[SASKATOON, SK -- On Monday evening, Calgary Flames general manager Jay Feaster addressed the termination of Ryan Howse's contract.
The forward, who was drafted by the Flames in the third round of the 2009 NHL Draft, was suspended earlier this month for failing to report to training camp.
"He had gone through Craig Conroy actually and (he) had indicated that he wasn't sure that he wanted to play. Craig talked to him and tried to convince him that his heart should be in it.
"As he said, 'Are you sure you want me to go to Jay? Because if I tell Jay this is what you're thinking, then it's kind of in the stream and kind of out of your control.' And he said, 'Yeah, I don't want to play. My heart's not in it.'"
Howse, who attended the Flames development camp earlier this summer, had hoped he would rekindle the passion he once had for hockey through July and August but that never happened for the 22-year-old.
"We actually sent him a letter and said that based on your conversations, it is an anticipatory repudiation of your contract and that you need to be at this place, at this time for your physical," Feaster said. "You need to come to Calgary. We had actually encouraged him, in any event, to come to Calgary so we could meet.
"We had a flight booked for him. He didn't come to Calgary."
When the team left for Penticton for the Young Stars Classic, they sent him another letter telling him he had five days to report to camp. The deadline was noon on Sept. 9 and he didn't report or communicate with the team.
On the afternoon of Sept. 9, the team placed Howse on unconditional waivers which took effect on Sept. 10. He cleared waivers on Sept. 11 and the team sent notice to Howse, his agent, the NHL and the NHLPA that they were terminating the contract.
On Thursday, Sept. 12, Howse was off of the Flames reserve list.