Jacob Markstrom snaps and sounds off on situation in Calgary.
Jacob Markstrom is not happy, and he did not hold back on Friday when speaking to reporters.
There is trouble in the Calgary Flames locker room.
For weeks and weeks now we have been hearing trade rumors swirl around the Calgary Flames with several of their players rumored to be on the move ahead of the National Hockey League's upcoming trade deadline. No player however has had his name tossed around more than veteran Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom, and that even includes former teammates Chris Tanev and Elias Lindholm who have since been traded.
The talk around the Flames has been so intense that, at times, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman has apologized during Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts for so frequently mentioning their players during his weekly 32 Thoughts segment.
Rumors of this nature can take their toll on both a player and a locker room as a whole and on Friday, for the first time since all of this has started, Jacob Markstrom seemed to finally reach his breaking point. It was Flames insider Eric Francis who asked Markstrom about how he was dealing with all of the trade talk, but I doubt very much that Francis had anticipated the words that would come from Markstrom in response.
"Everyone in here I really respect everything that has been going on, and not going on, and how everyone in this room has handled everything," began Markstrom as per Francis.
"And then the whole situation and everything, am I happy about that?
"No, I’m not.
"I think it could have been handled a lot different from up top."
That is a very clear and very public shot taken at the man calling the shots in all of these trade discussions, Calgary Flames general manager Craig Conroy. You can hardly blame Markstrom for being frustrated given how loud and how public the talk of a potential trade has been around the veteran netminder, especially when you consider the fact that he has a full no-movement clause in his contract.
Whether or not this finally leads to a split between Markstrom and the Flames remains to be seen, but this certainly doesn't bode well for his long-term future with the team.
