I never thought about covid and travel restrictions as being a reason to leave. Now thinking about it that probably played a huge hand on this if there is another pandemic that causes restricted air travel between USA and Canada. Especially with a new born on the way.
I'm sure the 2021 Canadian bubble season didn't really help sell playing on a Canadian team to American players.
Gaudreau genuinely sounded as excited as McDavid did after seeing the Oilers won the lottery.
“Whether the Oilers draft me or not, that’s an unbelievable organization and it would be a true honour to play for them,” McDavid said in a TV interview.
A lot of speculation about what happened, so I’ll throw one in. On Tuesday night Gaudreau had a visitation from the Flying Spaghetti Monster and was told to go where the cannons roar. Too bad we don’t have a minor league baseball team anymore. He might have stayed.
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First, great to see the Alberta Children's Hospital so high on that list. Very impressive.
However, it may not be as simple as that. Perhaps, for whatever reason, JG's wife had unique opportunities at the Columbus hospital that weren't available in Calgary (specializations, personal relationships, who knows)?
Anyway, we're all just blindly speculating at this point. I will just echo others and say that if one of JG's most heavily weighted decision-making factors was his wife's career satisfaction, I fully support that (and think it should be celebrated, not derided).
Nope. Wrong. Some guy who went to a **top** med school says that’s wrong and people don’t make choice based on the quality of the employer or career opportunities. And if a guy claiming to be a doctor on CP said so, it has to apply to everyone who is in the field of medicine because of course some rando on CP should be able to speak for a woman he doesn’t know and has never met.
Especially after constantly saying he would like to play his whole career in Calgary and then taking $15 million less to go to an even worse also-ran organization in Columbus.
Like I said, Philly or Jersey or even the Isles/Rangers I could get.
Hell, even Florida or Tampa (if they had space) I could get, actual contenders, east coast and beauty weather.
But Columbus? Gimme a break
I'd be more pissed if i was the Devils. Too close to home I guess.
__________________ Peter12 "I'm no Trump fan but he is smarter than most if not everyone in this thread. ”
I think what’s confusing is how it came down to Tuesday. What about Tuesday night did it?
How do you go from “maybe Calgary” for a month to “any team but” in a night? Especially combined with the fact that he was researching other places over the past month, which is fine, but it wasn’t just “I’m going to see what else is out there tomorrow” it was “I’m not coming back here regardless of what’s out there tomorrow.”
It’s weird.
It would be weird if he wasn't researching other places in the lead up; leaving was always a distinct possibility.
We believe* he had 8x10.5M in front of him. (*we've also believed a lot of things that turned out to be incorrect, especially in the last few days)
I suspect he thought he could probably find around 7x10.5M somewhere closer. I'm sure there was also an enticing carrot that it would turn into something crazy like 7x12M. Any sane agent would have also managed expectations by making it clear things could go the other direction, too.
I think he probably weighed all the risks/rewards and his+Meredith's priorities and proceeded accordingly. Maybe 8x11 or 8x11.25 would have changed that calculus, maybe it wouldn't.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Enoch Root
Yeah, but if the team had a good psychologist on staff, they would have seen right through that lie and known Gaudreau had no intentions of re-signing.
I don't know how team-employed sport psychologists work in terms of confidentiality, but if there isn't crystal clear confidentiality then it's probably a pointless endeavour anyways since no player is going to be truly honest if they think it's getting reported back.
If only there was some news source that provides a ranking of these facilities. One that say lists hospitals in both the US and Canada. Perhaps such a publication would even list the Alberta Children's hospital in Calgary at #7 and the Nationwide Children's hospital in Columbus at #17.
I think Gaudreau burned his bridge with Murray, found out the market was soft and had to settle.
In short he effed around and found out.
I wasn't disputing Calgary being 7 and Columbus 17. I saw those before I posted. I was saying from his options that he decided (Calgary wasn't one of them according to him), that Columbus was speculated by their fans to be an option because of it's hospital. Team wise Columbus isn't great and it's still not as close to New Jersey. Devils offered over $9 M as well. CBJ fans were speculating that CBJ was more attractive than NJ for the reason I mentioned.
Personally I feel, it would have made sense for him family distance wise and team wise to sign in New Jersey over Columbus but it seems the career for his significant other was important to him as well. But again, this is all speculation.
My wild guess is I think the Flames pressured Johnny on Tuesday and he wasn't ready to give an answer. I'm guessing Edwards guilt tripped him perhaps for holding up the organization to that point knowing that the deal presented was more than reasonable, or that was the tone of message sent through the people in communication. I can see the Flames side wanting to do their business and maybe sending a shot or two from the top at his camp for running down the clock. It wasn't recieved well and so he took his toys home to play in the US. Until that point, he probably was genuinely torn between options.
It makes a lot of sense that tempers would boil over at 11:59 on the proverbial clock. Flames might have sealed their own fate while Johnny simultaneously burned that bridge with his old team and teammates by allowing emotions to factor in.
