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Jonathan Huberdeau’s agent takes aim at Flames: “Negativity sucks the joy right out of players”

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Photo credit:Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Mike Gould
1 year ago
Allan Walsh appears to be none too happy with how his biggest client’s new team is currently operating.
Jonathan Huberdeau, who Walsh helped land a massive eight-year contract extension with the Calgary Flames last summer, has struggled mightily under head coach Darryl Sutter this season.
Walsh has never been shy about making public statements on behalf of his clients. Flames fans may remember the time he took issue with Michael Frolik’s usage under former head coach Bill Peters.
There was also the time he tweeted out a watercolour painting of then-Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury being stabbed in the back by a sword representing Peter DeBoer.
Well, Walsh logged onto Twitter again on Thursday night and took clear aim at the Flames organization — and, not so subtly, at the head coach’s preferred methods of making adjustments and managing morale.
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result,” Walsh tweeted, tagging the Flames’ official account at the end of his post. “Also, negativity sucks the joy right out of players.”
Not exactly cryptic messaging from the mega-agent, who represents 29 NHL clients.
Huberdeau, 29, has just 10 goals and 36 points in 52 games with the Flames this season. His contract extension, which kicks in this summer, runs through 2030–31 at a $10.5 million annual cap hit.
On an episode of the FlamesNation “Barnburner” podcast back in November, Daily Faceoff hockey insider Frank Seravalli indicated Sutter rubbed some of his players the wrong way with his comments about Huberdeau having to “take a sh*t” during a game against the Edmonton Oilers.
“The whole, ‘Jonathan Huberdeau, where was he?’, ‘He’s taking a sh*t.’ I can tell you for a fact, that did not go over well,” Seravalli said at the time. “He was on the trainer’s table.”
The Flames are in the midst of a dreadfully underwhelming 2022–23 campaign. At 25–19–11, they sit just outside the Western Conference playoff picture and have more wins than just eight NHL teams. As for who could be the source of the “negativity” Walsh mentioned in his tweet … that’s anyone’s guess.
With their 5–2 loss against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday still fresh in everybody’s minds, the Flames will have to regroup before they return to action to host the New York Rangers on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. MT.

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