Question of the year folks..what is wrong with Gaudreau

[chedder]

Originally Posted by rohara66

And in case anyone has forgotten he was in the conversation for the Hart trophy mid-last season:


January 16, 2019

https://thehockeynews.com/news/artic...y-conversation


Sigh.....

Yup. And then a switch flipped at the all star break. What we wouldn't give to find out what happened around that time.

I really dont think it's an injury. Something mental or extra-curricular

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by activeStick

I've maintained that Johnny is having a bad year and that he'll bounce back next year. It happens to every player and he isn't immune to this. I don't know the reason for his struggles this year and I'm not about to speculate on things that are internet gossip, which turn into "well known facts" simply through repetition.

My belief is he'll have a number of seasons still where he's Top 3 in points and potentially a few where he is his team's key contributor in the playoffs. Just not sure if that will be with the Flames.

One, it doesn't happen to every player, but it does happen

But usually when player have a bad year, there is a reason. There doesn't seem to be one with Johnny.

And it's not just that his points are down.

He looks like a completely different player, a shadow of his former self.

At this stage, he looks closer to becoming a 40 point 2nd line one dimensional winger than a top 3 scorer.

And it's just not internet gossip.

There are a number of posters here who have actually witnessed such going ons, or had close friends who have witnessed certain things. There is a ton of smoke here. Has some of it been exaggerated? Likely, that's the nature of the beast. But it would be pretty much impossible for all of it to be untrue. Especially since the "gossip", as you call it, started well before his "slump". If anything, the slump which started half way through last year seems to validate the stories.

[icecube]

Originally Posted by NuclearFart

Remember when he used to aggressively and stealthly back check stealing pucks from the opposing puck carrier and then dangle back through 2 defensemen and score? Remember when did this frequently enough that there were some comparisons to Datsyuk?

Pepperidge farm 'members. He's a completely different player now mirroring Tyler Ennis on the ice (and Wade Redden off ice).

He better not be Wade Redden off the ice. That would be disappointing af. What a waste of talent to throw your best years of hockey and future longevity down the drain. If that's the case the kid needs to give his damn head a shake, get help and be the top ten scorer and franchise talent he's capable of being.

[Jason14h]

Anyone who has been at Cowboys Casino late at night and seen him probably has a pretty good idea of the issue

[Leeman4Gilmour]

https://calgaryherald.com/sports/hoc...ohnny-gaudreau

From 2017. I don't remember how I personally felt about his play in 2017, but his stat line from that year suggests there were probably similar conversations on here then as there are now. He's only one back of Tkachuk for team lead in points. That just means the team as a whole is suffering from the change in playing style from last year. If they squeak in, but have more success in the post season, I guess it's worth it. But, it's painful right now. Especially watching Gaudreau compared to last year.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

One, it doesn't happen to every player, but it does happen

But usually when player have a bad year, there is a reason. There doesn't seem to be one with Johnny.

And it's not just that his points are down.

He looks like a completely different player, a shadow of his former self.

At this stage, he looks closer to becoming a 40 point 2nd line one dimensional winger than a top 3 scorer.

And it's just not internet gossip.

There are a number of posters here who have actually witnessed such going ons, or had close friends who have witnessed certain things. There is a ton of smoke here. Has some of it been exaggerated? Likely, that's the nature of the beast. But it would be pretty much impossible for all of it to be untrue. Especially since the "gossip", as you call it, started well before his "slump". If anything, the slump which started half way through last year seems to validate the stories.

Almost every star player you can think of has had an off year between really great years. Ovechkin had big drops in goals from 50s to low 30's and then back to 50's. Kane had a 70 point season between his 100 point seasons. Malkin has seemingly to alternated from a great season to an average season throughout his entire career. Closer to home, even Iggy had his fair share of elite seasons followed by 60 point stinkers. Then a pile of others like, Tavares, Stamkos, Benn and etc, etc. This is not a problem exclusive to just Gaudreau.

I don't think you can ever say why a player has an off season and the nature of the speculation seems like gossip from a tabloid. Sometimes players just have bad seasons with no rhyme or reason.

I would implore every to watch Gaudreau's highlights from AC last season. A lot of that line's goals came by the way of the forecheck and turnovers. This same line and the most of this team is having an incredibly hard time turning pucks over right now. Thus, the goals have dried up. I think it's an entire line problem, not just #13.

[goflamesgo18]

Guy parties too much. Its no real secret. Hope he gets traded.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by Leeman4Gilmour

https://calgaryherald.com/sports/hoc...ohnny-gaudreau

From 2017. I don't remember how I personally felt about his play in 2017, but his stat line from that year suggests there were probably similar conversations on here then as there are now. He's only one back of Tkachuk for team lead in points. That just means the team as a whole is suffering from the change in playing style from last year. If they squeak in, but have more success in the post season, I guess it's worth it. But, it's painful right now. Especially watching Gaudreau compared to last year.

