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

[Poe969]

He's good....but he's no Vladdy Hockey.

[Rick M.]

Originally Posted by polak

Hah. Can't believe we almost sent him down.

Best player on the team.

Think of how much better if he'd gone to Addy to learn to handle the speed of the NHL.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Robbob

I am going out on a limb and say the Gaudreau has twice as much talent as Hemsky's pinky.

I think you meant that Gaudreau has twice as much talent in his pinky than Hemsky has in his whole body. I could be wrong.

[Robbob]

hemsky's pinky was known to have as much talent as an entire team, so legend says. So it is no small feat.

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by heep223

Good post. Isn't he 3rd in the league (the entire league, not just for rookies) in takeaways?

EDIT: he's 4th in the league. Byron is 8th.
http://www.sportingcharts.com/nhl/st...atistics/2014/

Also the team as a whole is 3rd in takeaways, 1st in blocked shots. The more you know.
http://www.nhl.com/ice/teamstats.htm...=realTimeStats

Reminds me of the Flames under one Darryl Sutter.

[sureLoss]

can really see Hudler's influence on Johnny

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by BChockeyJunkie

After years of frustrated thread reading, questioning this kids heart and skill, I finally get a chance to sit back with my popcorn and enjoy it all. It's been a fun run seeing the slow turn of emotions towards this kid. But more important than anything is that W and how it was done and vs who.....

Come on now.

Sure there were some that doubted he could overcome his size, but I don't recall anyone ever challenging his heart or desire.

And many of us were saying all along that he was going to be a star.

Anyway, he's here now, so let's all just enjoy the ride!

[Geeoff]

Only in Wonderland does Ales have as much skill as Johnny. Also, luckily the Oilers don't have a Regehr to plaster him into the boards.

[Badgers Nose]

Originally Posted by BChockeyJunkie

After years of frustrated thread reading, questioning this kids heart and skill, I finally get a chance to sit back with my popcorn and enjoy it all. It's been a fun run seeing the slow turn of emotions towards this kid. But more important than anything is that W and how it was done and vs who.....

I recall the bigger concern was him not signing here and the Flames losing such a talent for nothing. No one (except trolls maybe) ever questioned his skill or determination.

[Tron_fdc]

There were some (I'm one of them) that did question whether or not he could translate all that skill into the speed and size of the NHL. Maybe not on CP, but I know I was definitely thinking it. I was hoping he could do it, but I have to admit, no way did I think he was going to be THIS good.

The kid blows me away. It's kinda strange watching what looks like a 14yr old completely control an NHL game.

I'd like to see his icetime breakdown in the last 10 minutes of the 3rd; pretty sure he was off the ice just long enough for a shot of water before being thrown over the boards again.

[BChockeyJunkie]

Come on man.... I've followed this board since the draft day. He's been questioned from draft to juniors to camp to college to worlds to camp to first 5 games of the season....

-size
-skill
-body endurance
-speed
-being about to bounce back after 0pt games
-travel schedule
etc

was a daily convo up til about a month ago, Obviously its not everyone on here. But day 1 95% ppl were overall doubters. And I was in the 5%. now 3 years later its 5% doubts and ive enjoyed the ride. Vancouver last game of the year is when I believe the majority swicthed believers.

Its just a milestone that is super sweet to enjoy 3-4 years into the journey

[heep223]

Originally Posted by BChockeyJunkie

-skill
-speed

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by BChockeyJunkie

Come on man.... I've followed this board since the draft day. He's been questioned from draft to juniors to camp to college to worlds to camp to first 5 games of the season....

-size
-skill
-body endurance
-speed
-being about to bounce back after 0pt games
-travel schedule
etc

was a daily convo up til about a month ago, Obviously its not everyone on here. But day 1 95% ppl were overall doubters. And I was in the 5%. now 3 years later its 5% doubts and ive enjoyed the ride. Vancouver last game of the year is when I believe the majority swicthed believers.

Its just a milestone that is super sweet to enjoy 3-4 years into the journey

Congratulations

[GioforPM]

On speed, I guess end to end, Johnny would lose a race to about a maybe a third or a quarter of the guys on the team. But no one beats his quickness.

Skill - I think some people don't included puckhandling and shiftiness as a skill. They are talking about physical tools. I am not in that group.

[FBI]

This is the reason I was very worried that he wouldn't sign.. Because we would miss out on THIS potential franchise player.

[FBI]

Also it's early still but Johnny is looking pretty damn good compared to 2013 #3 overall.
Johnny's like a bonus top 5 pick.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Skill - I think some people don't included puckhandling and shiftiness as a skill.

I'll just post this again.

Spoiler!

[FlamesAddiction]

I think a lot of people probably questioned how his skill would translate to the NHL. There are a lot of college stars and even Hobey Baker winners that do not transition well to the NHL, so it was a natural concern. Anyone who knows a surefire formula to predicting NHL success based on college success would be the best scout in NHL history. Coming into a thread and saying things like; "I always knew... blah, blah, blah....", is nothing but BS.

Size was always a concern and still might be a limiting factor, we will see. Determination was a never anything that I saw anyone question.... ever.

[ForeverFlameFan]

I don't think I was quite convinced that he could translate his college game to the NHL level until we saw him in the WC in the summer. That was quite a treat to see.

[BChockeyJunkie]

22g-48a predicted before the season started. I can go back and find it.... plus I had a bold prediction hudler monahan and gaudreau 60+pts seasons, just saying.