Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts
How anyone can watch this team and come to the conclusion the star players are playing the same game as last season.
Johnny and Matthew did what they wanted, Huberdeau and crew are doing what the system wants.
John Stevens even said that he knew Sutter was not happy with the stars last year padding stats and playing for numbers. You aren't going to bench two 100 point players to teach a lesson so he just rode that line.
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What? If Gaudreau and Tkachuk weren't playing Darryl's system properly, then why did Darryl reward them with so many minutes? Why was Gaudreau getting 18+ while Huberdeau gets 16+? Maybe it's Huberdeau who isn't playing the system correctly.
Also, what happened last season when the team was down a goal, which by the way, didn't even happen that often? Darryl threw the top line out there as much as he could, double shifted them because he trusted them so much.
Does Huberdeau and his line get the same type of opportunities? No and it's because Darryl doesn't have the same trust level in Huberdeau and his line, so he'd rather roll all four lines instead. Gaudreau had 21 instances where he played 20+minutes last year, Huberdeau this season, has 3 despite the team playing in what, 50 one goal games this season?
If you watched carefully last year, you'd know that Tkachuk and Gaudreau played the system to perfection. They were consistent, they were connected, they checked effectively in all 3 zones and they played the game the right way. That's why they were collectively +60 in their goal differential and scored 124 goals as a trio. That line played Darryl's system correctly and they were rewarded with one of the best 2 way seasons in NHL history.