News Article: Thorough Tavares FA article (with quotes from current and former Isles)

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Satan'sIsland81

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Feb 9, 2007
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There are three things I take away from this article:
1) If you are one of the people that believes Tavares was not always going to the Leafs no matter what, then you have to hate Garth Snow even more. If it is true, that even after all those years Tavares and his teammates just wanted to see some sign of life at the deadline and some help brought in, then it was clearly the last in a long line of failures by Garth Snow.
2) Again, assuming this is all true, Lou's plan makes no sense. I could see if he was telling Tavares I will bring in X and Y wingers that you specifically want if you stay, but why would bringing in a top goaltender with term be dependent on Tavares re signing? Of course he could have told him that to entice him/put pressure on him, but once Tavares was gone, why would that suddenly be no longer the plan. A top goaltender is the perfect place to start getting the team back to contention more quickly. I just dont get why someone would be like, okay we dont need that top goaltender now. It makes Lou look like a liar.
3) This is the one that is most clear to me and hopefully it will be to all of you now. Those first games back for Tavares at Barclays and then the Coliseum, they will not be anything special or intense on the ice. It will only be in the stands. If this article is accurate, it does not seem like the players blame him or are upset with him in the slightest, and that is just absurd. It just makes me double down on my posts from all summer about pro athletes and how they dont give a shit about the fans or what we think. But that aside, there is not going to be anyone out to get him, hit him, make his life miserable those nights. It is not going to be a playoff atmosphere on the ice. All of that will be only up in the stands. And when it gets as ugly as I expect it to get that night, I honestly would not be surprised if our own players side with Tavares rather than our level of hostility towards him.
 

saintunspecified

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Nov 30, 2017
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I actually enjoyed the article for what it is, but I also come away from this whole saga thinking the Islanders will be better in the long run without Tavares than with him.

When he was here, it sure seemed like there was John Tavares, and then below him the rest of the Islanders.

Very well put. There are some players who thrive in that scenario, but not many. Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, and Gretzky come to mind, but not even Lebron James. It takes extreme competitiveness, high intelligence, and natural charisma to put it all together. Lebron has great competitiveness, extreme intelligence, and decent charisma. Jordan had extreme competitiveness and charisma, and was pretty smart. Gretzky had a similar combo. Magic had it all.

JT has the competitiveness. Maybe.
 

Axel574

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Dec 9, 2015
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This guy needs to get lost. **** him, he no longer matters to us anymore. This whining and damage control from him is getting cringeworthy. Be a man and stand by your decision. Stop trying to make up with the team you ****** over. It’s too late.

Also, this quote stood out to me:

“John Tavares and Aryne Fuller were married Aug. 4 in Niagara-on-the Lake, about 90 minutes southwest of Toronto. The emcee was Edmonton Oiler Ryan Strome, a former teammate. “So, Strome opens the night by saying, ‘I had this fantastic speech written, but I had to change it on July 1,’” one of the guests says, laughing at the memory. “People were dying.”

I hope every current Islander reads this and gets PO’d. We’re essentially a laughing stock to people, the buttend of jokes.

I'm pretty sure there were a lot of current Islanders in attendance. You might be taking this a bit out of context.
 

GrandmaSlices51631

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Dec 12, 2013
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This guy needs to get lost. **** him, he no longer matters to us anymore. This whining and damage control from him is getting cringeworthy. Be a man and stand by your decision. Stop trying to make up with the team you ****** over. It’s too late.

Also, this quote stood out to me:

“John Tavares and Aryne Fuller were married Aug. 4 in Niagara-on-the Lake, about 90 minutes southwest of Toronto. The emcee was Edmonton Oiler Ryan Strome, a former teammate. “So, Strome opens the night by saying, ‘I had this fantastic speech written, but I had to change it on July 1,’” one of the guests says, laughing at the memory. “People were dying.”

I hope every current Islander reads this and gets PO’d. We’re essentially a laughing stock to people, the buttend of jokes.

That is a good punch line from Strome, gotta give it to him. One thing people forget is that Strome was JT's roommate, and they supposedly had a mentor/apprentice relationship, well look at where Strome is now - he totally fell off. I think Capuano is partly to blame for doghousing him but it speaks to JT's ability as a leader as well.

I never read this as a point of consideration, the organization leaves the captain in charge of mentoring and helping cultivate the new prized draft pick, a top player from the OHL who dominated in the AHL. His first season was nice but then he's traded. "JT " is a very good player, but he wasn't great enough to carry this team. That was the mistake all along, assuming JT could carry the team (he could to a first round exit or victory vs the panthers), when he's not that kind of talent.
 

