To Calgary | By Johnny Gaudreau

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by Cole436

If people want to believe it’s a PR piece of his agent wrote it, I think that’s a pretty sad way to look at life. He didn’t have to do publish this or allow it to be so vulnerable. This was a mess but life is messy and sometimes you don’t know what you think you want as opposed to what you actually want until it’s staring at you in the face.

It sucks for us that it happened this way but I can understand how he found himself in that position. 7-8 is a long time to have your kid grow up away from grandparents, not see your nieces and nephews grow up, or spend time with your aging family. I’m sure it really was down to the wire with John and eventually the circumstances of his departure won’t matter.

Thanks for 8 great years, Johnny Hockey.

Must be a pretty sad life if jokes make you this upset and have that kind of negative outlook about other people.

[dustygoon]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

They decided to have a child and that changes everything.

You mean last summer, they were going to buy a house and settle in Calgary as a childless couple, but then they suddenly decided they will have a child so that changed? That doesn't sound right.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

He was not having a kid last summer. I suspect his mind was made up last summer, sign in Calgary. Then a deal did not get done and he knew he was becoming a father and Calgary's position became more tenuous. If only there was a way to have some stats on the number of people who become parents within 12-18 months of their wedding one could have maybe predicted this event that could have changed Gaudreau's perspective.

Possibly. Except he was still uncertain, and in his own (live) words, flip flopping until 2 hours before the deadline.

[Roof-Daddy]

Somewhere in an alternate universe Johnny signed last summer 8 x $9 million AAV and the Flames got one hell of a bargain by taking a gamble on the player.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by agulati

I don’t think this whole negotiation thing was meant with malice. It doesn’t change the fact that Gaydreau and his agent had a take it or leave it contract offer to the flames and when the flames accept it, the player backed away from his word (if that is true). Be it immaturity or in lack of professionalism, it definitely left the team in a horrible place.

Wish him the best, but definitely has left a sour impression on his way out

Yeah I don't think it was with malice either, I think he's just a bit of a space case, or something to that effect. I get he really loved it here and had no ill will, but at the end of the day it seemed like it was mishandled at the end pretty badly, as well as what sounds like going back on a "take it or leave it" offer when the Flames "took it".

And its not just hurt feelings as a result either. I mean just look at social media the past week. Not only is the fallout from this causing a domino effect where Tkachuk is almost certainly leaving, but the Flames brand looks bad. It's not just Oilers fans laughing at us, even random Eastern Conference teams' fanbases are. I think it badly hurts the Flames ability to sign players from this mess, as it makes the team/city look like an unattractive destination.

Thanks for the letter trying to explain yourself, but the damage is done. And I don't think he realizes how much its caused the team, both present and future. Get bent, Johnny.

[AFireInside]

"Calgary, it's not you, it's me".

This is just damage control, even if it's somewhat honest. I don't think he hated Calgary by any stretch, and this is as much about explaining to Calgary as explaining to the rest of the hockey world, who are puzzled about what they just witnessed. I'm not sure about wanting to re-sign in Calgary last summer, unless he was asking for too much money I think that they would have signed him.

I can't stand all this fluff about wanting to bring his family here to show them all his favourite things about Calgary blah blah blah. It's like a break up with someone you feel bad for. I could care less if he ever comes back here, or if he spends every summer here.

Now that he's not on the Flames I don't care how much success he has going forward, but I hope he has a nice long career in Columbus, and that his decision ends up being a good one for him and his family, and that's really about it.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Possibly. Except he was still uncertain, and in his own (live) words, flip flopping until 2 hours before the deadline.

Sure there was more uncertainty this summer. I suspect last summer it was a slam dunk, if the number was right Gaudreau was going to sign in Calgary. Unless we think he was lying in the Players Tribune article. Number never got to that stage and he did not sign.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

Sure there was more uncertainty this summer. I suspect last summer it was a slam dunk, if the number was right Gaudreau was going to sign in Calgary. Unless we think he was lying in the Players Tribune article. Number never got to that stage and he did not sign.

Yeah, but at the end of the previous season, I don't think Flames fans were too hot to sign him to an 8 year contract.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Somewhere in an alternate universe Johnny signed last summer 8 x $9 million AAV and the Flames got one hell of a bargain by taking a gamble on the player.

Hindsight, yeah a bargain (unless he reverts to 2020-21 stats). At the time, people would have been calling for Treliving's head, saying he caved, cost the team it's future by tying up too much cap, that he was going to lose Tkachuk, should tie himself to a guy who couldn't get it done. Etc.

Tell me who predicted a 110 point fit from Gaudreau before this last season.

[TBone290]

Originally Posted by dustygoon

You mean last summer, they were going to buy a house and settle in Calgary as a childless couple, but then they suddenly decided they will have a child so that changed? That doesn't sound right.

It's somewhat amusing seeing many posts trying to dissect his timeline and decision-making, pointing flaws and inconsistencies... because we all know that in our own lives, everything we anticipate in life is linear and always goes according to plan.

[Classic_Sniper]

The fact that he even thought about re-signing a 7 year deal after he turned down that 8 year deal tells me how much he wanted to come back and how little money ultimately mattered in his decision.

I’m still convinced Columbus was a decision made more by his wife as I think it’s going to hit him hard next season when he’s not a Flame. There’s nothing like playing in a Canadian market and under the C of Red on the best line in the game. Johnny’s going to miss it here, I guarantee it. His family may be closer, but career wise, I don’t think its even hit him yet the downgrade he’s just accepted.

