Flames GM says his famous father listened to him "bitch and complain" during summer drama

The Calgary Flames’ summer of drama wasn’t just news in Southern Alberta, or among the hockey community.

At least, it wasn’t on Sunday, when Flames GM Brad Treliving spoke to a Canada-wide audience with CBC’s Ian Hanomansing in a one-on-one interview for The National.

“It was a little bit of a gut punch, quite frankly,” Treliving said, describing the feeling after learning that Matthew Tkachuk wanted out of Calgary, shortly after Johnny Gaudreau decided to leave in free agency.

“Those are two young guys that have been with us a long time, and most importantly are two good young hockey players. It made for some tense few days. We were able to regroup and deal with it the best we could.”

Deal with it he did. The Flames got a better return for Tkachuk than most fans and media were expecting, adding Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar from the Florida Panthers. They then won the Nazem Kadri sweepstakes, adding the Stanley Cup-winning centre in free agency.

Treliving said that the goal was to re-sign both Gaudreau and Tkachuk, but says he’s happy with where the Flames are at today.

He’s not alone in that sentiment, which is remarkable given how bleak things looked in mid-July.

“I felt like there was a death in the family those first couple days,” Treliving said. “There was a lot of people phoning, giving you a lot of sympathy, if nothing else.”

Among the people the Flames GM talked to was his famous father, Jim Treliving, who encouraged his son to “stick to it.” A successful businessman, Jim is a co-owner of Boston Pizza and a former star of the hit CBC television show Dragons’ Den.

“I had a couple conversations with him. He was, as usual, just real supportive,” the Flames GM said about his father. “He’s always been real supportive. He’s a great ear to bounce ideas off. At those times I think he was more sympathetic, and just listening to me bitch and complain a little bit, more than anything else.”

As for the narrative that NHL players don’t want to play in Calgary, Treliving called the Gaudreau and Tkachuk situation “happenstance.”

“This was a unique situation,” said Treliving. “[Calgary] is a wonderful place to play. It’s a wonderful place to raise a family. And we think we’ve got a good hockey team.”

After Treliving’s summer of wheeling and dealing, not even Gaudreau or Tkachuk would disagree with the last part of that statement.

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