Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts
You just knew Ritchie would do well with Huberdeau.
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I don't know if this is sarcasm or not, but yes I said it weeks ago that I hope the Flames acquire a power forward for the purposes of playing him with Huberdeau. I was one of the few who thought he actually looked pretty good with Lucic and I know people don't want to hear it because Looch is a very polarizing player and topic at this point.
But yeah, I think Huberdeau works well with a power forward type who can do the dirty work, be a net front presence, open up space and someone who can consistently make plays along the wall/corners on both ends of the ice to drive the transition and cycle game. Thought Ritchie made 3 or 4 of these very subtle, but very effective high IQ plays yesterday that caught my eye.
It's going to be very interesting watching how this new line plays in slower, more tight checking contests. Feel like the Stars' system has deviated quite a bit going from Rick Bowness to Peter Deboer, so the pace of play between the 2 teams is much higher than in the past. Think Ritchie could be even more effective in those types of matches so it might bode well for this line going forward. Time will tell though.