2024-25 Huberdeau - new and improved?

[Locke]

Lets just all get together and agree that someone needs to punch Treliving square in the nuts.

I nominate Iginla. Because he'd do it with a reassuring smile on his face and his punch force would probably crush Treliving.

Otherwise...whats Big 'Ern up to these days?

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

Some posters, yourself included, may remember noted pugilist Georges Laraque. Never paid for his offense, there were nonetheless frequent instances of Georges getting the puck down low and using his 240 lb frame and immense strength to protect the puck and rag 10-20 seconds off the clock. And he'd keep good players off him, too.

Point of that is, it's all effort and grit and deciding that at least for the next few seconds, this is my puck and you can't have it. Kiss my ass.

Jonathan Huberdeau has more God-given ability in his non-dominant hand than Laraque had in his entire body, but none of the fire. As soon as he gets the puck, his feet stop moving. He gets a shorthanded 2-on-1 last night, has the puck inside the top of the circle and he friggen passes (badly, I might add) to Backlund.

Hammer that ####, dude. Wind up and take a clapper from 35 feet out, it's the last thing they'll expect.

I do like the guy - I do hope he manages to salvage his career somewhat. As I said, if he's the borderline 30/30 all situations winger with a strong 200 ft presence.

But watching his performance last night live... woof. Nobody is going to be happy with that on the ice for the next 5 years. That contract is a prison sentence, and most people don't like prison.

He shot on the two on one (which was more like 2 on one and a half).

[Strange Brew]

He did let a slow release wrister go from top of the circle last night, I think it was a 2 on 1.

Huberdeau was actually playing with a bit more pace last night compared to previous dozen games or so. I thought that was very generous of him. Thanks 10, appreciate it.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

He did let a slow release wrister go from top of the circle last night, I think it was a 2 on 1.

Huberdeau was actually playing with a bit more pace last night compared to previous dozen games or so. I thought that was very generous of him. Thanks 10, appreciate it.

It was a hard wrister that caused a rebound that was close to being shoved in.

It's obvious people are just looking for stuff to complain about now.

[Royle9]

Originally Posted by troutman

Let’s not blame the “system”. He is 32 and washed. All on him.

He was washed literally the next year after putting up record points.
It is the system, it’s not JUST the system he has to take lots of the responsibility, but to argue against it being a factor is short sighted in my mind.

He excelled in a very loose defensively minded system, with no structure and having the full ability to play east/west high puck possession hockey in Florida.
That’s how that team played and it was great in the regular season, but faltered in the playoffs.

His decline is record breaking, and to blame that all solely on a guy somehow forgetting how to hockey is wild to me. He came to a team who was 200% different, both the team and the player acknowledged this that same year. “Long adjustment period” where they did everything they could to turn him into a 200ft player, and not just an offensive multi-tool with little defensive responsibility.

It just wasn’t a match, and now 4 years later he’s aged and the system remains low event/low danger hockey because our team isn’t built with any superstar power in sight.

So yes, he was washed literally out of the gates and now it’s not helping that he’s older. But you go back to his time in Florida and watch his 115pt season highlights and tell me he somehow forgot how to do that literally overnight.

Just was never going to work on our team under two coaches who drive home defensively sound hockey, it is what it is you can’t even be mad about it anymore.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

He shot on the two on one (which was more like 2 on one and a half).

That was in the 3rd - he had a look with Backlund on the PK in period 2.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

It was a hard wrister that caused a rebound that was close to being shoved in.

It's obvious people are just looking for stuff to complain about now.

I was just agreeing that he shot on a 2 on 1. I don’t think it was as good a play as you did but not complaining. I said he played faster last night too. Shame he can’t do that regularly.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Royle9

He was washed literally the next year after putting up record points.
It is the system, it’s not JUST the system he has to take lots of the responsibility, but to argue against it being a factor is short sighted in my mind.

He excelled in a very loose defensively minded system, with no structure and having the full ability to play east/west high puck possession hockey in Florida.
That’s how that team played and it was great in the regular season, but faltered in the playoffs.

His decline is record breaking, and to blame that all solely on a guy somehow forgetting how to hockey is wild to me. He came to a team who was 200% different, both the team and the player acknowledged this that same year. “Long adjustment period” where they did everything they could to turn him into a 200ft player, and not just an offensive multi-tool with little defensive responsibility.

It just wasn’t a match, and now 4 years later he’s aged and the system remains low event/low danger hockey because our team isn’t built with any superstar power in sight.

So yes, he was washed literally out of the gates and now it’s not helping that he’s older. But you go back to his time in Florida and watch his 115pt season highlights and tell me he somehow forgot how to do that literally overnight.

Just was never going to work on our team under two coaches who drive home defensively sound hockey, it is what it is you can’t even be mad about it anymore.

I don't think he forgot how to play or was washed the minute after his 115 point season, nor do I think it is systems. I think it is pretty close to 100% mental with him.

I don't think he ever envisioned himself not living the Miami lifestyle, wearing flip flops to the arena and hitting beach, or trading in his Ferrari for a Ford. But the Flames offered him more money than he could risk turning down. I think it absolutely killed him to see his former team go to the finals and win two Cups without him, and that was it for him.

I don't think he was intentionally mailing it in, I just don't think he could ever pick himself up. A destroyed ego is a hard thing to overcome for some people. Now I think he is like many players before him that get the bag, he just doesn't have the drive to do much else. He would be far from the first player to fall into that trap.

To use an analogy, in Florida Huberdeau was like the pop star who had people setting up his arena shows with pyrotechnics, and writing the music for him. He was asked to come into Calgary to be a serious song writer and composer, and it turns out he just isn't someone who can do that even if he thought that he was. That realization brought him down and he couldn't recover.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Royle9

He was washed literally the next year after putting up record points.
It is the system, it’s not JUST the system he has to take lots of the responsibility, but to argue against it being a factor is short sighted in my mind.

He excelled in a very loose defensively minded system, with no structure and having the full ability to play east/west high puck possession hockey in Florida.
That’s how that team played and it was great in the regular season, but faltered in the playoffs.

His decline is record breaking, and to blame that all solely on a guy somehow forgetting how to hockey is wild to me. He came to a team who was 200% different, both the team and the player acknowledged this that same year. “Long adjustment period” where they did everything they could to turn him into a 200ft player, and not just an offensive multi-tool with little defensive responsibility.

It just wasn’t a match, and now 4 years later he’s aged and the system remains low event/low danger hockey because our team isn’t built with any superstar power in sight.

So yes, he was washed literally out of the gates and now it’s not helping that he’s older. But you go back to his time in Florida and watch his 115pt season highlights and tell me he somehow forgot how to do that literally overnight.

Just was never going to work on our team under two coaches who drive home defensively sound hockey, it is what it is you can’t even be mad about it anymore.

I don’t see anyone saying he “forgot” how to play hockey. His drop in production has been historic but not the first player to have a rapid decline. Gary Leeman scored 51 and never topped 17 after that.

At this point, I put his play 100% on him. It’s not just about a drop in production IMO.

[PaperBagger'14]

I think to some extent the system has failed Huberdeau (and everyone else). Huska (I believe) is trying to give the flames the best chance to win every night, and that’s going to be by winning games 2-1 with strong goaltending.

With that said, even if the system was perfectly catered to Hubys play style he still wouldn’t crack a point per game. PPG is the absolute minimum threshold that should be met for a 10.5 mil per year cap hit.