Quote:
Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction
I agree, I think Huberdeau was trying last season. It's not an attitude thing with him. He is just not as good as people thought. He is a one-trick pony that needs everything to align perfectly in order to be productive. That hasn't happened yet and it may never given that he isn't going to be getting younger.
The Flames really need to figure this out. Eight years of this could be a franchise killer.
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It’s exactly what I saw even in his dominant Florida games. Huberdeau isn’t really an offensive driver as one would expect. He’s more of an opportunist, in a more offensive oriented game, he can use his vision and deft passing to take advantage of other team’s mistakes or make slick plays with open ice, i.e. his patented spinning pass that springs his teammates on a breakaway.
But the other team has to be sucked into playing run & gun hockey. This is not the typical hockey we see in the Western conference where teams play a more conservative style, put more emphasis on stout defense, playing heavy, checking hard and being connected through the middle of the ice.
Personally, I think everyone has it wrong when they blame his teammates or the system for not accepting his so called creative passes and etc. People should givr more credit to the opposition’s strategy on defending him. They know that if they put pressure on him or hurry him much like a QB in football, that he’ll be rushed into making bad passes and turnovers.
I don’t think that he’s forgotten how to play necessarily. It’s closer to “we’ve taken away what use to work for you” and now the onus is on Huberdeau to evolve his game and use what the defense gives you into offense. It’s not a coaching thing, it never was.
Huska or Sutter can’t tell the opposition’s skaters to just lay down so Huberdeau can walk around them and make plays, of course not, they’re trying to make it hard for him, that’s their job.