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

[Pinkfloyd]

Cntrl+F on the article yields one sorry, and it is not an apology.

Is he apologizing? Maybe he is just giving one last attempt to calm the haters down with his side of the story.

He was a UFA and signed where he wanted to sign. People are only upset because of who he signed with.

Well, too ****ing bad, he's a Leaf for basically the rest of his career and that's that.

All people can do now is wish a pox on him, which is what they'll do.

The people who are upset likely don't give a crap that it's the Leafs that he signed with. They knew that was a possibility for a long time. It's more about what Tavares is saying and has said more than anything else but keep on making it about something it really isn't if it helps you feel better.

 

[VIPettersson]

Sounds like a bad break up letter... "Its me not you"

 

[Brobust]

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

Honestly, they're not mad because he left. They're mad that they didn't get anything for him in a trade.

Just pure selfishness on their part.

 

[FrozenJagrt]

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.

Millions and millions? The Islanders fanbase isn't THAT big, is it?

 

[Pocket Hercules]

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.

Yeah, those proud as punch LI natives such as Joel Rifkin, Amy Fisher, and Joey Buttafuoco are much better examples on the type of people we should all aspire to be, lol. Also, never heard of Leaf fans burning the American flag like what Islander fans did to the Canadian flag when they were losing during the 2002 playoffs series against the Leafs. But keep deluding yourself if it makes you feel better.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

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.

I don't think he had the heart to talk about how Lou's two hour pitch on how great Komarov is didn't do much to sway him

 

[Not Sure]

Matt Moulson - bad contract after leaving, Okposo - same thing, Niels - holy **** same thing. This works the opposite of what you intended it to when you made this post. They got rid of players who signed big contracts that they are never going to live up to, fired a rookie coach that helped you miss the playoffs, and finally got rid of the GM that (outside) of robbing Chia did absolutely nothing to make his team better. Tavares wants to "win" but he'd be upset that the organization finally really cleared house of the garbage that didn't work?

All fair points, doesnt change the fact that everything he seems to have loved about being an Islander was gone by the time he had to make a decision. Maybe hes a bad person for not making his intentions known, maybe he really was torn, no one knows but Tavares. Just saying that perhaps keeping a bad contract would have kept him around instead of making him feel like when he lost a step he'd be gone too.

Although his love for playing in front of "real" fans instead of corporate boxes and the love of that intimate feel of the collesium may be overstated. Considering the Leafs are the most corporate team in the league.

 

[Brobust]

Sounds like a bad break up letter... "Its me not you"

Yeah, one of those things written in haste to assuage the feelings of a psychotic ex-girlfriend.

 

[ottawa]

I mean... the hockey world does

Sure.

 

[ThreeOfAPerfectPair]

The Players' Tribune sure has dropped in quality.

 

[Volica]

Not reading this, but any mention of bed sheets at all?
Any mention of twisting the knife seconds after stabbing?

 

[bobholly39]

I'm a habs fan - pretty neutral party here (still pissed we didn't get a chance to pitch though lol).

I've said all along though - I don't think JT did anything wrong. He didn't make up his mind until the end - and NYI were fine taking the risk he'd leave. If they REALLY wanted to trade him earlier on for assets to avoid the risk - they would have and JT would have complied. But they gambled on him staying (like Stamkos in Tampa) and it didn't work out.

For sure fans of NYI can feel betrayed/hurt/upset/disappointed.

But I think objectively speaking - JT seems like a good guy who didn't do anything wrong. He earned a right to become UFA (as do countless other players) and made the decision that was best for him.

 

[Torontonian]

Sounds like a bad break up letter... "Its me not you"

"You're giving me the "it's not you, it's me" routine? I invented "it's not you, it's me!" Nobody tells me it's them, not me! If it's anybody, it's me."

I hope you know where this is from!

 

[Borschevsky]

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

If the article had come out any sooner, they would have used it as "proof" that he was leaving all along.

 

[bukwas]

Pretty much impossible to find words that will comfort all. He did his best and with that closed the book on his Islanders days. More a relief for him than anything else.

 

[Eat The Rich]

Not reading this, but any mention of bed sheets at all?
Any mention of twisting the knife seconds after stabbing?

Yes, in fact he posted the picture again, and refers to himself as pajama boy. Congrats guys, you gave him something to chuckle about.

 

[Bood12]

If the leafs were a tire fire for 9 years and Matthews decided to go to Arizona, I'd buy a Yotes jersey and hop on the bandwagon.

or how about if Matthews expressed nothing other than his desire to stay, and than in his final contract year you guys added Nylander and Marner and it seemed your team was heading in the right direction and than he still decided to bolt, a better analogy especially with the emergence of Barzal it seemed the Islanders were finally turning a corner

 

[SteadyFreddie]

Great article John!

 

[Quicklime]

Is it so hard to believe that someone can want two things? I just can't wrap my head around how people can think it's an orchestrated screw-job. He wanted to be with the Islanders, but he had doubts. Those doubts grew, and he found an alternative that he liked equally much. He had to make a choice, and he went with the new thing. That doesn't mean that he never actually meant the things he said along the way.

No, it isn’t.

But he knows the business, and he could have done this at the TDL without stringing a franchise along.

Openly dishonest.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

This sounds exactly like someone's ex-boyfriend/girlfriend saying how sorry they are for dumping a nice person like you. So fake.

 

[Legion34]

I guess my questions are

1.) when did isles fans expect him to make his decision ?
2.) how much was he underpaid on the isles? Like a million a year?
3.) how much time does 6 million dollars buy you to make up your mind?

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

No, it isn’t.

But he knows the business, and he could have done this at the TDL without stringing a franchise along.

Openly dishonest.

why? he hadn't even talked to the Leafs camp at that point, and only had thoughts about staying with NYI

 

[Brobust]

or how about if Matthews expressed nothing other than his desire to stay, and than in his final contract year you guys added Nylander and Marner and it seemed your team was heading in the right direction and than he still decided to bolt, a better analogy especially with the emergence of Barzal it seemed the Islanders were finally turning a corner

He still got jerked around hard during his final year. No additions at the trade deadline, no additions at the draft. Not even a goalie. I really don't think the team did anything to make Tavares believe that they were turning a corner.

 

[SteadyFreddie]

or how about if Matthews expressed nothing other than his desire to stay, and than in his final contract year you guys added Nylander and Marner and it seemed your team was heading in the right direction and than he still decided to bolt, a better analogy especially with the emergence of Barzal it seemed the Islanders were finally turning a corner

I mean yeah the Islanders are clearly heading in the right direction with Barzal, and prospects like Dobson and Wahlstrom, Wilde etc., but if you were deciding on where to play, would you choose a team that is going to be Stanley cup contenders, or a team that is likely going to rebuild?

Sure the Islanders have a bright future, but you can't really blame JT for wanting to try something different, and a chance to compete for the cup after 9 years of mediocrity in Long Island

 

[Maplebeasts]

or how about if Matthews expressed nothing other than his desire to stay, and than in his final contract year you guys added Nylander and Marner and it seemed your team was heading in the right direction and than he still decided to bolt, a better analogy especially with the emergence of Barzal it seemed the Islanders were finally turning a corner

But they weren't. With an 85 point Barzal they still didn't come anywhere close to the playoffs