Skip To My Lou

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May 4, 2010
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That was such a stressful piece to read, but incredibly informative. I hate revisiting that moment. I wasted so much time looking at Twitter, hoping for something, only to realize I wasted a week of my life.

I hope he wins nothing, and he's gonna get booed.
 
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Bood12

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sounds like a fluff piece from his friends and insiders to tell how much it was such a hard decision, I also like the bit at the beginning: "Guys, I don’t want to take advantage of this.’" sounds like he was laughing in the Islanders faces as they went out of their way in trying to appease him

would also be nice if some current teammates or people around the league would say it is messed up what Tavares did, but I am sure they love it as they see it as a business decision and if Tavares strung a team along and than used that team and a few others to get more money for himself more power to him.
 
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ThreeLeftSkates

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Nov 20, 2008
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You should see the posts where they say they will be unbeatable 3 on 3, and how Pajama Boy is going to be great in the shoot out!
 

Strummergas

Regular User
Sep 3, 2006
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This guy needs to get lost. **** him, he no longer matters to us anymore. This whining and damage control from him is getting cringeworthy. Be a man and stand by your decision. Stop trying to make up with the team you ****** over. It’s too late.

Also, this quote stood out to me:

“John Tavares and Aryne Fuller were married Aug. 4 in Niagara-on-the Lake, about 90 minutes southwest of Toronto. The emcee was Edmonton Oiler Ryan Strome, a former teammate. “So, Strome opens the night by saying, ‘I had this fantastic speech written, but I had to change it on July 1,’” one of the guests says, laughing at the memory. “People were dying.”

I hope every current Islander reads this and gets PO’d. We’re essentially a laughing stock to people, the buttend of jokes.

This is new?
 

Richie Daggers Crime

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Mar 8, 2004
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This is new?

n5sSEpy.jpg
 
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IslandersFan17

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Jun 8, 2011
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He was not the biggest FA in the history of the sport, the biggest p***y absolutely, the biggest coward absolutely, following what the Leafs were doing during his duration here...

Gtfo with this nonsense. The more they continue to justify his decision the more its clear it was the wrong one that they feel the need to try and smooth over.
 
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Quickdraw2828

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Aug 2, 2011
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Nobody sticking up for the fan base anywhere.

I think the fan player relationship thing is overhyped. It's not like we actually care about them as people - if they suck we'll be happy to boo them out of town. We're just looking out for our own interest, unlike their family and friends who do actually care about them.

The players are bonded because it's them vs owners and management - players almost never blame other players for anything.
 
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aronjudge11

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Jul 2, 2017
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Malkin knew JT was looking for both a settled.arena situation, a winning team, and a good place to live. The reason I know Malkin knew this is Doug waits quote on first day of camp in newsday a year ago. He said JT was looking for those three things. All the fans read the same quote and didn't want to read it or remember it because they knew the team wasn't a winner, hadn't really ever been a winner since 1993, and hadn't had a good regular season since 1989. JT did not fool the owner. Maybe snow fooled the owner on his cup contender BS, and the owner was busy with his other careers, but Malkin knew what JT was looking for with his next team. The blame is on Malkin
 

denis5

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Mar 13, 2007
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I know the odds of this are about the same odds of getting struck by lightning, but nothing would make me happier than seeing Isles/Leafs in round one and to see the team come back to Barclays/NYCB Live with a 2-0 series lead.
I'd settle for beating them the last game of the season and that bouncing them from a playoff spot altogether. Icing on the cake would be us being in.
 
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Quickdraw2828

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Aug 2, 2011
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Staple had already reported this. Lou had a deal for Grubrauer. But it was using one of the 1sts. (Caps were making the Isles pay a premium) I believe Lou went to Brisson for an answer, Brisson couldn't give one, so Lou said F it and kept the pick

Well I'm damn glad that trade was never made.
 
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Tres Peleches

Johnny Turncoat
Jul 13, 2011
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I’m tuning up the world’s smallest violin for Tray-toor when he can’t believe his reception
 

Bood12

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Oct 12, 2016
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More damage control for the Tray-toor, he can go **** himself.
I do not understand why people call him a traitor, that is saying he had some loyalty to the Islanders, he always wanted to be a Leaf and he is in the place he always wanted to play
 

beach

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Aug 17, 2005
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I was ridiculed for saying that Pajama Boy's body posture, expressions, and overall demeanor during the Belmont announcement event clearly expressed that he was leaving. To this day, I'm sticking to that. Watching that event was painful instead of happy, as I knew right then that he was gone.
 

