Practice Notes Feb 26

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by HighLifeMan

You take out Hunt.

Good on him for having a solid outing last game, but he's proven he's not an NHL player and certainly shouldn't be playing on a line expected to produce offense.

I actually liked Hunt's game as much as Greer's is in Hunt's last stint. He was/is making a lot of good plays that put pressure on the D and help that line retrieve the puck.

IMO he's an NHLer, a bottom of the lineup role player, but an NHLer. The same as Rooney.

[Bingo]

Hunt played great in Edmonton for sure.

But yeah it's been very strange to see his usage from Huska this season. Head scratching.

[Toonage]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I mean, Hunt scored the winning goal, set up by Huberdeau, so maybe Huska is brilliant. Bring a guy in for one game, he pops one.

Seriously, I've not minded Hunt every time he's come up. Obviously not a top 9 guy but he's been decent.

Yeah thats why I say a weird love. he isn't a top 9 guy, but Huska tends to slot him there, even for just a few shifts whenever he's up. At least it felt that way. But to your point, he put him on the top line and he gets the game winner. Clearly has a good feel for how Hunt plays. But it feels like the returns would diminish quickly if thats where he kept him.

[HighLifeMan]

Originally Posted by gvitaly

I actually liked Hunt's game as much as Greer's is in Hunt's last stint. He was/is making a lot of good plays that put pressure on the D and help that line retrieve the puck.

IMO he's an NHLer, a bottom of the lineup role player, but an NHLer. The same as Rooney.

He's the very definition of a tweener which explains why he's had his stints, but can't hold down a job. He has certain NHL tools, but his skating really holds him back in my opinion.

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by Toonage

Yeah thats why I say a weird love. he isn't a top 9 guy, but Huska tends to slot him there, even for just a few shifts whenever he's up. At least it felt that way. But to your point, he put him on the top line and he gets the game winner. Clearly has a good feel for how Hunt plays. But it feels like the returns would diminish quickly if thats where he kept him.

I think it has more to do with Huberdeau's line playing too much without the puck in the last couple of games. They often start without the puck because faceoffs are still a weakness for Sharky. Then when they get the puck that line doesn't really retrieve pucks well on dump ins, which results in clean exists for the other team, and more play without the puck.

Hunt helps fix that to a degree. I still like Kuzmenko on that line, but I don't mind the adjustment when defending a lead, or if that line is getting easily countered within a game.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Hunt looked fantastic during preseason and into the season, but faded. I actually think that he is maybe just a guy who has trouble playing to a high enough level every day. If he can find that consistency, he will stick in the NHL.


For now, he is playing well, and it is just tough to take him out. I don't worry so much about Huska when it comes to Kuzmenko. Sharangovich wasn't a good player at the start of the year, and looked like a piece that didn't fit anywhere on this team. Huska kept at it with him, and he eventually became a fairly important piece for a long stretch of this season. Huska will get the most out of Kuzmenko. I like that Huska isn't afraid to bench anyone, but he doesn't strike me as the hard-ass like Tocchet seems to be either. He will communicate exactly what needs to happen and help the player get there, not just bench him and leave him scratching his head.


Flames seem to have a lot of bodies up front now. Every line last game was excellent, and most of the lines have been good for a while. If the upcoming trades bring back additional forwards, it is going to be really interesting to see who gets to keep their spot.

[Hack&Lube]

Kuzmenko's 40 goal bread and butter in Vancouver was as a tip-in artist, it makes sense he should be in that role on PP1 at least (and more top line time). Like the rest of you, we all like his personality and I hope he isn't somehow already in a doghouse as he waived his NTC to get away from the Tocchet doghouse

[stemit14]

I do wonder if coaches have an issue with Kuzmenko’s positive attitude at times… weird thing to say, I know, but can anyone speak to how he acts on the bench when things aren’t going well? I could see the happy-go-lucky attitude bothering coaches if the team was playing bad and he was keeping it light and happy on the bench. I honestly have no idea if he’s doing that at all or if any coach has a problem with his attitude. Just thought he played well in the game on Thursday yet was benched for most of the 3rd period.

It could just be a case of Hunt being rewarded for playing well more than Kuzmenko being punished for anything.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Hunt played great in Edmonton for sure.

But yeah it's been very strange to see his usage from Huska this season. Head scratching.

Yes and normally I would find it annoying but in a season where I'm hoping the team drafts as high as possible I'm totally on board with the coach lending a helping hand.

[Reggie Dunlop]

Hunt's bounced around six different NHL organizations. Classic tweener.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Toonage

Yeah thats why I say a weird love. he isn't a top 9 guy, but Huska tends to slot him there, even for just a few shifts whenever he's up. At least it felt that way. But to your point, he put him on the top line and he gets the game winner. Clearly has a good feel for how Hunt plays. But it feels like the returns would diminish quickly if thats where he kept him.

I think there's zero chance Hunt stays on that line.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Hunt's bounced around six different NHL organizations. Classic tweener.

Huska "but it just might work for us.."

[Harry Lime]

Kuz has a very gregarious personality. I would bet that he has a way of laughing off mistakes, and that would get under a coach's skin really fast. Just a guess based off of similar people I've known. Doesn't mean that they aren't listening, just that it looks that way.

[GioforPM]

Or, and stick with me, Kuz is still ill.

[Strange Brew]

Kuzmenko has had his ice time cut before he missed time.

Nothing wrong with the coach trying to send him a message. We don't know his practice habits and frankly on the TV screen, very hard to judge a player's work habits without the puck. I'm OK with not gifting him big minutes based on his results last year with a different club. Huska seems to be playing a long game.

[Enoch Root]

Every time a tweener is inserted into the lineup, fans get all upset and start clambering that they're a tweener and shouldn't displace a better player.

News flash: it's always temporary!

Relax. He's a tweener because... well, because he's a tweener. And Kuzmenko will be back in the lineup soon enough.

[calumniate]

I think part of it is we have sharangovich trying to fill in for lindholm. Due to this they're not really the number 1 line at the moment. plus wasn't kuzmenko typically a left winger?

I know huska likes sticking to these lines but the huby-sharon-kuz line is a bit of a strange one! Thankfully it seems to be working ok

[SeanCharles]

I don't mind Hunt as a 10-13th forward.

He shouldn't play top 9 but I don't think he is out of place as a 4th liner and a guy who can possibly help on the PK.

[Bingo Jr.]

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

Kuz has a very gregarious personality. I would bet that he has a way of laughing off mistakes, and that would get under a coach's skin really fast. Just a guess based off of similar people I've known. Doesn't mean that they aren't listening, just that it looks that way.

I disagree. Remember his interview where he scored the GWG after giving up a goal off his PP turnover? The guys was pretty mortified.

I think everyone has to chill a bit, Kuz is still fighting the bowel demons.

[FanIn80]

Don't worry guys, we'll draft a brand new #1C in a few months, and then all our "forwards playing out of position, and out of their depth etc" stuff will be a thing of the past.

Right?