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

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

You have no idea what his wife values or why. World class is important and not all hospitals are created equal. It’s ridiculous to assume her career opportunities don’t matter.

And frankly, if he put her needs first, good for him. Not even first, just equal with his own. He still got to be out east. Just because he’s an athlete he should dictate where they live? Maybe her having a fulfilling career as a nurse is just as important as him winning. And maybe it was the best decision for both of them because now he’s in the EC and she gets the best career opportunity available.

Sounds like a solid marriage to me. Weird some people want to frame it that she manipulated him.

First of all, you completely misread my post/point. Second, no one is suggesting she manipulated him.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by Redlan

Plus, most likely, the next year she will be off on mat leave so there is a year of employment gone (at min), if they only have one child. I would guess that over the course of his contract there is 4 years max of employment at said children hospital. So not as big as an incentive when you start raising a young family over the next few years.

She's in the US, silly person.
Mat leave is a couple weeks. Maybe

[manwiches]

Originally Posted by Flame On

Something that not many people seem to be picking up in the side-rail issue of hospital rankings and spouse happiness, is a few things he brought up in the presser related to seeing it in Columbus:

That's who you want to play with, guys who get along in the locker room and love coming to the rink and working every single day. It's just a healthy environment to be around.

Seemed a strange thing to highlight, or is that a reach?

Canned response I think. Similar to the "great city and fans and arena" bs

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[memphusk]

John sure knew how to push the majority of everyone's buttons here.
Ahahahahahahh. What a sneaky little devil you are John.

[N-E-B]

As much as I’m pissed off right now I’ve decided that I don’t want our fans to boo him and give him the Tavares treatment. That was embarrassing.

Let’s just accept his decision and move on. There’s plenty of players here willing and wanting to be here. Let’s celebrate them. Not everyone wants to live in Calgary. Unfortunately sometimes those people also happen to be good hockey players.

So let’s not boo him. Let’s not be babies about it. Let’s just move on. He’s already tanked his legacy here. It’s over. That’s enough for me.

[Flamesfan05]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

She's in the US, silly person.
Mat leave is a couple weeks. Maybe

That’s for the poor people

[jharp]

Originally Posted by N-E-B

As much as I’m pissed off right now I’ve decided that I don’t want our fans to boo him and give him the Tavares treatment. That was embarrassing.

Let’s just accept his decision and move on. There’s plenty of players here willing and wanting to be here. Let’s celebrate them. Not everyone wants to live in Calgary. Unfortunately sometimes those people also happen to be good hockey players.

So let’s not boo him. Let’s not be babies about it. Let’s just move on. He’s already tanked his legacy here. It’s over. That’s enough for me.

I’d thank this twice if possible.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

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.

LOL. Who said anything like that? The point being made is that there are excellent pediatric hospitals in more places than just Columbus. No doubt her desires were a very big consideration - I mean he literally said that - but suggesting it was all about THAT hospital seems like a stretch.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Saqe

IMO as soon as Gaudreau wasn't extending before his NTC kicked in he should've been traded.

The problem here is that this didn't happen until hours before UFA. Based on everything we have heard, both parties were actively negotiating an extension, and it doesn't seem like thete was ever a point along the way at which Gaudreau had indicated that he was moving on.


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[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Yeah Psychologists are not Psychics. You may be mixing up the two.

It was sarcastic, I was making a reference about another poster's comments.

[NOISIA]

Originally Posted by N-E-B

As much as I’m pissed off right now I’ve decided that I don’t want our fans to boo him and give him the Tavares treatment. That was embarrassing.

Let’s just accept his decision and move on. There’s plenty of players here willing and wanting to be here. Let’s celebrate them. Not everyone wants to live in Calgary. Unfortunately sometimes those people also happen to be good hockey players.

So let’s not boo him. Let’s not be babies about it. Let’s just move on. He’s already tanked his legacy here. It’s over. That’s enough for me.

Nah.

[BlindMilwaukee]

Originally Posted by memphusk

John sure knew how to push the majority of everyone's buttons here.
Ahahahahahahh. What a sneaky little Blue Jacket*you are John.

fyp.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Professional sports is funny. There’s no more brutally ruthless industry in the world. The money is huge. The egos are huge. There’s no prize for second place. The owners, management, and players have shown time and time again that each of them acts in their own self-interest and exploits every bit of leverage at hand to get they want.

