Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandman
Flames1217 can speak on this much more accurately than I can, but since Saint John went out and got a bunch of talent before the Q deadline, the offense for Francis and Kuz in particular has been slower. Kuz was previously playing on the first pair, but was moved to the second pairing with Poirier, who doesn’t seem to be suffering too much in the numbers department. Francis should be seeing his numbers spike, as there’s more talent to work with now in the forward ranks, but it hasn’t really happened…..
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I'll try and keep this short.
Prior to this match Francis had 4 points in two games. Before this he was struggling with injuries ( has been injured all year but the Sea Dogs have been somewhat tight lipped on the injury).
In the big blow out match the Sea Dogs had to PK 5 times. Both Francis and Kuz were out for the majority of these minutes. Kuz will likely never put up a ton of points either, he sort of plays like Tanev. Very very reliable defender.
Francis has had a rough year, especially when considering the expectations that everyone had for him. Last year his GM stated that they got Francis because they thought this year he would absolutely blow the roof off offensively this year. They envisioned one of the better offensive seasons in recent history. Tons of people who follow the Q picked Francis to lead the league in scoring this season also. The fact that he has been dealing with injuries and his defensive deployment has really hurt his stats.
That being said the guy has been playing better lately and scored one hell of a tip the other day. If anyone hasn't seen it go check it out, should be on the Sea Dogs highlight videos from last week. Tip from the bottom of the circle off a shot pass.
He still has time to turn it around and is still a very important player to their team. I am going to watch tonight's game, should be able to discuss how he plays maybe tomorrow.