All the Blue Jackets had to do was come up with a contract that would work for both sides, and he would sign it.
Seven years and $68.25 million ($9.75 million average annual value) did the trick.
Gaudreau put pen to paper Wednesday night and was introduced to the Columbus community in a press conference at Nationwide Arena on Thursday afternoon.
“I wanted to come here,” Gaudreau said. “This was always a place circled on my list.”
The 28-year-old forward led the Calgary Flames and was tied for second in the NHL last season with 115 points (40 goals, 75 assists) in 82 regular-season games. He led the NHL with a plus-64 rating and set NHL career highs in goals, assists, points, game-winning goals (nine) and shots on goal (262).
Gaudreau also led the Flames in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in 12 games.
The Flames made Gaudreau an eight-year contract offer reportedly worth more annually than he got from the Blue Jackets. But he told Flames general manager Brad Treliving on Tuesday night that he was not going to sign with them.
Once he made that decision, Gaudreau and his wife, Meredith, pivoted to the Eastern Conference so he could play closer to where he grew up in South Jersey. He said it was always a dream of his to play for an east-coast team.
They decided Columbus, even though it’s not near the coast, was close enough.
“I only got to play here once a year and it was from the hotel back to the rink and then back to the hotel and I had never been to Columbus before that,” Gaudreau said. “But throughout the summer, I did my homework on places that I thought were good for me, talked to some former players. After every time I talked to a different person about this city, it seemed like the person was more excited than the last person I was talking to. It sounded like a perfect spot for us.”
The Blue Jackets’ young core was also part of his decision.
“I think there’s a lot of potential,” Gaudreau said. “They’ve got good players on this team. I’ve heard a lot of great things. They’re a close-knit group. That’s who you want to play with, guys who get along in the locker room and love coming to the rink and working every single day. It’s just a healthy environment to be around.”
The Blue Jackets did not qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs the past two seasons, missing by 19 points last season and 16 in 2020-21.
But that didn’t matter to Gaudreau.
“I’m so excited, I think we have a good group here,” he said. “I didn’t come to Columbus to check out the views. I came here to win hockey games.”
Gaudreau said making the decision to leave Calgary was hard, but he felt it was the right thing to do for he and Meredith, who is pregnant and expecting the couple’s first child in September.
“It went right down to probably 11 o’clock the night before free agency where I decided I wasn’t going to go back,” Gaudreau said. “It was difficult, but it was the best for us. We were super excited to sign here in Columbus. They were one of the teams we were really interested in and when they called, we had all smiles.”
General manager Jarmo Kekalainen said it was unanimous in the Blue Jackets’ front office that they had to make it work with Gaudreau because of the interest he expressed in them.
“We all agreed that we just can’t pass on an opportunity like this with a player of his caliber wanting to come here,” Kekalainen said. “Obviously, he was wanted by a number of teams. We had watched him — I don’t know how many times — with our scouting staff and continued talks with his agent and it came through fairly quickly after we realized that we both wanted this. There was a deal to be made and we signed it.”
Gaudreau could find himself playing on the same line as Patrik Laine, who is a restricted free agent. Kekalainen said they expect to get Laine under contract.
The options at center include Boone Jenner, Cole Sillinger, Jack Roslovic and potentially Kent Johnson, the No. 5 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, who played nine games and had three assists last season.
Johnson gave No. 13 to Gaudreau, the number he had throughout his eight seasons in Calgary.
Johnson had been wearing No. 13 because Gaudreau was his idol growing up.
“Talking to everyone right after I signed and I was like, ‘I don’t need 13, he can have 13’. I feel bad. I don’t want to take his number. I’ll get a fresh new start,'” Gaudreau said. “I’m going to have to take him out to a couple dinners. It was very nice for him to do that. He didn’t have to. It shows what you’re surrounded by here, guys that are willing to do those little things and not expect anything in return.”
Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said he has not yet talked to Gaudreau about where he might fit in the lineup, players he could play with, the systems Columbus plays or anything of the sort.
Those conversations will happen, but for now the coach is just happy Gaudreau wanted to be a part of what they’re doing in Columbus.
“He chose to come here,” Larsen said. “He chose us, this organization, this city to grow his family coming really coming into the prime of his career. It’s a big statement.”
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