And yet fans are encouraged to believe it’s all about higher ideals like loyalty and honour. Even when owners, management, and players demonstrate their selfishness, we don’t want to believe it.

You’re absolutely right. GMs like Lamoiriello have has the success they’ve had because they don’t even pretend to be about anything other than winning the deal.

I think it's born of that fact that to be one of the best players in the world you have to have to be an alpha male with an ego and same goes for those that have worked themselves into high management positions. The internal competition to get the best deals for each side is probably only rivaled by the competition to win on the ice.

[stone hands]

Originally Posted by Infinit47

That's insane.

His career and job satisfaction (team fit, teammates, competitiveness) is significantly more dependant on the location than hers would be. She is a recent grad for goodness sake.

Not to mention that his career will be over in a decade and she can then take the family wherever she wants. Seems like a way for both of them to win.

From his interviews it sounds like he has tons of friends on the blue jackets. He has already gotten the bag and spends half the season travelling for work anyways, which he now gets to do in the eastern conference instead of calgary

I just dont see the problem. He gets to play a sport for money, for which he gets compensated more in one year than multiple generations of average people will see in their lifetimes. His wife gets to work in a place she covets, and they both are a 2 hour flight from family without having to cross a border

Ya it sucks as a flames fan because hes fun to watch every night but it's not that mystifying as to why a human being would make the choice he did

[djsFlames]

Nm

[SebC]

Originally Posted by N-E-B

So let’s not boo him. Let’s not be babies about it. Let’s just move on. He’s already tanked his legacy here. It’s over. That’s enough for me.

It's just booing. Jeering the heel is fun, and being the heel can be fun too (ask Bettman). Gaudreau will be fine. And if he isn't, that's all the more reason to boo him.

[Tbull8]

I will cheer for the tribute video as it celebrates everything he did for the team and all the great memories he left us with. But I will be booing every time he touches the puck in a different jersey. Some might not agree with it but thats how I feel

[habernac]

Some hilarious #### in here. I'm disappointed he left, too. All these speculations about why or whatever. None of our business. He lived up to the terms of his contract. He just spent a few years mostly away from his family during a ####ty pandemic. He's now closer to them. Mom, Dad, uncles, sis can fly in direct from Philly. Good on him.

Chapeau, Johnny. Thanks for making Flames hockey fun to watch again.

[DylanScores]

As a health care worker it’s hard to be choosy and picky where to work! She’s a new grad and if I’m her, I’ll take all the experience I can! The ACH is a world class facility! But let’s be honest, do we seriously think that making $80-120k a year is “good” but when you’re husband is making $9 mill a year, C’mon?
John and his wife can do whatever that he wants. He could have been more honest and forthright and didn’t use the “family” as an excuse!
I don’t believe the crap sandwich he said in the presser about how he loved the city and special place for him etc! But I don’t think he did appreciate what the city did for him.
Regarding the travel discussion between the US and the States, they are taken care off by the Flames organization in and off season!

[Mathgod]

It's been a difficult 48 hours. Last night I posted quite a number of things that were way over the top and unnecessary. I've since removed those comments from my posts (though they may still appear quoted in others' posts) and I sincerely apologize for my obnoxiousness.

Whatever Johnny's reason for leaving Calgary, the fact of the matter is the world did not end, the sun came up this morning, and a new era of Calgary Flames hockey has begun. Keeping Johnny at 8x10.5 may have been best for the team in the short term, but would have been risky in the long term. As some have stated, perhaps his departure is a blessing in disguise. This frees up valuable cap space that can be put to good use to improve the team in other ways.

That said, one valuable lesson that I do hope ownership and management take away from all this, is that it's time to cut it out with all the touchy-feely stuff when it comes to managing this team's assets.
- If a player doesn't seem extremely committed to staying with the team long term, don't be afraid to listen to offers from other teams.
- If it's felt that a player's level of play is at a high point now and is likely to decline in the near future, don't be afraid to listen to offers from other teams.
- If for whatever reason you feel a player is not the right fit for the team, don't be afraid to listen to offers from other teams.
And if a team is willing to pay a price that is suitable, go ahead and make the trade.

The other thing that I wish management would give some thought to is perhaps putting a bit less emphasis on always trying to win now win now win now at the expense of the team's pool of futures. Going back 20, maybe even 30 years, it feels like this team has been rather fast & loose when it comes to trading away first round picks. The trend, IMO, needs to stop.