An excerpt from Tampa Tribune (Erik Erlendsson):
“It got to the point where once it probably a few days ago, when I was threatened, that they just didn’t care and that my [butt] is going to end up on waivers and end up in Atlanta. That’s just not the way you do business. I don’t know if I have too much class or what, because I don’t want to say exactly what was said, but when it gets personal like it did, the line was crossed. When my work ethic is questioned, my off-season work ethic and the way I get ready for games and what I do is questioned, and it gets personal, and I’m threatened, that is absolutely the way not to do business. And I feel sad because I can’t say one thing bad, even with all the ups and downs and battles I had with [former coach John Tortorella], at the end of the day there was respect. In this case I was absolutely blindsided by this whole situation. I know what the response is, that things happen quickly, it’s a business, but that’s not the case when Im told one thing and I find out months later that the complete opposite went on behind my back.’’