The Players' Tribune: To the Islanders Faithful - John Tavares

[benedictTavares]

Can we at least all agree that the abuse being directed to his fiancé is wrong?

Yes it is low class.

 

[Eat The Rich]

Can we at least all agree that the abuse being directed to his fiancé is wrong?

Further to that, anyone who thinks he needs to "Man up to his fiancee and stop being such a p***y" have clearly never been in a serious relationship.

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

Thats a sweet letter by John. Sounds like he regrets not bringing success to isles.

Are these kinds of letters common for players leaving as a UFA?

Not really, I think you need to have been with a team for so long and also want to say something.

Bozak wrote a really nice one and he didn’t need any positive PR, most of time it’s just about getting closure and saying thank you.

 

[Crede777]

So you're mad Tavares didn't make a decision before he was even allowed to make a decision?

I'm not mad, I just think he should have made a decision last year and informed the Islanders so they weren't stuck with "maybe he re-signs or maybe he doesn't."

He wasn't obligated, but if he cared as much as he claims to then it would have cost him nothing.

 

[Torontonian]

No, for leaving the Islanders. Like I said, I don't blame him for leaving that mess of a franchise.

You leafs fans need to get off your high horse, jesus lol. The world doesn't revolve around Toronto.

I mean... the hockey world does

 

[CodeE]

After reading what many Islanders fans have been saying the past couple of weeks, I'm pretty comfortable in saying I'm a better hockey fan and person than a fair number of them. So yeah, colour me high and mighty.

Couldn't have said it better myself

Isn't it funny how the biggest pieces of human garbage - the money laundering politician, the celebrity caught with child porn, the murder trial defendant who didn't kill his wife he swears - how these are the types of people that need to firmly and publicly state what good people they are? The real good people never seem to gloat about how amazing they are and all the millions and millions of people worse than them.

 

[Crede777]

So by your logic, any time you have to make a decision between two sides, and you legitimately don't know which way you're going to lean, the side you eventually don't chose has reason to feel strung along?

Boy, when I went house shopping I never thought about all the emotional harm I was doing the owners whose homes I didn't buy.

If you made statements that a reasonable homeowner would have relied upon, then yes.

Also, you presumably aren't as important to the homeowners as Tavares was to the Islanders.

 

[Turin]

All I can do is shake my head at all the leaf fans in here telling islanders fans to go easy on him and forgive him.

It's like your best friend ****ing your wife, then your other friends telling you to forgive him and to go easy, and to understand.

Leaf fans, or matter of fact, no other fans have the right to tell islanders fans anything. Any other fanbase in the league would be furious at this ****. Is it JTs right to leave? Yes. But the Islanders fans have ever right to be pissed about it.

It’s not like that at all, and to anybody who lives in the real world, that analogy is frankly embarrassing to read.

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

Isn't it funny how the biggest pieces of human garbage - the money laundering politician, the celebrity caught with child porn, the murder trial defendant who didn't kill his wife he swears - how these are the types of people that need to firmly and publicly state what good people they are? The real good people never seem to gloat about how amazing they are and all the millions and millions of people worse than them.

Are you seriously comparing people saying they are good people compared to people who throw insults on twitter to pedophiles and murderers?

Does that not seem a little extreme?

 

[HC7]

I'm not mad, I just think he should have made a decision last year and informed the Islanders so they weren't stuck with "maybe he re-signs or maybe he doesn't."

He wasn't obligated, but if he cared as much as he claims to then it would have cost him nothing.

Why would he make a decision a year ago?

That's beyond stupid.

 

[saintunspecified]

Can we at least all agree that the abuse being directed to his fiancé is wrong?

I think he should follow her lead. For their sake, I hope he's not the brains in that relationship.

 

[Cleatus]

Isn't it funny how the biggest pieces of human garbage - the money laundering politician, the celebrity caught with child porn, the murder trial defendant who didn't kill his wife he swears - how these are the types of people that need to firmly and publicly state what good people they are? The real good people never seem to gloat about how amazing they are and all the millions and millions of people worse than them.

While there is a lot of truth in this statement, it is one of the most extreme comparisons I’ve ever seen on this site... Maybe even the most extreme.

 

[JadedLeaf]

So this is back to a bash Tavares/shit on each others fan bases thread again. Lovely

 

[Turin]

He almost chose the Islanders. That’s the cost of playing the game - you walk away with nothing if you lose. If you wanted none of the risk management should have traded him.