KidThatWonTheCalder

Artist Formerly Known as IslesandHawks
Jun 16, 2011
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Actually pretty informative piece, albeit I wanted to punch my computer monitor multiple times while reading it... The one thing that sticks out to me is that the whole thing seems predicated on a promise Dubas can't possibly keep.

Quoted from the piece: "No, that came down to the roster. On the podcast, Dubas gave his highly quoted answer to the question of whether or not he could keep all four of Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Tavares: “We can… and we will.” Tavares demanded that commitment. If he was going to make the leap, he craved assurances the team would not go backward".

I can't possibly imagine a world where they can put a competitive team on the ice while keeping all 4 at competitive contracts... JT is too smart to think otherwise. That part really struck me as strange.
 
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ThreeLeftSkates

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Nov 20, 2008
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Actually pretty informative piece, albeit I wanted to punch my computer monitor multiple times while reading it... The one thing that sticks out to me is that the whole thing seems predicated on a promise Dubas can't possibly keep.

Quoted from the piece: "No, that came down to the roster. On the podcast, Dubas gave his highly quoted answer to the question of whether or not he could keep all four of Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Tavares: “We can… and we will.” Tavares demanded that commitment. If he was going to make the leap, he craved assurances the team would not go backward".

I can't possibly imagine a world where they can put a competitive team on the ice while keeping all 4 at competitive contracts... JT is too smart to think otherwise. That part really struck me as strange.
Leaving us with nothing in return to keep the "core" together is exactly the reason he will never be forgiven. Is he too dumb to realize that?
 

aronjudge11

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Jul 2, 2017
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I was ridiculed for saying that Pajama Boy's body posture, expressions, and overall demeanor during the Belmont announcement event clearly expressed that he was leaving. To this day, I'm sticking to that. Watching that event was painful instead of happy, as I knew right then that he was gone.
I AGree. The announcement came during last season. JT had already informed the team he was going to let the UFA process play out, hear offers, and sign with the team he would be happiest and winning was a high priority. So, I think JT, at that announcement, which I didn't watch, was not enthusiastic because JT is not fake. He had already told the team he needed to be on a winner. ISLES weren't ever a winner in his islanders career. His idea of a winner is caps, pens, Chicago,even rangers,...not beating Panthers once. He sounded all year like a woman leaving her husband soon because she wasn't happy but she kept putting it off hoping he'd get his act together.
 

KidThatWonTheCalder

Artist Formerly Known as IslesandHawks
Jun 16, 2011
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Leaving us with nothing in return to keep the "core" together is exactly the reason he will never be forgiven. Is he too dumb to realize that?
I don't really understand what you're getting at with this... I was just saying what eventually sold him, according to this article, is that they would be able to resign all of Matthews/Marner/Nylander. I don't see how they can do that and have any sort of depth to that team without them turning into the Warriors of the NHL and have everyone take pay cuts to stay... And I thought JT was too smart to take Dubas at his word on that, but apparently I'm wrong.
 

Kevin27NYI

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Aug 5, 2009
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I have a feeling the end to this story will be that JT killed the Leafs in the end as the core got dismantled and "that's why super teams don't work in the NHL"

It's not like Tavares took 7 million a year, he got more than the Leafs really wanted to offer, why are Nylander and Marner going to take pay cuts? Matthews agreed to it now to JT but things change.
 

KidThatWonTheCalder

Artist Formerly Known as IslesandHawks
Jun 16, 2011
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I have a feeling the end to this story will be that JT killed the Leafs in the end as the core got dismantled and "that's why super teams don't work in the NHL"

It's not like Tavares took 7 million a year, he got more than the Leafs really wanted to offer, why are Nylander and Marner going to take pay cuts? Matthews agreed to it now to JT but things change.
Matthews agreeing to stick around is equivalent to me telling my GF I'll look in the back of the fridge on trash night and throw out anything that's been expired... I mean well when I say it, but I'll be damned if we're not throwing out some random thing of sour cream later that week.
 
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HyeDray

Registered User
Jul 13, 2006
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New Hyde Park, NY
Please — for the love of god — there are four things I want in relation to this player...

1) His time hear being deemed MEANINGLESS. While perhaps through no fault of his own, Id have no issue erasing from memory ever seeing him in an Islander Uniform. For me, he is Kirk Muller v 2.0

2) The only "91" jerseys we see a a home game should have "Goring" on the back. I could never in good conscious wear a jersey with his name and number on it.

3) There should be NOTHING — no tribute, and no mention of him when the Leafs visit. F - Him. F the Leafs. I have always hated the Leafs and their smug for nothing fans.

4) May the Leafs lose every game for the next 7 seasons!!!

I hope we never ever see another Thread on the NY Islanders HF Board related to John Tavares. He can go to hell.
 
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