[News] With the 104th overall pick, the Flames select LW John Gaudreau

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by buyakasha

Will Johnny ever get the Patty Kane swagger? Because that would be awesome. Or is it just not in his personality?

I already see the "swagger" on the ice, and it will only get more pronounced as he continues to adjust his game to the NHL. If by "swagger" you are talking about his personality, it won't matter a bit to how he plays, and it is completely out of his character.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

The biggest problem I'm seeing is guys dumping the puck into the the corners, with Gaudreau being expected to always retrieve it, which he probably has like a 30% success rate doing if followed in by a defender. Positionally, he often seems to be where you would expect a big body.

Maybe he needs to float in the zone more *shrug*

I feel it might help if they had someone more suited to grinding in the corners on that line. Like Colborne (who's a pretty good passer also and seems to have a pretty high hockey IQ so might be a good fit otherwise too), or Bouma, or Jones.

Yes they have Monahan, and Hudler isn't half bad in corners, and overall the hockey IQ on that lines makes up for a lot. It still feels to me that maybe they should at least have an alternate setup when playing a team like Anaheim or Los Angeles in Beast Mode.

(Generally I also feel Colborne is under-utilized. But in Hartley I trust. The results speak for themselves.)

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Itse

I feel it might help if they had someone more suited to grinding in the corners on that line. Like Colborne (who's a pretty good passer also and seems to have a pretty high hockey IQ so might be a good fit otherwise too), or Bouma, or Jones.

Yes they have Monahan, and Hudler isn't half bad in corners, and overall the hockey IQ on that lines makes up for a lot. It still feels to me that maybe they should at least have an alternate setup when playing a team like Anaheim or Los Angeles in Beast Mode.

(Generally I also feel Colborne is under-utilized. But in Hartley I trust. The results speak for themselves.)

Gaudreau started the season on a line with Colborne and Byron, and persistently underwhelmed. I think that now that he has made the adjustment to playing in the NHL it might be worthwhile to try something like this once more. Like you said, Colborne is good in the corners and on the wall, and Byron is a buzzsaw.

[Heavy Jack]

^^^ Byron is apparently in a boot which is unfortunate. If anything I'd throw Gaudreau on a line with Bouma, that guy has hands of gold around the net right now and would fit in well with Monahan/JG.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Gaudreau started the season on a line with Colborne and Byron, and persistently underwhelmed. I think that now that he has made the adjustment to playing in the NHL it might be worthwhile to try something like this once more. Like you said, Colborne is good in the corners and on the wall, and Byron is a buzzsaw.

I think Byron doesn't really have the hands for that line, so I was thinking just a simple change like this...

Bouma-Monahan-Hudler
Gaudreau-Backlund-Jones/Colborne

or

Gaudreau-Monahan-Colborne/Jones
Bouma-Backlund-Hudler

for playing against the heavy teams.

Originally Posted by Heavy Jack

^^^ Byron is apparently in a boot which is unfortunate. If anything I'd throw Gaudreau on a line with Bouma, that guy has hands of gold around the net right now and would fit in well with Monahan/JG.

I can't recall if Jones can switch saides? But yeah...

Gaudreau-Monahan-Bouma
Jones-Backlund-Hudler

Could work.

[Rerun]

I still think that Johnny needs to put on a few lbs to make himself a little more durable. And yes, I know everyone on here thinks otherwise.

[icecube]

Originally Posted by Rerun

I still think that Johnny needs to put on a few lbs to make himself a little more durable. And yes, I know everyone on here thinks otherwise.

Ask and you shall receive

[Timbo]

Maybe Johnny goes down a different road of muscular development.



Screw leg days they are overrated!

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Itse

I feel it might help if they had someone more suited to grinding in the corners on that line. Like Colborne (who's a pretty good passer also and seems to have a pretty high hockey IQ so might be a good fit otherwise too), or Bouma, or Jones.

Yes they have Monahan, and Hudler isn't half bad in corners, and overall the hockey IQ on that lines makes up for a lot. It still feels to me that maybe they should at least have an alternate setup when playing a team like Anaheim or Los Angeles in Beast Mode.

(Generally I also feel Colborne is under-utilized. But in Hartley I trust. The results speak for themselves.)

Whenever they have put Gaudreau and Colborne together it hasn't been effective. IMO, that is because Colborne likes to have the puck on his stick. He is good at protecting the puck but doesn't have great vision for finding team-mates. The result is that Gaudreau doesn't have the puck enough, and he needs it to be effective.

IMO, the perfect line-mates for Gaudreau would be Bennett and Poirier

Bennett has playmaking skills and a high hockey IQ, like Gaudreau - plus is good along the boards.

Poirier has speed and a great shot and also has some decent size and grit.

