Truth comes out on Matthew Tkachuk as Flames’ Blake Coleman opens up on former teammate

If you ask Flames veteran forward Blake Coleman, there was a way former teammate Matthew Tkachuk could have stayed put in Calgary and never have been traded to the Florida Panthers in the summer of 2021. Earlier this week, Coleman spoke on the Cam and Strick podcast about all the changes that have happened on his roster in recent years and how heartbreaking some of the departures have been.

“It’s tough for me,” Coleman said. “I just signed a six-year deal. I wasn’t expecting guys to jump and abandon ship, especially with how good we were that first year. We had a good team. I knew it was a possibility with the way Johnny hadn’t signed throughout the year. I had heard rumblings of frustration with how things had been. The summer before, he wanted to extend and all these things, so I guess I knew it was a possibility. I think I always hoped that how good of a team we were and that window was going to be wide open for a while would keep them around.”

When it came to Tkachuk, Coleman revealed how he strongly believes that he wouldn’t have left if free-agent Johnny Gaudreau had re-signed with the Flames.

“I think if Johnny stays, I don’t know if [Tkachuk] leaves. Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m good buddies with both of those guys. I have a ton of respect and love for those guys. I wish they were still my teammates, but at the end of the day, I also get that you have to do what’s best for you and your family, and that’s what they did.”

While Coleman is glad to have new teammates Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar, as key pieces in the return from the Tkachuk trade, he did not expect so many changes on the roster, management and coaching staff when he came from the Tampa Bay Lightning where he had hoisted the Stanley Cup twice in back to back years.

Now, it is Tkachuk who is going back to the Final for the second year in a row, and he hopes the result will be different this time around, especially against his former provincial rival in the Edmonton Oilers.

Easy to guess who Coleman is rooting for!

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