New York Islanders: Reaction to John Tavares’ open letter

Ex-New York Islanders captain John  Tavares recently wrote an open letter to fans talking about his decision. I have a lot to say about it so here is MY opinion piece. I hope you all enjoy.

If you have not yet read the entire letter by John Tavares from The Players Tribune, you should. It is a great read and depending on your pre-determined point of view on Tavares’ decision to walk, his words will help you process everything a little more.

Before I get into my rant about what he said I want to make one thing clear. I am happy for John Tavares. He made the decision to go home and play for the team he grew up rooting for. It is hard to knock a guy for doing that.

Also, as a New York Islanders fan, and I never let my fan hood get in the way of my reporting about the Isles or any team, I just want to make it clear that I wish Tavares all the best, good health, happiness, and that he gets to play hockey for a long time.

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I will not, however, wish him luck. I think that is fair. He is now going to be an integral piece to helping a rival team win. The Maple Leafs are a direct threat to the Isles’ hopes to make the playoffs and win there. So, I do not wish him luck and immense success. That is fair.

As far as the letter, I think we learned a lot about Tavares and how he truly feels. The number one thing I love about the letter and what he said was just how much he loves hockey.

He constantly talks about the decision on where to play the sport took a toll on him. He kept mentioning how he used hockey to help “grow up.” He put immense pressure on himself to be good at it.

No matter what a player does to you or how much they hold back a team if their true love for the sport they play surfaces and they prove they don’t take it for granted, that is alright in my book.

The biggest takeaway, and really the only part that was confusing was when Tavares said this:

"You have to understand that the Islanders … they didn’t just draft me, and toss me some skates, and that was that. They also protected me. And I don’t mean “protected me” like I was just some asset, either. They really raised me, in a lot of ways. They protected me like I was family — like I was their own kid."

Okay, John, why would you talk about how they went above and beyond just drafting you then leave? If he said that the Isles were just the team that drafted him and he felt he owed them something but not a lot, that would be different. It would make more sense.

I truly know this letter is sincere. As both a columnist and a fan I am grateful he took the time to write it. It is well done and it answers a lot of questions.

But, it still seems like he did too much here. He talked about how much his time in Long Island meant to him yet his actions speak louder than words.

I understand how most of the people he said he became really close with as people, not even just about hockey that have been off the Islanders long before he has, but I still think he failed to get to the point there.

He really simply did just choose the Leafs there cannot be much more to it than that.

I am not saying he should have done this, but he really did not say anything bad about the Islanders. Of course, it would have been a PR disaster if he trashed them but it would have been a heck of a lot more satisfying to hear and all we needed to know.

If he was unhappy here, unhappy with all his best friends being traded, unhappy with Garth Snow as a GM, then fine, by all means, leave. I’m sure there are  “fans” out there too who don’t watch when the team is bad.

But, the way I understood this is that he just chose the Leafs. Still, he had nice things to say about the Isles and more importantly unfinished business with the Isles.

That is, however, one thing ill give him. He did say he failed as an Islander and did not complete the job he wanted to. That was the first string of words that show he felt he accomplished all he possibly could here.

But still, despite it all, all the dysfunction, I feel he just picked the Maple Leafs. It was 50/50 on what he wanted to do and he chose the wrong blue.

So, regardless of what John Tavares did, and because I know how smart Isles fans are, come five to ten years down the road, we should all be cheering and thanking John Tavares for what he did in his time year. Once the sting wears off it will feel appropriate to do so.

Sure, he never won a Cup but he got them the farthest they’ve been in a while. He represented the organization with the utmost class, he never got in trouble, he never made me ashamed to wear his jersey in public. I still won’t be ashamed.

Once this all wears off, and Tavares has his career and the Isles continue on without him, it will all be fine.

Here is a simple way of putting it comparing it to dating: He was not the one.

Sure, Tavares is the person “we” dated for a while and our parents and friends all love him and everything is fun and there is barely any fighting (he literally never fought during games), but as we get older and things start changing, we realize he does not deserve to be part of it.

He now represents past and the old us. We have changed and he’s changed. The honeymoon phase ended and it is no longer fun.

It is time to find the one. The date that we marry. Just like it is time for the Isles to find the guy who leads them back to the Stanley Cup. It is time to get serious and wait for that to happen.

As for the letter, I’m glad he wrote it. It is a bittersweet sendoff. It is the end.

And quite honestly, John, you said you’re sorry things did not work out but, I am sorry it did not work out too. You were supposed to be the guy. You, like all the fans, did everything right and nothing wrong. Sometimes things just are not meant to be. Other factors come along.

The John Tavares saga is over. It is not an ending for the Isles, but a beginning. The journey to replace him will be fun to watch. The team building around someone else is a breath of fresh air.

I no longer care about why, who, what, how, or where you left. Are there unanswered questions? Yes. But no longer any tension. You let the cat out of the bag and so did I.

Next: Don't forget about Josh Ho-Sang

So, I’m going to end this rant and reaction to the letter the same way Tavares ended his letters to the fans expect mine is to our readers in his exact words:

“Isles fans … thanks for reading, thanks for caring.

Thanks for everything.

-John”