1. He avoids center mass. When he sees a hit coming he puts himself into a position to take the hit grazingly instead of the oppositions crest making contact.
2. Because he is off centre mass he puts his weight to the outside skate and spins off the check turning the oppositions forward momentum into angular momentum. His reaction time is so quick and he is so light that the 8 or 9 inches he shifts turns it from a hit to a play where his opponent is out of position. They rarely try to hit him because of this only taking advantage behind the net or in races to the corner. Hitting him in open ice is like squeezing wet soap, he'll slip right through their fingers.
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Cool article about Johnny's "welcome back tour". Love the comparison to Doug Flutie
Quote:
York first saw Gaudreau play at age 15, at a hockey festival in Syracuse. While other coaches and scouts scoffed at his size, York had a knack for developing undersize players like Brian Gionta, Nathan Gerbe and Cam Atkinson. York realized Gaudreau took advantage of his superior vision to compensate for size deficiencies.
“He was like 135 coming to school,” said York, who was talking about his weight and who thought a more fitting football comparison for Gaudreau was to Doug Flutie, the 5-foot-10 Boston College alumnus who played 12 years in the N.F.L. “You had to be concerned. But once you watched him play, it became not a factor. He knows how to utilize the whole ice surface. His hockey I.Q. is right off the charts. He’s elusive and knows where to go and handles the puck well.”
Quote:
Another affirming moment occurred when the Rangers visited Calgary in December. Gaudreau had dinner with Hayes and Martin St. Louis, a 5-foot-8 player, whom he grew up idolizing.
“Marty was asking him questions, Johnny was asking him questions; it was a pretty cool experience,” Hayes said.
Last month, Gaudreau was also able to get advice from players like Jonathan Toews at the All-Star Game in Columbus, Ohio. The charisma of Johnny Hockey quickly became the buzz of the weekend.
I don't think there is anyone on this board that is qualified to say much about Gaudreau's weight. Even if you are in fact a professional trainer. Without testing Gaudreau, and really examining his physique, who can honestly say what Johnny should or shouldn't do?
Is 10lbs optimal for him? Maybe those extra 10lbs wear him out just enough by the third period that he starts to get caught by hits. Maybe in reality, he needs to put on 15. Maybe 5. Maybe he is 'perfect' the way he is at the moment. Point is, NOBODY here can make definitive statements saying that Gadreau should or should not put on 'x' amount of weight.
This Eastern road swing is going to be huge for the Flames - lousy record against the east, and if they don't correct that now, they might find themselves completely out of it by the time they return home. Should be quite the exciting road trip. Aside from how the Flames perform, I am really looking forward to all the "Gaudreau Hype" that is going to come from this trip. Sounds like we are in for a treat for articles like the one posted just above.
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Does anybody else watch the flames breakout on TV and scream at the exact moment the defenceman should be passing the puck to gaudreau flying up the ice? You can see the moment he wants the puck by how he starts to pick up speed. I am usually frustrated cause the lane for the pass is there at that moment and he's ready to take it but the pass usually comes a little too late or not at all. Johnny is so dangerous when he gets the puck at the right moment with speed through the neutral zone. Hope the coaching staff makes an effort to get the defence to start looking to make that pass more often.
You see the same thing with guys like Crosby and Patrick Kane.
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Does anybody else watch the flames breakout on TV and scream at the exact moment the defenceman should be passing the puck to gaudreau flying up the ice? You can see the moment he wants the puck by how he starts to pick up speed. I am usually frustrated cause the lane for the pass is there at that moment and he's ready to take it but the pass usually comes a little too late or not at all. Johnny is so dangerous when he gets the puck at the right moment with speed through the neutral zone. Hope the coaching staff makes an effort to get the defence to start looking to make that pass more often.
You see the same thing with guys like Crosby and Patrick Kane.
I agree, I've been noticing it more and more over the last couple weeks, I have the pleasure to be at the NYI game last night and majority of the passes he gets, he is already lowering his speed as he approaches the blue line. By that by either his momentum is gone or a defender is able to close down on him quickly and he is left spinning off a check or just dumping it into the zone. Monahan Hudler Gaudreau is best carrying the puck into the zone and creating plays. If you remember the play with about a minute left in the game, Johnny got the puck around the red line and burnt through 2-3 defenders and almost created a scoring chance by himself. The past couple games you see the strategy of stretch passing right near the blue line, and for many lines I like that, but for Johnny he needs to get the puck on his stick with momentum early up the ice to access the zone and create. At worse he gets into the zone and gets pressured and he decides to dump at that point, but that is still more effective they him forced to dump and a standstill 5 feet outside the blueline. I hope they change it soon....
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Does anybody else watch the flames breakout on TV and scream at the exact moment the defenceman should be passing the puck to gaudreau flying up the ice? You can see the moment he wants the puck by how he starts to pick up speed. I am usually frustrated cause the lane for the pass is there at that moment and he's ready to take it but the pass usually comes a little too late or not at all. Johnny is so dangerous when he gets the puck at the right moment with speed through the neutral zone. Hope the coaching staff makes an effort to get the defence to start looking to make that pass more often.
You see the same thing with guys like Crosby and Patrick Kane.
It seems to me that the Gaudreau line has been playing more with Diaz+Engelland pretty frequently. Would explain the lack of anything good happening on the break...
The Quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little, and it will fail, to the ruin of all. Yet hope remains while the Company is true. Go Flames Go!
With his teammate Mark Giordano, Gaudreau concocted an idea to pay tribute to the Flames’ nickname during the skills challenge exhibition by lighting his stick on fire.
“I said, ‘All right, are you just going to use a lighter?’ ” Gaudreau said. “He said: ‘Nah, we’ll grab some gasoline from somewhere in the building, and I’ll bring a bucket of gasoline up. You dip it in, and I’ll light the stick on fire.’ I was like, ‘All right, that sounds perfect to me.’ ”
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"With a coach and a player, sometimes there's just so much respect there that it's boils over"
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I'm confused why that matters in a catholic school more so than a regular school or any other building for that matter. Does thy lord not take favorably to thy baseball cap?
I'm confused why that matters in a catholic school more so than a regular school or any other building for that matter. Does thy lord not take favorably to thy baseball cap?
It matters in Church. A Catholic school is not a church.
Sour grapes is right.
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