Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperMatt18
I went down the Huberdeau youtube rabbit hole again today, and honestly watching this video...Huberdeau's skill set doesn't actually look that much different to me.
His skating is similar in that he's mostly gliding (maybe a couple more flashes where he shows a burst of speed), his passes look a little crisper but he attempts similar types of royal road passes, and nothing about his individual skill or effort really overwhelms you in the video.
But to me the biggest difference really seems like it's a combination of system and confidence.
He had more confidence to hold on to the puck and "attack" the defenders, but the most noticeable thing to me in these videos is how much "motion" that Florida had around Huberdeau.
Much like his time in Calgary when he has the puck on his stick Huberdeau is actually quite static, it's not like he's Johnny Gaudreau'ing his way through other teams.
But the movement around him is much different. That Florida system had players converging towards the opposition net and moving around the offensive zone in a way our offensive system in Calgary just doesn't.
In Calgary every one is static. Huberdeau is static on the puck, maybe you have one net front guy, and then everyone else is static around him, and he's trying to force passes to people because there are no lanes and he's not moving his feet to create space or lanes for himself.
In Florida the other forwards are always attacking the net or in motion in the offensive zone, and you even have the dmen getting into shooting positions in a way that facilitated opening up passing lanes for him that just doesn't happen in Calgary. So even if he wasn't moving his own feet, the motion around him would open up space.
Now overall I don't think the Flames have the top to bottom speed on the roster to play that aggressive game the Panthers played, because in Florida they could take those chances and get back (and still gave up a lot defensively - there is a reason Maurice changed systems to lead them to back to back Finals appearances).
This Flames roster isn't fast enough or skilled enough to play the way those Panthers teams did, and has to play a lot more passive and structured system. I don't think Huberdeau will ever find his offensive game again playing in this system, especially since he seems very focused on not cheating to try to generate offense as a Flame.
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Agreed that all Calgary players, including Huberdeau, are way too static in the offensive zone, leading to countless blocked shots from the point and turnovers. The offensive zone part of the system sucks. Things only happen when an individual player, such as Zary, or sometimes Kadri or Andersson, takes it upon themselves to weave back and forth inside the offensive zone.