Quote:
Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper
No, like I said in my last post, different teams play different systems and the 21-22 Florida Panthers were one of the last teams who played that archaic run & gun style. They routinely sucked other teams into playing that style too and it was the perfect style that complimented Huberdeau’s game.
But run & gun doesn’t work in the playoffs. Defense and checking wins in the playoffs and that’s why teams are routinely asking their superstars to adjust. You can’t be one dimensional anymore, you have to be hard to play against, you have to be connected, you have to play the right way.
It’s not on coaching at all. I predicted Huberdeau would struggle as a Flame while I was watching him pile up 5 points against the other team. I knew his game wasn’t going to translate here and quite frankly, his game wouldn’t translate on a lot of teams.
Just think for a second why he went from 1.44 ppg to 0.5 ppg in 21-22 once the playoff calendar was flipped over. After all, it was the same team, same roster, same coach, same systems, same everything a week prior. Does that not ring any any alarm bells for you?
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I'd say if anything we've seen the return of the offensive specialist. The kind of player that is allowed to focus on what they do best, scoring, and neglect other parts of their game. There are plenty of, often undersized, gifted offensive players getting 70%+ O zone starts, who likely can barely identify their own defensive zone.
There are also more than just run and gun and two way coaching styles available. Successful teams have good offensive plays and play to their players strengths. That can mean any number of styles: slowing down the game, cycling, fast breaks, bombs from the slot, etc... At the end of the day you do need some kind of game plan and playmaking ability.
The Flames seem to have no game plan. It's like they just don't practice certain basic offensive plays. The trouble goes way beyond Huberdeau. You don't get one of the all time worst power plays because just one player isn't performing. That signifies you have zero upper end offensive ability and playmaking.
The players that are succeeding, Coleman, the Kadri line, Sharangovich, are doing so by working hard and slamming pucks at the net. That's great and all, but you need that plus the solid offensive plays to win.
It's not just Huberdeau that's underperforming. Lindholm and Mangiapane suck too. Basically anyone that relies on anything beyond simple jam to get points is going to suck on this team. Sharangovich may be an exception, but his game is all about and elite shot, not any kind of playmaking.