Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - How much time should top-line Toffoli be given to connect?

Hack&Lube · 10-24-2022, 04:45 PM

It's not Toffoli, Huberdeau, or Lindholm who are the individual issues with that top line.

Obviously we aren't going to be able to replace "the best line in hockey" that we had last year but the main difference is that we don't have a puck carrier on the line anymore.

During Gaudreau's negotiations, his agent asked what we were going to do about not having anybody else to take the puck carrying load off of Johnny and that's even more valid today with him gone as he was our most effective carrier with possession. Johnny was the one who started the offense of the Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk line much of the time.

If you look at the winning play in the Carolina OT, that was Andersson carrying the puck in with his skating and then centering for the pass. Kadri does this to an effect on the second line. The first line however, is completely missing the puck carrier. Huberdeau is a top-class passer, Lindholm is a supporting center, and Toffoli is a shooter - however none of them are effective at carrying the puck into the zone while warding off defenders. Instead, what happens every play is someone on their line flips the puck into the zone and we play dump and chase and all the skill on that line is wasted when we lose possession.

We need a puck possession/carrier on line #1. Maybe that is Kadri, but then what do we do with line 2?

10-24-2022, 04:45 PM	#52
Hack&Lube Atomic Nerd Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Calgary Exp:	It's not Toffoli, Huberdeau, or Lindholm who are the individual issues with that top line. Obviously we aren't going to be able to replace "the best line in hockey" that we had last year but the main difference is that we don't have a puck carrier on the line anymore. During Gaudreau's negotiations, his agent asked what we were going to do about not having anybody else to take the puck carrying load off of Johnny and that's even more valid today with him gone as he was our most effective carrier with possession. Johnny was the one who started the offense of the Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk line much of the time. If you look at the winning play in the Carolina OT, that was Andersson carrying the puck in with his skating and then centering for the pass. Kadri does this to an effect on the second line. The first line however, is completely missing the puck carrier. Huberdeau is a top-class passer, Lindholm is a supporting center, and Toffoli is a shooter - however none of them are effective at carrying the puck into the zone while warding off defenders. Instead, what happens every play is someone on their line flips the puck into the zone and we play dump and chase and all the skill on that line is wasted when we lose possession. We need a puck possession/carrier on line #1. Maybe that is Kadri, but then what do we do with line 2? Last edited by Hack&Lube; 10-24-2022 at 04:47 PM.