James Neal blames the Flames for his struggles!

Veteran forward James Neal is currently attending the Blue Jackets training camp on a PTO and when he had a chance to look back at his career in the NHL as a guest on “The Inside Edge” radio show with Jody Shelley and Bob McElligott on The Fan 97.1 in Columbus, he revealed how he truly feels about his stint with the Calgary Flames.

Reunited with former Flames teammate Johnny Gaudreau in Columbus, Neal was asked about playing with Gaudreau in the past and when the host wondered if they ever played on the same line, Neal was quick to throw the Canadian team under the bus.

“Calgary was kind of the death of me when I went there. I was on the fourth line just trucking away. It’s been a battle since then.

“I went there to play on his line, that’s what I was signing, that’s what I thought I was gonna do,” Neal added. “He’s a special player, Johnny is. You know, he’s so deceptive, his IQ’s so high.”

Back in July 2018, the Flames had signed Neal to a five-year deal carrying a $5.75 million annual cap hit. He has hot, coming off back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but never kept rolling. He put up just seven goals and 19 points in 63 games with the Flames in 2018–19 and then failed to register a point in four playoff contests before being scratched for Game 5 against the Colorado Avalanche in the first round…

The Flames then wasted no time trading him to the Edmonton Oilers on July 19, 2019, receiving Milan Lucic and a conditional 2020 third-round draft pick in exchange.

There was a sense that Neal was starting fresh in Edmonton, but he quickly fell out of the lineup and ended up scoring just five goals and 10 points in 29 games. The Oilers bought out the final two years of Neal’s contract during the 2021 off-season.

The struggle has continued as Neal split 2021–22 between the NHL and AHL in the St. Louis Blues organization, though he did help the farm club get to the Calder Cup Final against the Chicago Wolves.

Neal is now 35 years old and is hoping to keep his NHL career alive by cracking the Jackets’ roster for 2022-23 while attending their training camp on a tryout basis.

Let’s see if he can make it happen and if he can break the spell the Flames apparently put on him.