Photo Credit: NHL.com
Cutter Gauthier, Cutter Gauthier, is a name now Flyers fans would like to forget, but they won’t. One thing the City of Philadelphia and their passionate fans will never forget is a player that says “Screw You” and doesn’t sign in Philly. Cutter stopped communicating with the Flyers, and their passionate fans will not forget that. Cutter is one of the most disliked athletes in Philly, and he is a marked man forever. Every single time he plays at the Wells Fargo Center he will be greeted with a chorus of boos, and yelling towards him.
Cutter could have handled this better. He could have just communicated with the Flyers by entertaining some phone calls, and let this play out. Instead, Flyers General Manager Danny Briere and Keith Jones Flyers President of Hockey Operations traveled to Sweden to talk to Cutter Gauthier face to face to let him know how important he is to the future of the franchise. Gauthier elected to not entertain the two, and decided to not meet with them. In addition, Gauthier elected to not meet with both Briere and Jones this past weekend at the WJC Tournament. Again, he could have just communicated with them, and let them know his view or stance hasn’t changed with playing for the organization.
He wouldn’t answer phone calls with Briere or Jones, Gauthier cut all ties with the Flyers organization, thus they had to make a blockbuster move happen sooner rather than later before the cat was out of the bag. That’s pretty childish on Gauthier’s behalf, and in turn the Flyers made the right move to cut ties with him.
“He told us he didn’t want to be a Flyer. If you don’t want to be a Flyer, then you’re not going to be a Flyer.” – President of Hockey Operations Keith Jones
“He looked at us at the draft and told us that he was built to be a Flyer, wanted to be a Flyer. A few months later, he told us that he didn’t want to be a Flyer,” said Flyers General Manager Danny Briere yesterday after meeting with the media at the first intermission of the Pittsburgh Penguins game. So what changed between then and now?
Last night during Briere’s presser, he stated “Left Winger” or “Winger” multiple times when referring to Cutter Gauthier, even Keith Jones did with the broadcasting crew. Gauthier told me last February that he viewed himself as a Center. There is obviously a disconnect with how Gauthier and the Flyers organization view him, or how he would have been utilized in the future. In the same token, it is very childish to not communicate with the organization, cutting off all ties, especially when Danny Briere and Keith Jones travel to Sweden and the WJC Tournament to talk to you. Just talk to them, explain your frustrations. Try to communicate effectively, instead he acted like a child in a way. Gauthier has a lot of growing up to do in order to become a mainstay in the NHL. Here is my interview with Gauthier below from last February, where he told me he viewed himself as a Center.
However, the writing appeared to be on the wall. Gauthier did not partake in Developmental Camp, so now everyone can connect the dots as to why. It just wasn’t a match made in heaven for both Gauthier and the Flyers. Maybe, just maybe he wanted to sign at the end of last season, to which the Flyers asked him to go back to school for another year.
“I don’t know Cutter from a hole in the wall, so I’m not so interested in talking about him.” – John Tortorella
I really love how the City of Philadelphia came together for a night and said good riddance to Cutter Gauthier. The new regime, broadcasters, media, and fans alike all said goodbye, get out of town. The Flyers are back, it appears everyone rallied behind each other.
“If he didn’t want to be here, then we’re happy to move on.” – Travis Sanheim
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