NJD.. Probably wants some independence from Inlaws.. Potentially higher expectations for Johnny.. More pressure..
Hope ppl treat him nice on his return..
Yeah, I'll agree with this. It just doesn't jibe with the various stories he's been telling along the way. I think he's handled the whole thing very poorly, and he'll probably wish he had kept a cooler head during these crucial days.
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No hate toward Johnny.. He admitted he was not prepared for the question..which is tough..when it comes out like that..
Wife made the call.... On both accounts..
1. No calgary
2. No NJD.. Probably wants some independence from Inlaws.. Potentially higher expectations for Johnny.. More pressure..
Hope ppl treat him nice on his return..
Then he is the dumbest human being on earth...he ditched Calgary after all these years even though they gave him the most money and he was shocked they asked about it! lol
To me he seems to be changing his tune realizing how bad it all looks but it was still dirty pool.
I won't be attacking his family on social media or anything but I hope someone runs him through the boards...if I'm at the game I will probably boo. Being forced at gunpoint to say something nice 3 days later doesn't change that. They can also stick the video montage up their bums, no thanks.
All this being said with hindsight of these events its probably best we didn't give him 10.5x8...nobody can argue winning is a top priority for him. I guess some of the haters were right on that one all these years.
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Last edited by dino7c; 07-16-2022 at 01:18 AM.
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His interview with Tim definitely softened things for me and brought the human element back from and center, and I thought he said some pretty genuine and warm things about the people of Calgary.
I was surprised to see people here taking it the opposite and still now saying “#### you” to the screen watching it. It’s pretty sad.
I’ll appreciate however he ends up saying his thank yous and goodbye to Calgary.
He says he's got something coming for us. Y'all wanna talk about debts and class, well I think we it to him now to wait and see and hear him out. He's earned at least that much.
Location: A simple man leading a complicated life....
Exp:
Quote:
Originally Posted by PepsiFree
His interview with Tim definitely softened things for me and brought the human element back from and center, and I thought he said some pretty genuine and warm things about the people of Calgary.
I was surprised to see people here taking it the opposite and still now saying “#### you” to the screen watching it. It’s pretty sad.
I’ll appreciate however he ends up saying his thank yous and goodbye to Calgary.
His interview changed my views also, Answered questions I had that were not answered. I look forward to what he has to say to Flames fans.
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Yeah, I'll agree with this. It just doesn't jibe with the various stories he's been telling along the way. I think he's handled the whole thing very poorly, and he'll probably wish he had kept a cooler head during these crucial days.
Would you throw your wife under the bus and blame her for the decision? How about your mom? He did what he had to do to keep his family happy and deflect criticism from those parties that applied the pressure for him to make the decision. I feel for Gaudreau having been through something similar. Life changing decisions are hard, especially when you have other people's desires who are close to you to consider. It's unfortunate that it came to this and the team didn't have the insight to prevent this outcome. Everybody lost here.
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If johnny signed that contract here and then 2 weeks later Colorado offers up MacKinnon and Makar for Gaudreau and lucic... The Flames would make that trade in about 0.1 seconds. And if the Flames turned it down out loyalty to Gaudreau, people would be calling for Treliving's head.
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I still don't get why people are mad at him. He did nothing wrong and didn't lead anyone on into thinking he was coming back. He was very noncommittal, he didn't rule anything out and wasn't forced to.
If only there was some way to have know when his contract was going to end and to somehow traded him for assets before he had complete control of the situation. It probably would have seemed rude to give him an ultimatum to sign or be traded, I mean what kind of franchise would do something as rude as taking control of the situation and essentially forcing a trade to better their team...wait, didn't the team that just made it to the finals and win the up the 2 previous years do that to one of their team leaders? I'm sure that upset a lot of their fans and other players??
Teams have to cut ties with players all the time and as kuch as it suck, they should have with Johnny before his NTC kicked in. Much like they should with Tkachuk if he doesn't want to sign long term.
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