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

[iggyloob12]

He was asked about his message to Calgary fans, who may be hurting. Johnny said fans were great, as you'd expect he'd say, but also that it felt like time for a change.

"I'll leave it at that."

[AC]

Asked about what words he has for Calgary fans, and his answer was weird at best.

Wants to talk about Columbus today and talk about Calgary later, but Calgary was special to him and the fans were good to him. "I'll leave it at that". Weird.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

This doesn't mean Calgary was never an option or not on the list.

Of course he was going to do the research.

It was Calgary (the incumbent where he's lived for 8 years)

vs

Philly (Home)
New Jersey
Columbus
etc

I don't see why him doing his research and looking at options that might be available if he's going to go to free agency would trigger people.

Of course he was going to have a plan of "Here's what places I'd prefer IF I do decide to leave Calgary"

Thing is, he gave none of those teams time to make proper offers.

[RoadGame]

Hadn't been to Columbus before today other than hotel-rink-hotel

Learned about Nationwide Arena phase 2 upgrades today

Existing relationships? "mostly new faces"



I can't imagine having the financial resources he already does and making a decision about where to live and work for nearly a decade with so little diligence.

This presser seems consistent with CBJ not being his first choice, even if we know CGY wasn't his first choice. I wonder how long his agent will remain his agent.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

I think people are reading too much into CBJ GM comment about “ok is this real?”

Yes I’m sure they were surprised Johnny had them at the top of the list because most rumours suggested if he left Calgary, it’d be to go to the coast.

But the quotes make it clear CBJ had him on their list of FA possibilities. Not to mention the quotes say everything moved quickly.

Nothing in there suggests Johnny intended to sign there the whole time. Only that they were one of the possible destinations he had in mind.

We’ll never know if Calgary had any shot but frankly I don’t care. It was a failure by our ownership and GM to ever take that risk.

Of course Columbus had him on their list - every team had him on the list.

But by all accounts, Gaudreau's team contacted them, which caught them off guard.

[CSharp]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

This doesn't mean Calgary was never an option or not on the list.

Of course he was going to do the research.

It was Calgary (the incumbent where he's lived for 8 years)

vs

Philly (Home)
New Jersey
Columbus
etc

I don't see why him doing his research and looking at options that might be available if he's going to go to free agency would trigger people.

Of course he was going to have a plan of "Here's what places I'd prefer IF I do decide to leave Calgary"

The way he answered that question was so awkward. He was seriously trying to avoid the question as he was unprepared to say what was truly on his mind. Just watch him spew what his agent will prepare for him.

[peter12]

Very weird.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Dude, you're going to have become a lot more mature and even keeled as a person if you want to start mentoring people.

[Bonded]

lol bizzare. I am not even mad, I am just confused

[Johnny Makarov]

This is the alternate ending to Jerry Maguire.

[littlereddevil]

Originally Posted by iggyloob12

He was asked about his message to Calgary fans, who may be hurting. Johnny said fans were great, as you'd expect he'd say, but also that it felt like time for a change.

"I'll leave it at that."

Barely even an acknowledgement to the fans and the organization after they have given him so much in his NHL career.

Yeah... I think this won't go over well with fans. I expect he'll get booed when he returns to Calgary. He could have handled this situation more professionally. We have every right to be mad at Flames management and ownership for how they mishandled this situation, but Gaudreau could have shown at least an ounce of gratitude to the organization so his reputation isn't damaged.

[iggyloob12]

In fairness to him, this presser is his opportunity to introduce himself to Columbus so I get why he'd want to limit his comments about Calgary. He can and should be doing that on social media.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

I wonder if/how much having a dump of an arena plays into this

These players get to play in every arena. Top facilities when you will be playing 280 games plus practices over the next 7 years must play into the decision.

There's a reason companies invest money in on site facilities to try and attract top talent

Nationwide Arena is cursed and haunted because it was built on the former site of a prison where more than 300 people were executed in the electric chair during its operation.

I guess technically, the arena was built on the site of the prison's parking lot, and the arena's parking lot was built on the site of the prison, but that just seems like splitting hairs.

[CSharp]

Eric Francis still a useless tool. Didn't really ask the hard question and didn't put Johnny on the spot.

[Atodaso]

Pretty obvious he never truly viewed Calgary as somewhere he'd stay long term. I can understand the perspective of just not fitting into the culture of the city itself. Especially when you're an American from the east coast.

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[Jordan!]

Strange answers re: Calgary.

I think he's full of #$%^ about considering Calgary up to the last minute

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by littlereddevil

Barely even an acknowledgement to the fans and the organization after they have given him so much in his NHL career.

Yeah... I think this won't go over well with fans. I expect he'll get booed when he returns to Calgary. He could have handled this situation more professionally. We have every right to be mad at Flames management and ownership for how they mishandled this situation, but Gaudreau could have shown at least an ounce of gratitude to the organization so his reputation isn't damaged.

I no longer blame Treliving at all. I think Gaudreau's camp purposefully misled him at this point. He was never going to sign here if was willing to go to Columbus for less term and money.

[manwiches]

Originally Posted by Jordan!

Strange answers re: Calgary.

I think he's full of #$%^ about considering Calgary up to the last minute

Can someone Coles notes what's being said? I turned it off. Is he on with Francis?

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[iggyloob12]

"It was best for us not to go back to Calgary."

OK, then. Tell us how you really feel!

[Press Level]

Wow, is he ever squirming while delivering these non-answers.