I'm failing to see how he is a traitor or a Judas as he has signed for another team in the league regardless of who they are.
So the guy said he loved Cardiff and would come back etc etc, hockey is a short career that you are always going to leave the game with some sort of permenant injury - scars, broken bones, bad back, bum knees or missing teeth so you have to get out of it what you can.
It's not always about the the money or the fact your a fan favourite somewhere, it's about about enjoying your time, playing with the best team possible and winning tropheys & cups etc.
If I were him and was offered say £500 a week with Cardiff & offered £450 a week with Sheffield but Sheffield offered a nicer living arrangement, better facilities - rink, gym & healthcare, better equipment budget to get the brand you wanted not whatever was available and more importantly than anything a chance to play on a team that on paper is stacked up and looking like serious contenders for every trophy going I would be Sheffield bound for sure.
Cardiff don't have the facilities, team budget or equipment budget to be able to throw at players to make them want to come here over the likes of Sheffield, Nottingham or Belfast. The big arena teams have so much more to offer players who are used to playing in big set ups not little tents with leaky walls, freezing temperatures and terrible history in the hockey world.
Other things to take into consideration is the travel schedule, Sheffield is bang in the middle of the country where as Cardiff has a minimum 2.5 trip to play their nearest rivals. Sheffield have a 45 minute juant across town to get to the Panthers. Players get fed up of spending hours on end cooped up in a coach each week, another comfort to throw in Sheffield’s favour.
Look at the NHL and how players will go to teams just to have a legitimate better chance of winning a cup that they have chased their whole lives. Ray Bourque played his whole career in Boston before going to Colorado when they were staked just so he had a shot at the cup, Mike Modano did it last season with the Red Wings, Marian Hossa jumped around teams looking to win a cup and once he'd done so he signed a big deal to stay.
It's all about what the player desires most regardless of his feelings or attachments to a certain team or city. Steve Thornton's wife is a Cardiff girl yet he still went on to play in a better league and then went to Basingstoke and Belfast rather than back to the Devils where he made his name and met his wife and mother of his children.
As Stub says we are a middle table team at best and manage to pull a few surprises. This is done through hard work and the whole team pulling together in the same direction not by bringing the best quality of players in every year.
Abuse Tylor if that’s what makes you happy but try and look at situations without your Devils tinted specs and as a neutral. Forget you are a diehard Devils fan and think what you would like most out of your life and career.