Quote:
Originally Posted by HighLifeMan
I really question why the PP was never truly ran through Huberdeau, and why such little adjustments were made to what was such a slow, plodding, predictable PP scheme all season long.
This is a player who had averaged over 35 points a year (by pace) on the PP over the previous 4 years. He has just 15 PP this year. To me that seems so easily correctable and would bring him back to point per game levels.
Just a ton of quite frankly head scratching decisions that only highlighted the downfalls of a system that decreases the margins for mistakes.
I don't think it's a coincidence that this team struggled against bottom feeders as the way Darryl has the team player really eliminates the skill gap between teams.
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What do you mean exactly? Hubderdeau is in the exact spot Gaudreau was last year along with the exact same system/formation that he had in Florida? Everything was the same. He still gets all kinds of puck touches, but did he create enough this season?
The coaches actually tried quite a few things to varying levels of success, but ultimately, PPs are pretty simple. If you have the talent, you'll have a good PP (see Ottawa/Buffalo). Those teams aren't any good, but they have top 10 PPs because their talent can execute better. It's probably that simple.
The Flames PP was top 10 last year mainly because of Tkachuk and to a lesser extent Gaudreau. Removing both of them was always going to result in a drop off. Look at Florida for instance, they lost 35 PP from Huberdeau yet they're still top 10 this season.
To me, I think losing Tkachuk was the biggest loss to the Flames' PP and the organization definitely did not and probably could not find a comparable enough replacement.