[Electricprez]

Not really sure if it's Gaudreau being tired, or teams taking him more seriously. He was a target in the Anaheim game, and it seems like teams aren't giving him the free pass to wheel and deal.

That said, he's still creating a lot out there, and I'm hoping we'll see a rejuvenated #13 out on Tuesday.

[EldrickOnIce]

Not surprising for Gaudreau to hit a bit of a wall now.
He would have not played more than 50 games in NCAA.
The grind of fighting through 80+ takes it's toll, and I expect is learned.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Rerun

I still think that Johnny needs to put on a few lbs to make himself a little more durable. And yes, I know everyone on here thinks otherwise.

Originally Posted by icecube

Ask and you shall receive

Oh god. Not this again.

Is there some way to block images of Martin St. Louis's grotesquely misshapen legs? There must be a hundred pictures of them in this thread already. Do we really need to keep posting them over and over?

[icecube]

Every time someone mentions that Gaudreau needs to get bigger this pic gets posted. It's in the forums rules. Look it up.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Oh god. Not this again.

Is there some way to block images of Martin St. Louis's grotesquely misshapen legs? There must be a hundred pictures of them in this thread already. Do we really need to keep posting them over and over?

It should be replaced by this...

[saillias]

Originally Posted by Rerun

I still think that Johnny needs to put on a few lbs to make himself a little more durable. And yes, I know everyone on here thinks otherwise.

I agree... Everyone takes that contrarian view because Cammalleri made that statement last off-season. Easy for him to say, he's a fitness freak himself. People have silly mentality like adding strength and size is going to hurt his game somehow. The amount of size Gaudreau would have to add for that to actually happen is not even possible in a short off-season of summer training.

[saillias]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Oh god. Not this again.

Is there some way to block images of Martin St. Louis's grotesquely misshapen legs? There must be a hundred pictures of them in this thread already. Do we really need to keep posting them over and over?

This is what muscle looks like. I don't think people have to cater to your sensibilities because you find a strong person grotesque.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by saillias

This is what muscle looks like. I don't think people have to cater to your sensibilities because you find a strong person grotesque.

Martin St. Louis is a freak of nature. There aren't half a dozen men in the NHL that have thigh muscles that massive, especially on legs that short. So no, that is NOT ‘what muscle looks like’. That is ‘what more muscle than 99% even of top-flight professional athletes can ever attain looks like’. To suggest that Gaudreau needs legs that huge to be successful is nonsense. To suggest that Textcritic or anyone else finds strength grotesque is not only nonsense, but an obvious non sequitur.

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

Martin St. Louis is a freak of nature. There aren't half a dozen men in the NHL that have thigh muscles that massive, especially on legs that short. So no, that is NOT ‘what muscle looks like’. That is ‘what more muscle than 99% even of top-flight professional athletes can ever attain looks like’. To suggest that Gaudreau needs legs that huge to be successful is nonsense. To suggest that Textcritic or anyone else finds strength grotesque is not only nonsense, but an obvious non sequitur.

No one stated that Gaudreau needs legs that large (all that was mentioned was that it would be nice if Gaudreau added an extra 10 lbs ... evenly distributed over his skinny 150 lb frame of course). An extra 10 lbs of muscle won't destroy his game and in fact it would probably help him when battling for control of the puck or when taking a hit.

As I said before, I just don't understand why so many people are resistant to this... An extra 10 lbs certainly won't hurt his play and most likely will help his NHL career.

[sureLoss]

Eastern road trip is expected to be a media circus for Johnny. So many media requests to talk to Johnny came in the Flames had to lay down rules.4

http://calgaryherald.com/sports/hock...to-be-a-circus

The New York Times has already conducted a phone interview. Requests are pouring in to the Flames’ Media Relations department from all over the Eastern seaboard, it seems. The ground rules once the Flames touch down at LaGuardia on Monday late afternoon until they fly back in the wee small hours of March 8th from Ottawa will be accommodating, but firm: On site, no one-on-ones. Scrums only.

“Oh, yeah, it’ll be a gong show,’’ agrees centre Joe Colborne, watching Gaudreau prep for his upcoming media blitz by accommodating a half-dozen or so local information-gatherers post-practice at WinSport on Sunday, “but he’s got a real good head on his shoulders. We’re not too worried about him. There’s going to be a lot of attention but anybody that good, that skilled is going to get it.

“He’s dealt with every single obstacle that’s come along this year. This is just the next one. He’s passed every one so far with flying colours. Even the (Johnny Hockey) trademark issue, something he has to do to protect himself. He faced some negativity there. Doesn’t change the way he is. Doesn’t change the kind of guy he is. He’s so even-keel. He’ll be fine.’’

Colborne can’t resist a sly, good-natured dig.

“Besides, we’ll make sure he knows his place.’’

[Huntingwhale]

St Louis' legs are disgusting.