For the primary time since he left, Johnny Gaudreau has returned to town the place he rose to league stardom.
A Calgary Flame his first eight seasons {of professional} hockey out of Boston College, the left-winger stepped again onto Saddledome ice Monday in Columbus Blue Jackets colors.
His teammates gave him a style of what he may anticipate in his first sport again in Calgary by booing him when he touched the puck within the morning skate.
“It was humorous,” Gaudreau, from Salem, N.J., stated after the pre-game skate. “Just lightened the temper a bit bit. I may barely stickhandle I used to be laughing so exhausting going up and down the ice.”
The 29-year-old’s departure from Calgary as an unrestricted free agent for an American market final July was much less shocking than his alternative of vacation spot.
The Blue Jackets missed the playoffs by 19 factors final season and ranked final within the NHL heading into Monday’s sport at 14-30-2.
“We’ve been battling with a variety of accidents this season,” Gaudreau stated.
“Some children are getting referred to as up that I did not actually know very properly. It’s been nice attending to know them, offers me a possibility to form of get to know much more folks within the group.”
Flames common supervisor Brad Treliving stated winger Johnny Gaudreau ‘agonized’ over his choice and stated the explanation for transferring on from Calgary, in the long run, was a ‘household choice’ and never about {dollars}. (Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports by way of Reuters)
Gaudreau and the Blue Jackets agreed to a seven-year, $68.25-million US contract.
The Flames subsequently signed left-winger Jonathan Huberdeau for eight years and $84 million, which advised Gaudreau left cash on the desk to signal with Columbus.
“I would not change something,” Gaudreau stated. “I knew how particular this place was to me. It was a very very long time determining what I used to be going to do. It was tremendous, tremendous exhausting on me. A protracted month there determining if I used to be going to go or not.”
Gaudreau led the Flames in factors in all however two of his eight years in Calgary.
He posted profession numbers final season with 40 objectives and 75 assists in 82 video games.
His 115 factors tied with Huberdeau for second within the league behind Edmonton’s Connor McDavid.
Gaudreau added three objectives and 11 assists in a dozen playoff video games.
His Game 7 time beyond regulation winner versus the Dallas Stars electrified the Saddledome and catapulted the Flames into the post-season’s second spherical for the primary time in seven years.
“I used to be disillusioned to lose Johnny,” Flames head coach Darryl Sutter stated Monday. “I loved teaching him and loved seeing his development final 12 months.
“He’s a puck possession man. Not solely a transporter, however he is a man that did a variety of altering the tides of video games.”
The burning query after Calgary’s second-round exit by the hands of the Oilers was would “Johnny Hockey” keep or go?
As the gamers headed into the low season, Gaudreau acknowledged “all the pieces about this metropolis I like.”
Gaudreau’s need to finally play in a U.S. market nearer to his household on the East Coast was recognized, stated Flames teammate Mikael Backlund.
“The entire time he is been right here, he is at all times stated he needed to play within the U.S. in some unspecified time in the future and you have to respect that,” Backlund stated.
“Going into free company final 12 months, it appeared like he was extra constructive staying and needed to possibly re-sign, however on the similar time you at all times knew he needed to return to the U.S. and play there in some unspecified time in the future.”
While indicators pointed to former Flames star ahead Johnny Gaudreau signing near house in Philadelphia over the summer season, he joined the Blue Jackets on a seven-year free-agent contract price $68.25 million US. (Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports by way of Reuters)
Gaudreau, whose spouse Meredith had a child daughter in October, stated Columbus was merely the appropriate match for his life circumstances.
“I’ve bought a rising household now,” he stated. “We have that distance now the place we will form of do our personal factor, however shut sufficient the place our households can simply stroll within the door.
“I do not know what number of instances I’ve seen my dad stroll within the door. Not figuring out he was going to point out up and simply present up out of the blue. He’s been loving that. That was essential for me.”
Blue Jackets head coach Brad Larsen acknowledged Gaudreau could possibly be in for an emotional night time.
“Your first one again is at all times the toughest, irrespective of if it is hostile, not hostile,” Larsen stated. “It at all times has particular which means it doesn’t matter what.
“The participant has a proper to decide, whether or not we prefer it or not. That’s what the [collective bargaining agreement] says.”
Both Gaudreau and Huberdeau have been properly again of their 115-points paces of final season.
Gaudreau had 13 objectives and 31 assists heading into his forty seventh sport Monday, whereas Huberdeau had 9 objectives and 23 assists in 44 video games.
Unlike Columbus, Calgary was within the playoff hunt getting into Monday’s sport, albeit scrambling to remain in wild-card place within the Western Conference.