 

[Pocket Hercules]

Dan Hamhuis wasn't a franchise player. Suter's the better example.

Touche.

And you're right, he wasn't a franchise player. But he was the perfect D-man for their blueline at the time, as they badly needed a reliable minute-eater who was capable of shutting down opposing team's top lines. His acquisition put them over the hump as legitimate SC contenders in the West.

 

[kmart]

as i understand the upset isles fans, they are not mad that he left its how he left... they feel tavares is responsible that they didnt get any return out of him. i almost agree with this logic since the islanders didnt even come close to success with him as a captain, so there is no future with or without him... therefore there was a potential value opportunity to be made with his departure. however this missed opportunity is not on jt... he himself cares probably the most about his stock and didnt want to ruin it with a new team/crappy playoff run just before the fa phase (as he played well/his stock was high).

in short: trading jt just before his contract expires is a very selfish way to depart with ur star player that lead ur team for almost a decade. why is jt not allowed to act selfish too... he doesn't owe you that trade return at his expense. that entitlement that he should net you something in a trade before he goes was false from the beginning. it makes me happy to see delusional fans face reality.

 

[haveandare]

All of your arguments in this thread seem based around Captain Hindsight logic.

JT was always going to leave, the Islanders should have known that, they should have known he was lying when he said he wanted to remain an Islander, and should have traded him. It's entirely on the Islanders organization for not knowing all of that with complete certainty.

That's not how real life works. You don't walk into a bookie in July and go "yeah I knew the Capitals were going to beat the Knights in the finals but forgot to place a bet, hand me some money please".

It's literally the opposite of "captain hindsight" logic - it's basic foresight based on multiple past outcomes in identical situations.

Why do you think other teams move pending UFAs at the deadline? t's not because they can see into the future. Basic foresight tells every other team that if a player won't re-sign before the deadline, they likely don't want to re-sign. There is literally no good reason at all for a player of Tavares' level to put off signing with the team he's currently on until July 1. It's not as if he's a middling player who's looking to get a high offer from another team to push his current team into a better deal. The Isles would have paid him pretty much whatever, so what good reason could there possibly have been for him to put off singing until July 1 if he actually wanted to sign? Honestly, what did Isles fans or management think was the reasoning for him putting it off if not to sign somewhere else or at least hear other offers which very obviously run the risk of leading to him signing somewhere else?

Talk is cheap. Signing an extension is the act of committing to the team. If someone refuses to do that but says they want to stay, it should be pretty obvious that they're actually on the fence about staying at the very least.

 

[Dirty Dog]

My only takeway is the spelling of Aryne

 

[haveandare]

I wonder if any of these arent ghost written

I'm pretty sure they're all ghost written to an extent. Probably like a good oral history. The player writes or dictates a version to the writer/editor, then the writer/editor chops it up and makes edits to make it flow well while being mindful to still keep the player's voice in there.

 

[Lights911]

It is what it is, not mad that he left just disappointed the way the whole process was handled. I was over it but this article brought back the feelings I had on a July 1st

 

[BruinsFan37]

I don't buy it.

He talks too much about Toronto in an article/letter that's "supposed" to be addressed to Islanders fans.

Leave your new team out of it, or keep it to the bare-minimum.

That read as approximately half apology to the Isles and half Leafs fanboi (without bothering to go into an actual wordcount), so the apology part comes off as insincere.

 

[Brobust]

If there is such a thing as karma, then Islanders fans have cursed their franchise forever with this level of vitriol they're spewing.

It really is borderline insane.

 

[Legion34]

Thats a sweet letter by John. Sounds like he regrets not bringing success to isles.

Are these kinds of letters common for players leaving as a UFA?

Yep. Bozak did it right away. And of course isles fans complained all they got was a tweet.

Now they got what they wanted. Annnnd look what happened

 

[saintunspecified]

Anybody who writes an article about how he was having a nervous breakdown about where he was going to make 10 million bucks is an idiot. Maybe he was, I don't know, but man what a dumb thing to say.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

I think this article makes it clear that Okposo and Nielsen leaving was a huge issue with JT.

As well as Weight and Snow being fired. I mean, he talks about both of those guys like family. That was obviously (as has been thought by a number of us) a massive issue for him. I think it's pretty telling that Lou isn't even mentioned.