Johnny Hockey At WC

[Dogbert]

Gaudreau's middle name doesn't happen to start with a B, does it?

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Husky

Coulborne should never touch that line. They need a legit finisher.

Couldn't Monahan or Gaudreau fill that role? Colborne can pound away at the rebounds.

[jg13]

I'd much rather have a Vrbata or Callahan playing with Gaudreau and Monahan than I would a Joe Colborne.

[dammage79]

Call me crazy but I would LOVE to see Gaudreau line up with Markus fricken Granlund as his center. Toss in Poirier on the other wing and oh boy!

[calgarywinning]

Just blown away by some of the plays for sure. He looks like a fast swimming fish in a fish tank filled with human hockey players. Really creative and shifty all at the same time.

[GoJetsGo]

You know I watched this gif several times this morning and didn't notice... did he bank it off the back of the net at one point??

NSFW!

[puckluck2]

^^ Haha like I said we are watching it on replay and can't figure how he's doing what he is doing.

I just noticed that too. The kid is a magician.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by GoJetsGo

You know I watched this gif several times this morning and didn't notice... did he bank it off the back of the net at one point??

NSFW!

I couldn\t tell if that was the break in the .gif. But I think you're right. Great Odin's raven!

[formulate]

Originally Posted by GoJetsGo

You know I watched this gif several times this morning and didn't notice... did he bank it off the back of the net at one point??

You need to go back and ready my super duper technical breakdown of trickery:

Originally Posted by formulate

It took me at least 10 loops to attempt comprehend what happened here:

1. Peels the pass off the wall with his skate.
2. Looks like he whiffs with his stick while turning, so goes skate-to-stick (with the same skate he just used in part 1!).
3. Spins back around to avoid the defender and head behind the net.
4. Banks a pass to himself off the back of the net while turning back around, heading to the corner.
5. Nobody open so once again spins to head back behind the net.

To reiterate: Skate-spin-skate-stick-spin-net-spin-stick-spin. Defender get zero contact with the puck, zero body contact with Johnny, and 2 love taps on his shin pads. If Johnny truly is a good human, he'll use some of his ELC bonus money to pay for #91's intensive psychotherapy.

[IliketoPuck]

I think when we sign Kevin Hayes this summer, he'll look pretty good on a line with JG and Backs.

[The Yen Man]

I must say, it has been very enjoyable watching Johnny Hockey's progress the past 3 years. I can't recall a Flames prospect I have followed as closely. Just from an emotional standpoint, right now, I wouldn't trade him for anyone (well anyone realistic anyways).

[djsFlames]

Liking this daily "what crazy #### has JG done now?" thread.

It's great that he did go. WCs are an excellent test and he's probably learning a lot over there. Also he said he was never much of a fan of long plane rides/travel and didn't do it much before, so it's good to get used to it a bit now. Gonna be lots of travel next season!

[Gaskal]

Imagine him on McDavid's wing

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by Gaskal

Imagine him on McDavid's wing

You could just hand us the Stanley Cup almost yearly for the next decade.

[Hugh Jahrmes]

Originally Posted by Dogbert

Gaudreau's middle name doesn't happen to start with a B, does it?

Short for "Bazinga"

[Freeway]

His middle name is Michael.

[Soliak]

To the people suggesting JG should play with Monahan / Colby this year, I honestly think that would be a mistake, at least initially.

I think his progression would be better playing with someone like Backlund. A great 2 way forward on the upswing who has the speed and skill set to score/setup goals, whilst also being an excellent mentor for JG. With someone like JG on Backs wing, we could see 30 goals out of Backlund. Monahan is going to be great, but let's not pretend he dominated defenses last year. Backs is the better option IMO.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Why would you think that? Johnny can give it to Monahan, who has a great scoring touch. Joe is starting to use his body, and we need that size on the right side at least since Johnny is on the smaller end.

[DoubleF]

That dangle and that bank off the net... such beauty.

Glimpses of wizardry.

[Soliak]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

Why would you think that? Johnny can give it to Monahan, who has a great scoring touch. Joe is starting to use his body, and we need that size on the right side at least since Johnny is on the smaller end.

I just explained why, but I will elaborate further.

At even strength last year Monahan and Colby got dominated for the majority of the season. Putting an offensively minded rookie w/ two second year players (good ones mind you) is setting them up to fail. Colby started to use his body towards the end of the season, especially in the corners, but it was clear they are still a few years off going toe-to-toe with top end oppositions. I think Monahan's excellent finishing ability, combined with his hot start, has put the blinders on the majority of fans. We need to set each player up to be successful and grow in the short term. I don't think JG can learn as much from Monahan as he can from Backlund. Despite the majority of this board jizzing themselves over potential future lines, we need to look at what's better for the players now.

Imagine the potential match ups for that line. Against the majority of 1st and 2nd lines in the NHL they are going to get wrecked and spend most of their time floundering in the defensive zone. Against big 4th liners, they are going to rolled over. If you think opposing coaches are going to let a skilled rookie line go against average 3rd liners you are deluded. They will be paired up with mismatches all season. This is why our rookies need to be split across multiple lines, to gain experience and get favourable match ups.

I think JG is going to be a hell of a player and will make the Flames next season, however people need to be realists about where our players are at right here and now. Throwing all of our top young guys together sounds like some Edmonton ####. Let's do it the right way.

Just my 2 cents.