Quote:
Originally Posted by powderjunkie
I don't think he lost it, I just think he gets shutdown by teams that gameplan for him.
His PPG are much lower against teams he plays most frequently (PAC division teams, playoffs, this year's CAD division). https://www.hockey-reference.com/pla...drjo01/splits/
296p in 288gp +19 against the other 3 divs (not sure if/how this year factors in)
136p in 166gp even against the PAC.
EVG per division are 25/90gp, 28/87gp, 32/121gp, and 33/166gp (PAC)
He's also much more productive at home 101G 276P +23 vs. 69G 218P -2 on the road (260 games of each). I imagine this is true for most players, but probably not often to this degree. I've run the numbers on other key Flames, and nobody is similar in productivity by division, not even Monahan (didn't look at home vs. away).
We can argue whether it's more of an indictment of him or the team writ large, but I'm not sure it really matters. For whatever reason, it seems we can't count on him to deliver in the most important games to the same level he shows other times. IMO we would be chasing our tails by continuing to build around him as a cornerstone. |
Doesn't every player get shutdown if you game plan against them? Even Connor McDavid was shut down for the better part of 3 games vs the Jets and this is a guy who had nearly 2 ppg this season and who was playing with Leon Draisaitl.
I still don't get why it always falls on the shoulders of one player. He's one player out of 3 on the line? Like, if the entire line is shut down, why does the crux of the blame automatically fall on Gaudreau? or McDavid for that matter?
Maybe I'll never understand it, but I'm glad GMs tend to look at it differently. Their initial instinct is to find the stars more help, not trade the stars because they're pissed they couldn't get it done.
I'm of the similar mindset, I think Gaudreau does more than his share for the team on a shift by shift/nightly basis. He gets game planned, he gets the attention, he takes the double teams, he makes life easier on his line mates and thus helps elevate the players around him. It's a two way street though and they need to help him out as well and I don't think he gets equitable reciprocation. So I find it hard to ever really pin things all on him.
If anything, the Flames need more Gaudreaus, more Tkachuks. These are the play drivers that can conjure plays out of nothing and break games wide open. So, if your team is only counting on one or two guys in the end, doesn't even matter if you have the best in the world in McDavid and Draisaitl, you're still gonna fail because Stanley Cups go to the best teams, not the best players.