The Legendary Horn-y Matthew Tkachuk

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Yeah, I’m not sure how many more star players will have to move on or refuse trades here for people to acknowledge that small-market Canadian teams are at a major disadvantage.

Being the GM of a Canadian NHL team is doing the job in hard mode. Duhatschek made a point of bringing it up at the Conroy presser.

I’m happy for Tkachuk. Nice to see someone who genuinely loves playing hockey and being a professional athlete - and understands that they’re in the entertainment business - become the face of the NHL. It’s great for the game.

Thachuk v McDavid......

One is highly marketable and engaging and the other lives in Mulletville.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by FormerPresJamesTaylor

Treliving had an opportunity to sign Tkachuk long term, didn't.

We can trot out the ol woe is me Canadian angle but if Brad wouldn't believed in the player more and bought into him instead of overpaying a bottom line player (again) he'd be here. Botton line. This is a failure of Brad Treliving.

You state things as facts that aren't necessarily facts.
What because Tkachuk said he wanted to be a Flame for a long time? Who cares - everyone says that.

Bottom line we don't know. We will likely never know.

At some point fans have to choose to be happy for him (or not if you don't like him I guess) and move on.

And if there are lessons that the organization should have learned as a result, hopefully they did.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Jordan!

Page 7 and people still think he would've stayed in Calgary? He wanted to be in the U.S and particularly Florida.

Move on guys.

I take his word when he said he was ready to sign long term early in his career (FormerPresJamesTaylor found the exact quote below) We heard stories from his family like how he told his mom how amazing Gio is and how Gio does this and Gio does that, etc. and he really liked this team and the players.

Then we took him down a peg because the team was too traditionalist and didn't like his positive attitude, seeing that as immaturity. He did have immaturity for sure but still, you take a generational talent and bridge contract him to make sure we have cap space to do the yearly Brad Treliiving dance of overpaying some vets and old free agents that then have to be demoted or bought out?

This is an organizational problem. From what I've heard, Gaudreau was on the fence but how the organization treated him over the years, trying to nickel and dime his contracts, etc. also pushed him/his family over the edge when he was so much on the edge to stay here.

This may all be Murray Edwards fault for giving BT a budget and marching orders to extract value out of everything but the only good news is that Conroy has seen this play out first hand and he might be able to do things differently going forward.

[FormerPresJamesTaylor]

I'll continue to blame Treliving, because it's his fault. You continue to brush aside any critisms. When this topic comes up again, we can do the same thing.

[FormerPresJamesTaylor]

“The plan from the start – we were kind of looking at every option – but, you know, long-term was kind of preferred from the start and wanting to be here as long as possible and being a Calgary Flame,” he explained. “We thought that was going to be the way to get it done at the start, but talking with [Treliving], and obviously getting feedback, and we knew the whole cap room and everything, and we both came to the conclusion right before camp that a three-year deal was going to work best for the team, so the best-case scenario happened – where not one guy had to be moved in this process… that was a fear, you never want to see that happen.

https://thehockeywriters.com/calgary...tract-2019-20/

Sorry, brushing aside criticism and pretending "we'll never know" is dumb. That quote isn't Tkachuk doing the cliche "I love X team" thing, he states plainly the idea was long term, then he talked to Trelivng and the plan shifted.

Maybe Tkachuk walks as a UFA after that deal, because he's American, but it's pretty damn obvious that Treliving had an opportunity to lock this guy up long term and went short term route to save cap dollars for other players. It's dumb. It's a failure on Brad's part and brushing it aside is just foolish.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by FormerPresJamesTaylor

https://thehockeywriters.com/calgary...tract-2019-20/

Sorry, brushing aside criticism and pretending "we'll never know" is dumb. That quote isn't Tkachuk doing the cliche "I love X team" thing, he states plainly the idea was long term, then he talked to Trelivng and the plan shifted.

Maybe Tkachuk walks as a UFA after that deal, because he's American, but it's pretty damn obvious that Treliving had an opportunity to lock this guy up long term and went short term route to save cap dollars for other players. It's dumb. It's a failure on Brad's part and brushing it aside is just foolish.

Oof.

If I was interviewing Treliving for a GM job, I'd definitely be asking him a lot of questions about this.

[FanIn80]

"I'm locking you up long term and building this team around you. You will be the face of this franchise and its leader for years to come."

- Not said by Brad Treliving when he had the opportunity to say it

[FormerPresJamesTaylor]

Jiri (or anyone) chalking it up to cliches and platitudes as a way to brush aside any criticism is so infuriating. This isn't Matthew looking back with empty praise, it was what he said AT THE GOD DAMN TIME.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

"I'm looking you up long term and building this team around you. You will be the face of this franchise and its leader for years to come."

