Flames players claim mix-up with golf tourney
Posted Sep 12, 2012 7:41 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Look for some Calgary Flames to be hitting the links at Thursday’s annual charity golf tournament.
One day after news broke they were pulling out of the event, team members claim it was all a mix-up and they never had intentions to boycott the event.
Calgary Flames union representative, Matt Stajan, tells Sportsnet 960 the Fan they wanted to allow each player the choice of participating.
A hastily-called players’ association meeting is getting the blame; Stajan says they wanted to get as many players as they could to New York for the talks, but adds they also wanted to have representation at the tournament.
Roughly 10 players are believed to be in the Big Apple; the rest will more than likely be teeing off Thursday.
A list of who will be at the event has not been made available.
The Calgary Sun reports only one sponsor took organizers up on their offer of a refund after initial news of a “boycott” broke; that sponsor has since been replaced.
Calgary Sun sports columnist and Jack FM morning show co-host, Eric Francis, says it’s a massive embarrassment for the team, who bowed to public pressure.
“I don’t think the players thought this through,” says Francis. “I talked to several of them yesterday and they were shocked by the backlash from both the fans and the media. They couldn’t understand it for the life of them, which shows the disconnect between players and the rest of the world.”
“It was clear, they told the organization it was a blanket policy and they weren’t coming, it was bad advice; they didn’t have the aid of a PR department to help them and they made the wrong call.”
Francis adds he didn’t like hearing that it was a “mix-up,” and says Stajan threw his team under the bus.
“I think the message in all of this is that fans can make a difference,” he says. “The pressure and the backlash put on these players made it clear that they had made a huge mistake and they need to right a wrong, and they did.”
The Flames Charity Golf Tournament has been a fixture in Calgary since 1981, helping to raise $4.3-million for local charities.