It's too bad, really. And now nobody wins.
Could have taken many different turns in retrospect, but that's always easy to point out after the fact. In the midst of the process of negotiations it is clear that both sides didn't have an extended future with the Flames ruled out entirely.
The public statements are just salad dressing and don't tell the whole story and we likely won't know much until tidbits slip out over time, maybe through friends and family of those that were in the room that afternoon/evening.
I am curious as #### how it unraveled though.
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I don’t think there’s anything nefarious in Johnny’s ackwardness at the presser either. I think he’s just nervous and struggling to find the right words. It’s not a sign he’s afraid to blame his wife or that the negotiations went awry or that he hates Calgary or any other conspiracy.
It’s a big day, he’s probably a bit nervous and just didn’t articulate himself very well. Should he have had a better statement prepared? Sure. But nothing in his interview makes me think any differently about the situation. CBJ is closer to home and is a city that made sense for his family. End of story.
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Location: A simple man leading a complicated life....
Exp:
Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
Leaving this here:
“Calgary has been a second home to me,” Gaudreau said. “I love playing there. I love my teammates there. I love the city. The fans are awesome. It’s a team that I could see myself playing for for the remainder of my career, and I’ve always said that. I know a lot of people have speculations of me wanting to go back east, but I just feel really comfortable where I’m at — with the teammates there, the coaching staff, with Brad (Treliving), the management, the owners …
…
“Throughout my whole time there, I’ve been treated really well. I love the city. It’s been a blast playing there the past six years. It’s unfortunate we haven’t reached the end-goal that we’ve wanted in the past, but it’s been a second home to me. My family loves it there. My girlfriend likes being there. It’s a special place for us.”
He sold the Flames community a line and everyone bought it.
I want to trade Tkachuk to Columbus for Sillinger and their 2023 first so that I can cheer against Columbus in full force so that we get Bedard. Not that I'm bitter.
Especially after constantly saying he would like to play his whole career in Calgary and then taking $15 million less to go to an even worse also-ran organization in Columbus.
Like I said, Philly or Jersey or even the Isles/Rangers I could get.
Hell, even Florida or Tampa (if they had space) I could get, actual contenders, east coast and beauty weather.
But Columbus? Gimme a break
Insulting to who? Why does the money matter? God forbid someone make a life decision that’s a bit more than money.
And so what if he cares more about family than winning? Maybe he thinks CBJ can be competitive.
As if being a family man who doesn’t care about money are bad traits to have as a person.
Man, having just watched the Johnny presser its very apparent to me something is going on behind the scenes.
His justification/reasoning for "why columbus?" is extremely sketchy.
He has no definitive answer, looks lost and almost scrambled when having to answer it. His primary response of "the fans look fun to play in front of" almost makes no sense, its a canned response that you hear anyone say.
The look on his face the entire time has 0 confidence, he looks rattled throughout the entire interview. He stuttered multiple times which would indicate significant nerves, but that was never the case in Calgary. Asked about the players he didn't know much which is odd for a guy who apparently "researched" coming there.
He started off saying its a great for where my wife and I are at which jumped out to me.
But after that the similar questions he would answer with "I though it was a good spot for me personally" and "It was circled on my list".
Ultimately this to me screams of wanting out of the spotlight, his legacy and stardom in Calgary was NOT what they wanted and he clearly didn't like it when starting his family now. He wants to fade into the sunset and just play hockey and make his money. I think the hardest decision was John maybe wanted to stay but his wife thought this would be best for the family and he ultimately agreed.
Or it’s that he wanted to take the higher ground and not say he left because he didn’t have faith in the Flames organization or that he thought someone was a dick.
Either way it doesn’t really matter now. He had his reasons and the reality is it’s no one’s business but his and his family’s.
Meh, he gone. And now we can all move on. He didn't want to be in Calgary anymore. For whatever reason. End of the day, no slight on the fans. He owes us nothing.
I'm honestly excited to see some responsibility distributed among the rest of the team now. Guys like Lindholm and Tkachuk deferred a lot to Johnny.
A lot a lot.
I'm glad we can see what life is like without Johnny. I'm glad we can move on without crippling everything.
__________________ "Everybody's so desperate to look smart that nobody is having fun anymore" -Jackie Redmond
I agree. Johnny was the best Flame player I have seen outside of Iginla. But I never felt he was going to win us a championship. He’s not built for playoff hockey.
If they could replace his output with two cheaper physical players might set them up to compete better come the post season.
Still think going after JT Miller and Kadri would be a good idea. Doubt they will get either.
What would you suggest they give up for Miller, because the cost to obtain him will be substantial.
No kidding. What a bunch of weird ####. It's entering terrible fanfic territory. People need to take a break from the internet and go enjoy the nice weather.
I'm not sure how you can look at the blue jackets team and have more faith in what they're doing, or the resources they're willing to put in.
It looks a lot based on the statements that the city, work opportunities, location, travel and everything except for the hockey club itself were the primary determinants.
