I disagree with Jiri and Bingo somewhat when they say that Gaudreau produced enough points to give him a bit longer of a leash defensively to figure things out.
I posted a while back (and got ripped hard by many Sven fanboys) when I stated that he doesn't hustle. That when I keep focusing on him at all times when he is on the ice, that he is simply not moving his feet (hello Charlie Simmer) like the rest of the players. That Sven stuck out in that way. He just didn't seem to have that urgency in his game like he should have, that he just didn't seem to look like he was constantly working hard within every shift, much less full games. That he just didn't 'compete'.
To me, that was when the light went off in my head as to what Burke was saying:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...ticle14610874/
Quote:
“There are three zones in the ice surfaces in this league. I don’t see that he’s learned to play and compete in two of them. He’s got to learn there’s a clock in this league and there’s so many minutes in the game and that you’ve got to compete through all of it. I see this is a guy who’s focusing on one area [scoring] and even then, sporadically,” Burke said. “So I don’t know what we have.
“I’m not ready to quit on a young kid. I’m not ready to throw him under the bus here today and rip him, but I think you can tell from my comments that I see big holes and I see a lack of commitment that’s not going to get him anywhere in my books.”
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Focusing in on what I bolded, these were the things that I was particularly focusing on when I started watching Baertschi regardless of where the puck was. What Burke stated started ringing so true.
Now, contrast that with Gaudreau. Sure, the kid made mistakes out there. Heck, Monahan, Colborne, Jooris, Granlund, etc., etc., etc., all made mistakes out there, and some made them very regularly in fact. However, I can't say that any of these kids weren't busting their humps regularly. Sven stuck out whenever he played because he seemed almost lazy and nonchalant out there as compared to his peers.
Gaudreau was making mistakes out there REGULARLY, and he was not producing. Took 5 games before Hartley gave him a one game time-out. Gaudreau got back in the lineup, and things just started clicking for him. I just have never seen a Gaudreau who has given up on a puck battle, or failed to backcheck, or a kid I look at and say: "He isn't competing very hard."
Sven did (and still does) have a tremendously high ceiling. He just strikes me as one of those lazy players out there. Then he turns it up for half a shift when he is creating something, and we all remember "This kid has some sick skills!", and we all fall in love with him again.
I can understand Hartley not wanting to play this kid. When every other player is seemingly skating hard on the backcheck, competing hard in every puck battle, and earning every inch of ice time they get, how could you take away ice time from someone else in order to give it to a kid who wasn't doing those things?
Gaudreau is a great comparison as to what Sven SHOULD have been doing. Granlund is another one - kid makes a tonne of mistakes, gets his ice time reduced/scratched, gets sent up and down from Adirondack, but each time you see him on the ice he is competing hard. It isn't just about not producing offensively or not, it is about competing hard and at least skating back hard.
Hartley's system is rather 'easy' on paper - but difficult to play. It isn't much different than Brent Sutter's system. It really relies on the forwards skating back hard to help on defence, and for the entire team to break out as a unit. The big difference is that Hartley allows passing straight up the middle and has a preference against cycling (since the team is undersized, that makes total sense). That is why everyone - the forwards especially - have to skate hard. That is why Hartley has preached physical fitness to no end. That is why the Flames upgraded their trainer when the opportunity arose.
The Flames have the culture and identity of being a very hard-working team - a team that is 'beating the odds'. Sven ran very contrary to that. Reading his comments post trade, it makes the difference even more glaring. Gaudreau fits PERFECTLY the mantra of this team of hard work. Sven did not.
What I do look forward to for the next while at least - Sven busting and going to Europe, or him finally 'getting it' and becoming a good NHL'er - is the Vancouver fanbase becoming polarized just like the Calgary fan base has become in the last 2 years.
You know when I thought Sven might finally break out of it and start realizing his potential? When the Flames threw him on a line with Jooris and Byron - two of the most hump-busting players on the team. Two guys with absolute non-stop motors. I have never seen Sven skate so much in a game. Too bad it didn't last long enough. It stopped, and shortly thereafter, Sven got demoted (again).