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Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper
Nice effort on the research Bingo.
For me personally, I think his problems this season are mostly due to his teammates. Not necessarily that it's all on them because he certainly has been weighing down most players he ends up playing with.
But I just think don't think this guy is on the right team or the right situation. The Flames are a fantastic quick strike, give and go, score on the rush type of team and James Neal isn't. We've seen him attempt the give and go and he looks like a fish out of water.
The success of his games seems to be more predicated on a half court style of game to steal a basketball term. He needs playmakers who can hold on to pucks, draw defenders and find him open where he can release his lethal shot. Just looking at his last 2 goals he scored, the 2 posts that he hit and his most recent assist, there's evidence of that.
Goal #3: Johnny Gaudreau finds him wide open off a turnover and he's able to one time it home.
Goal #4: Sam Bennett does all the work in shaking off 2 defenders, finds an open Neal and he re-directs it off his skate.
Assist #5: Johnny Gaudreau spins a couple times behind the net, loses his defender, finds an open Neal cutting to the net, he gets the puck on goal, it's stopped but Backlund is there to pot the rebound.
The 2 posts he hit, If I remember correctly, came off of plays from Jankowski. He finds Neal open on a 2 on 1 and Neal beats the goalie, but rings it off the pipe. The second one I'm a little fuzzy on, but I believe it was a turnover and Jankowski finds Neal in the slot and he backhands it off the post.
In all these instances, someone is creating a play and finding Neal open. In Vegas, he had Haula and Perron who are very good players at holding on to the puck, drawing defenders, creating space and dishing it off. If Neal could find a center of that ilk, I'm sure he would find success again on a consistent basis. But because the Flames don't have this kind of player available right now, he'll have to make do with the occasional play that someone can muster up for him.
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I agree with pretty much all of that. Thing is, Bennett and Jankowski always seem to have defenders around them. However, I think it's because they skate at them a lot, and in doing so, sometimes don't create enough space between them and Neal.
I think Neal's stick might be an issue as well, but man, he should have experimented with other by now. He should try Monahan's stick.