- Not said by Brad Treliving when he had the opportunity to say it

"Hi Matthew, Murray Edwards told me I only have so much money in the piggy bank so I'll have to give you a bridge contract so that i can still pay guys like Frolik and continue my habit of spending most of my money on guys like Mason Raymond, Troy Brouwer, and James Neal every season."

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by FormerPresJamesTaylor

I'll continue to blame Treliving, because it's his fault. You continue to brush aside any critisms. When this topic comes up again, we can do the same thing.

I don't know how stating we don't know is the same thing as brushing aside any criticisms.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by FormerPresJamesTaylor

Jiri (or anyone) chalking it up to cliches and platitudes as a way to brush aside any criticism is so infuriating. This isn't Matthew looking back with empty praise, it was what he said AT THE GOD DAMN TIME.

Jonathan Tavares also said he wanted to be with the Islanders for a long time.

When has a hockey player said anything differently?
"Yeah you know when I thought about signing a long-term deal in Calgary I realized that would just mean I'd have to wait longer until I can walk around in my flip flops on the beach in November. And Matty T just ain't down with that'.

No one is going to say that.
What hockey players say to the media matters little.

Also why you hef to be mad?

[FormerPresJamesTaylor]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I don't know how stating we don't know is the same thing as brushing aside any criticisms.

That's exactly what you're doing. We'll never know so we can't comment thus we can't critic the decision. Read the damn quote from Tkachuk on the day he signed that dumb bridge deal and tell me differently, tell me that this is anything but a failure by Treliving.

[Manhattanboy]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Oof.

If I was interviewing Treliving for a GM job, I'd definitely be asking him a lot of questions about this.

I just don't see how he gets close to a another GM job.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by FormerPresJamesTaylor

That's exactly what you're doing. We'll never know so we can't comment thus we can't critic the decision. Read the damn quote from Tkachuk on the day he signed that dumb bridge deal and tell me differently, tell me that this is anything but a failure by Treliving.

I've read it. Doesn't change my point that we don't know.

- Would he have signed and for what $?
- Would ownership have allowed it (recall that Sec214 who has been right about almost everything said Edwards rejected a big deal for Tkachuk)
- Or did BT blow it?

I don't know. No one does except BT, Tkachuk and Edwards. And Tkachuk's agent I guess.
And maybe Big Daddy K.

[FormerPresJamesTaylor]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Jonathan Tavares also said he wanted to be with the Islanders for a long time.

Show me the quote, when it was said, under what context and we can compare the two.

Tkachuk signed the deal, said his first option was long tern, then spoke to the GM and it shifted. That's not typical hockey cliches. That's not happy to be here stuff.

[FormerPresJamesTaylor]

Originally Posted by Manhattanboy

I just don't see how he gets close to a another GM job.

I'm hoping he gets the job in Toronto and loses Matthews the same way he lost Gaudreau here.

[Manhattanboy]

The anger sure is justified. We are likely not having this discussion if Matty was not 4 games from willing his team to a Stanley Cup less than a year after being traded.

What a year it's been at Flames Inc.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Manhattanboy

I just don't see how he gets close to a another GM job.

Other teams understand the conditions he was operating under here: small-market Canadian city, ‘hands-on’ owner, and a notoriously difficult coach foisted on him by said owner.

I have no doubt Treliving will get another shot at managing an NHL team.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I've read it. Doesn't change my point that we don't know.

- Would he have signed and for what $?
- Would ownership have allowed it (recall that Sec214 who has been right about almost everything said Edwards rejected a big deal for Tkachuk)
- Or did BT blow it?

I don't know. No one does except BT, Tkachuk and Edwards. And Tkachuk's agent I guess.
And maybe Big Daddy K.

It's clear that BT and Edwards did not see eye to eye and that's one reason he left. He didn't have enough control. Sutter might have been Edwards pick as well. If anything, we can see obvious signs of Edward's business tactics here. The other day I heard a well-connected person saying "don't play poker with Murray Edwards".

If BT ever went to another team, his interview response should be about how much he salvaged what he could despite owner interference to always be in win mode on a budget (heard he didn't have leeway to hire an expensive coach prior to Sutter so we got GG) and his work at the time was considered to be slam dunk miracles like Tkachuk for Huberdeau, Weeger, and a 1st.

[Manhattanboy]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I have no doubt Treliving will get another shot at managing an NHL team.

Pro sports is a weird business. In any other industry his resume might be career ending.