Extremely similar. I remember it vividly, by about the 50 game mark, Gaudreau was struggling immensely. I believe he may have been in the 35-40 point mark and I remember seeing him vividly frustrated every night.

There was one play that season I'll never forget vs the Canadiens where he did his patented curl in the offensive zone, fell and turned the puck over. Montreal scored on the ensuing giveaway and they cut to a shot of Gaudreau sitting on the bench shaking his head and cursing at himself about 500 times. That was probably his rock bottom point.

But the next 2 seasons he hit career highs and finished with almost 100 points. At his best, I believe he's right up there with the likes of Kucherov and Kane in terms of sheer offensive ability

[David Struch]

Could it be that those hundreds of hacks to Johnny's wrists have made him shy away from being more assertive in the offensive zone? (pain affecting him psychologically)

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Again his poor play started well before the playoffs.
Early 2019.

When was pot legalized?

[bax]

Originally Posted by goflamesgo18

Guy parties too much. Its no real secret. Hope he gets traded.

The Blues partied harder than most teams during the regular season last year. It’s really not an issue, most NHL players get after it.

[SuperMatt18]

To me it's his skating and edge work that really concern me.

He just hasn't been able to get a step on d-men or accelerate like he's been able to in the past.

That leads to him playing in more traffic, more on the cycle, and less off the rush which has never been his strong suit.

So whether it was poor offseason training, or maybe some focus on adding more mass after his playoffs, something just hasn't worked this season from a skating/explosiveness perspective.

The other thing...and I don't have the full details (all i know is it wasn't drug/alcohol related)...but I've heard from what I would consider a reliable source that he did have some off-ice / personal issues in the offseason. It could be a factor on what we've seen on the ice from just a focus/off-season preparation perspective but it would make some sense based on other stuff we've seen/heard around Gaudreau this season.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by goflamesgo18

Guy parties too much. Its no real secret. Hope he gets traded.

I'll be honest, I had no idea he partied.

Where did you hear this?

[dammage79]

What's wrong with Gaudreau? All of it. Pretty much every darned thing that's been brought up.

Thing is, if he trained lile Gio he could probably get away with it. He doesnt and its catching up to him.

I want whatever version of Gaudreau we have seen this year gone. If he can manage to figure it out and get back to the balls to the wall crazy hockey player he was, he can stay.

Sick of everything dying when he is on the ice.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

Almost every star player you can think of has had an off year between really great years. Ovechkin had big drops in goals from 50s to low 30's and then back to 50's. Kane had a 70 point season between his 100 point seasons. Malkin has seemingly to alternated from a great season to an average season throughout his entire career. Closer to home, even Iggy had his fair share of elite seasons followed by 60 point stinkers. Then a pile of others like, Tavares, Stamkos, Benn and etc, etc. This is not a problem exclusive to just Gaudreau.

I don't think you can ever say why a player has an off season and the nature of the speculation seems like gossip from a tabloid. Sometimes players just have bad seasons with no rhyme or reason.

I would implore every to watch Gaudreau's highlights from AC last season. A lot of that line's goals came by the way of the forecheck and turnovers. This same line and the most of this team is having an incredibly hard time turning pucks over right now. Thus, the goals have dried up. I think it's an entire line problem, not just #13.

The big difference here is that Johnny has gone from elite offensive player driving Calgary's offense to a player who is often a liability. And one with massive off ice reported issues.

Again, this isn't gossip from a tabloid magazine. These are first hand reports from credible people. Many people here know why he is having a bad 90 game stretch.

And Kane didn't have a 70 point season in between his 100 point seasons. He had a 89 point and a 76 point season in between the two 100's. In his 76 point season, his shooting percentage was a career low 9.5%. If that was at his career average, he'd be pretty much at his career average in points. His 106 points was based(at least partly) on an historically high shooting percentage that year.

[Jagermeister]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

I'll be honest, I had no idea he partied.

Where did you hear this?

Why would anyone his age making that kind of money want to party

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Jagermeister

Why would anyone his age making that kind of money want to party

Well partying to a point that it affects your job is different than partying.

[Dion]

nm

[Jagermeister]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Well partying to a point that it affects your job is different than partying.

I feel like if that was the case, management, coaches, and some teammates wouldnt be ok with it. Maybe it's the opposite and hes not allowed to do all the stuff he was doing and its impacting his game negatively.

[Geeoff]

If Gaudreau really has a problem, he should check into the league's substance abuse program. I hope this is not the case.