Quote:
Originally Posted by ricardodw
Somehow you have to avoid getting trapped into loving a player that has good personal stats and looks great but doesn't actually deliver any winning teams.
You have Gio listed as a player that can get you to the playoffs. History does not show that at all.
In his 13 NHL seasons Gio has played in 4 playoff rounds. That is counting this year where the season got messed up and the Flames were absolutely a bubble team that may not have made it had the season not been interrupted.
The Flames have been in 6 playoff seasons with Gio on the team, 2 where he did not play in the playoffs.
He has been a core player for the Flames since 2009-10. 11 seasons. The Flames made the playoffs 4 of those seasons with him playing in 3 playoffs.
In 2014-15 when the Flames made the playoffs without him they were in a tie with LA for 7/8 in the conference with Min 1 pt behind and having a game in hand. after Gio was hurt it was Brodie, Wideman and Russell that got the Flames into the Playoffs that year.
There has been 1 team with Gio in the core that comfortably made the playoffs.
Great player, nice guy but somehow he has become the best player on bad teams. The Flames spent close to the cap over Gio's 11 year as core ( 7 years as best player) his team's winning records are no where what any great player should be. Only guy the come close is Taylor Hall.
Flames need to gracefully end the Gio era.
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I completely disagree, I think Gio helps this team tremendously especially in the regular season. I don’t the Flames are even a playoff team without him. He won the Norris last season for crying out loud and it resulted in a 50 win season.
Here’s what I will say about his struggles though. Gio’s greatest strength is his work ethic which is second to none. In the regular season, his work, is his advantage. But in the playoffs, everyone works as hard as Gio does, so his advantage in my opinion is gone. He’s also undersized for his position and his skating ability is only average, so against quicker or heavier teams, he’ll struggle.
But does that mean you need to rid yourself of him? No, I just think Treliving needs to insulate him with more help. Bumping him down to the second pair would be the best move here. I think Gio can still help you win, his leadership and his work is exemplary. The worst thing Treliving can do is rid himself of guys who can help you get to the playoffs with playoff only guys and then this team misses the playoffs completely. That’s a very realistic possibility and Treliving has to avoid that at all costs.