Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperMatt18
I want to see him with Dube and Kadri. Thats the closest playstyle we have to Bennett and Duclair on the team.
Huberdeau is at his best when attacking the the zone with speed and hes able to thread a through pass to a forward attacking the center of the ice with speed, or if those guys attack net front with speed and he can work into the space that vacates when they push the dmen back.
None of that has happened with his linemates this year.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wOKqL8PvFcg
None of his linemates attack the center of the ice like that video. Everything is grind behind the net and get the puck back to the point.
And we generate nothing off the rush because hes scared to cheat in the defensive zone and is often last forward in the zone.
Tough to make the great royal road and cross ice passes like you see in that video when your linemates are behind the net
And then there is the PP where we have him on the right half wall, or sometimes as net front now for some freaking reason. When if you look at the great Florida PP last year he's QBing from the LW half boards
I think its due to our trigger men being RH shots in Toffoli, Lindholm, and Andersson but i dont think hes as comfortable on the RW |
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperMatt18
Thats why i think he should play with two quick players in Kadri and Dube. Playing with quick guys that move their feet forces you to also move your feet.
We saw that when he was playing with Backlund and Coleman - the pace in his game picked up too.
When hes playing with Lucic it ends up slowing down both Kadri and Huberdeau IMO. Lucic looked like an anchor tonight. Slow to pucks, late on the forecheck, slow through the neutral zone. And then it slows the whole line down.
Some of this is his defensive focus too. For Huberdeau when I watch him, especially away from the puck i see a guy thats worried about making a bad read or leaving the zone early. Honestly its 10x more noticable live, he looks terrifed to get scored on.
He really looks like a guy that might be almost too bought into what Sutter wants in terms of defensive responsibility. Thinking instead of just reacting and playing naturally.
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Boom.
Thank you for this thoughtful analysis. I see it the same way too, especially since I know what Huberdeau was like before coming to Calgary.
This is 100% on coaching. I don't have a major issue with Darryl's overall philosophy, but he is incredibly rigid and he forces guys like Huberdeau to completely change their game to fit his system and philosophy. Like a good soldier, Huberdeau is doing what is asked of him, but it's not taking his strongest attributes into account and this is why he doesn't look like a "100 point player" here. It's a severe lack of imagination on Sutter's part.
Seriously, some of the quotes in this thread I want to save and throw back in people's faces regarding Huberdeau. You can tell who watches games other than Flames' games and who does not. Just some embarrassing posts to read that will definitely not age well.
Also, who the hell wants to get rid of Weegar? He's easily our best defender at denying zone entry. Just so effortless anytime the puck comes to his side of the ice. He takes it away and send the puck the other direction.