[Flamesfan05]

Originally Posted by devo22

you know it's a well-written PR piece when some people at least pause to think. But at the end of the day, it's still nothing more than that, a well-written PR piece that still contradicts itself. And the whole "closer to home" thing is understandable on some level, but also hilarious when you think about all the players from Russia, Sweden, Finland etc. on the Flames roster and the league in general.

it is what it is. I wish him all the best in his personal life and to his family, but hockey-wise he can still go pound sand.

Loob went home. If there is a NHL team in Europe, some would want to go home too

[Calgary14]

My guess would be he assumed there would be a ton of interest from NJ, Philly etc and there wasn't. So he had to settle for Columbus. The way he handled it baffled everyone and made him look really bad from Calgary's perspective, hence the damage control PR piece.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I believe someone else wrote it because it doesn't sound like him at all. There are phrases that you can't imagine coming out of him. The only time I ever saw anything written or said by him that was similar was... the last Players Tribune article he had.

Have you ever read anything he wrote anywhere else?

I'm not sure if I believe the Player's Tribune is a total PR/ghostwriting factory...that seems like a lot of additional expense to achieve no additional revenue, as I can't imagine players pay to get their articles posted.

Good editors? Absolutely. But I suspect content originates from the player (with the help of their own agent/manager) and is polished up by PT - polish which probably includes shaving back some of the 'professional' edits made by the player's internal editors so it sounds more conversational.

Originally Posted by Azure

Yup.

A normal person might make that mistake. But NHL players have professional representation for a reason. Shouldn't be rocket science to make a decision on where you want to play without creating a mess like he has.

So it's fair to ask how good a job Gross did of understanding his client and guiding him.

Originally Posted by Elkyiv

Then why sign last summer? Calgary wasn't any closer to Philly last summer.

Financial security/risk mitigation.

[PepsiFree]

In terms of whether he wrote this or not, it doesn’t matter, because it’s what he wanted to say. When you write as someone your job is to write something they want to stand behind, so going back and forth over who exactly put pen to paper is just completely irrelevant.

As far as damage control goes, I think it feels like damage control to people who were upset because they’re the only ones who think there’s damage worth controlling. Johnny could move on without saying a word and it would have zero impact on him. He’s on a new team, new city, new fans, new management group… what Calgary fans think doesn’t matter on anything other than a personal level to him. So if it’s damage control, it’s because he genuine cares about Calgary, which probably means much of it is genuine.

[Captain Otto]

Originally Posted by devo22

you know it's a well-written PR piece when some people at least pause to think. But at the end of the day, it's still nothing more than that, a well-written PR piece that still contradicts itself. And the whole "closer to home" thing is understandable on some level, but also hilarious when you think about all the players from Russia, Sweden, Finland etc. on the Flames roster and the league in general.

it is what it is. I wish him all the best in his personal life and to his family, but hockey-wise he can still go pound sand.

This.

Put on your big boy pants and suck it up. Life is full of sacrifices and not being around family is a reality for a large portion of the population.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

[Fuzzy14]

For what it’s worth, I didn’t know for sure what I wanted to do up until the last hours of the last day. Man, even after I turned down the eight-year deal from Calgary, I still thought about going back and trying to work on a seven-year deal to stay. It was all on the table for the entire process. Maybe that seems messy … but life is messy, you know?

Well. I, for one, feel much better now....

[Flamesfan05]

Originally Posted by activeStick

I actually feel Johnny is pretty big on loyalty which is why this took so long. I think he did want to re-sign with the Flames but realized that being close to his family takes priority, which I respect. Guy's heart attack helped him realize this and he articulated this well in his letter. I agree he could have been a lot more decisive early on to not screw the Flames but I don't believe it was intentional.

Yeah, I had job offers that I couldn’t decide till last minute too. It’s the company that is responsible for setting the deadline, not me.

[CSharp]

Originally Posted by RobotTalk

The guy has a comms degree from Boston College, a pretty decent school, I'm sure he's more than capable of writing that letter.

Folks, including me, are chapped he left in the way he did but let's not pretend that someone with a university degree can't write.

For people saying it's a PR puff piece, what benefit does he get from putting that out unless he has a genuine desire to get his version out there? To avoid getting booed once per season? That doesn't really make very much sense to me - if he really didn't care about the city or the team he could have just faded away, but he did opt to write something.

If you use your accreditations as a profession in your line of work (writing), sure. I don't think Gaudreau did much writing after he graduated. He is very good at playing hockey, which is not at all what his degree is about. Maybe he can use it later in life after retirement to reflect on his career with the Flames and tell us his memoirs of journey to fame.

You'd be surprised how many university graduates I've dealt with that can't write or communicate properly at work. So, take this article for what it's worth.

[Envitro]

I always wondered what role the Flames not having a new building plays in signing or re-signing key players.

New facilities, new equipment, a practice rink, etc.?

I know that the owners and KK talked about that a while back, like 10-13 years ago, that they're losing out on FA's because our facility is just not nice compared to the new modern rinks.

Would a new rink in 1-2 years (assuming original approved timeline) have been enough to get Johnny to resign for 8? Just to push him over the edge in our favour?

I don't know, but it's interesting to think about the massive delays, cancellations, and re-negotiations over the last 2 decades and what impact that may or may not have had on the ability for this team to be competitive and attract or retain talent.