Quote:
Originally Posted by SeanCharles
This has been a problem with Flames fans mentality for years..
You can't bring in a certain player and expect him to completely change his game, after playing a certain way basically his whole career, and maintain the same level of success.
We need to play players to their strengths if we expect them to contribute at the same levels they have prior.
I can understand getting an offensive player to play in a checking role to build his overall game but expecting him to contribute at the same level isn't overly fair to the player.
Same goes with expecting Huberdeau to play primarily a dump and chase, cycle the puck down low game and expect the same results he got when his line would carry the puck in and make quick plays off the rush.
Maybe if we had a player to play him with that was elite at making plays off the boards - like Tkachuk has shown in the past - he could have stronger offensive numbers.
The puzzling part about it all is Conroy said they wanted to play a more modern offensive system but the results have not been there as of yet.
They are more boring to watch than ever before. They have no identity and can't get anything going at 5v5 or on the PP.
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Actually, the problem was all management’s mentality on this one, not ours. They built an entire roster of players who played with competitiveness and who could check. Then they trade for a guy who doesn’t have an ounce of that game in him.
That’s why they’ve played Huberdeau with just about everyone in the line up with no luck and zero chemistry. Just look at Lindholm as an example, very competitive, lots of character, tough to play against and checks as well as anyone on the team, he was everything that management loves in a player. But zero chemistry with Huberdeau who plays the exact opposite clashing style.
So it’s not so much that they we should expect him to change, it’s that he basically has to since the rest of the roster isn’t really built to play his style of game. I mean he’s getting paid $10+ million, figure it out. Even guys like Matthews and Marner or even a guy like Monahan have all started to try to evolve their games to an extent, so why shouldn’t Huberdeau make an attempt?
If you want Huberdeau to play to his strength, then you’re asking the entire organization to change up their methodology, the entire roster, coach and system. It’s a big change to cater entirely to Huberdeau whereas conversely, it’s easier just to ask him to make the effort.
Also, nobody is asking anyone to dump & chase. That’s all in everybody’s head, coach’s want players to make plays, they want they to be game breakers, but you have to dump & chase because that’s the way the opposition defends you. They want you to dump it and chase it, but that doesn’t mean the play dies there, you still have to forecheck and win the puck battles. That’s 100% on Huberdeau, this should be an expectation for all players and even Johnny and Matthew eventually got with the program.
Lastly, they are playing a modern system, everyone plays this style to varying degrees and their powerplay utilizes the modern 1-3-1 just like everybody else. But you need the right type of skill and talent to break down defensive structures, to create threats that can pull defenders from their station and open up high percentage passing and shooting lanes.
They can bring in all the new coaches and new hockey minds they want and I don’t think anything will change, unless they bring back Matthew Tkachuk who was probably the team’s ultimate PP driver. That guy knew just when to attack, when to crowd the net, when to screen, when to tip or when to dish off. He kept defenses constantly on guard and constantly guessing. Who else on this team can mimic that right now? Nobody.
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