Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
Actually, he is the kind of player who wins puck battles because of size and strength and he does it pretty regularly.
I think the reason he hasn’t found all the assists is that he simply doesn’t get the same number of touches to do so. His linemates haven’t looked to him enough and when they finally do he’s in a covered position.
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Yeah I disagree completely. He's not particularly big or heavy, pretty much average, so I don't know why his size or strength would be the primary reason for his success. I think it's more so his will that wins him puck battles and I personally do not think he wins enough of em.
As for him being covered, it's kind of the situation that his whole line has run into all season long. Everyone is constantly covered because they don't put enough pressure to break down the opposition's structure, so the chances they create end up being pretty tepid at best. They also don't check enough for their chances either when it's easier to find open teammates due to the chaos that ensues.
I mean, to beat an already dead horse even more, just look at what the top line did last season. How often did Gaudreau or Tkachuk find Lindholm open in the slot for his patented one timer. But there has to be some chaos in the offensive zone for the opposition to vacate the slot in order for that to happen and the current Flames roster doesn't have the type of gamebreakers who can create and convert on this kind of stuff on a regular basis.