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

[Kipper is King]

Originally Posted by BurningSteel

It pains me to say it but there is enough smoke around #2. I would think big ern would be all over it. I have heard similar stories from multiple sources that makes me think it's credible. Not sure it would necessarily explain the whole decline but probably playing some role.

Ditto, unfortunately.

[dino7c]

I think it would be much harder to "figure him out" if he wasn't the only guy on his line that can carry the puck. Monahan is an awesome shooter but gaining the zone ect. is not his strength. Then you have the random 3rd/4th liners on the opposite wing.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Envitro

When was the last time this team scored a goal off of the rush?

Not off a cycle or a weird bank-in "hope for the best by throwing it at the net from the side boards". Most of their goals lately are from clappers off the point... seemingly.

Last game vs. SJ

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

Trade away all of Johnny's friends on the team then so he has no one left to party with.

I still blame Lance Bouma

[CSharp]

Johnny needs to toughen up. We all get that he's got tonne of skills, but man, does he play like a scared little kid and shy away from any time of contact, especially in the attack zone. First couple of years, Gaudreau and Forsberg are very comparable. Right now, you're comparing a superstar vs a teenager. It's like watching him play in the Pee Wee leagues where there's no checking!

[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.

[rogermexico]

As the year went on last year, I felt like Johnny was expending more and more energy playing to the refs. Even before the playoffs I felt like it was starting to distract him from the game, and impacting his performance.
Then in the Colorado series I think that the refs deliberately put their whistles away on him, and it completely got in his head. It seemed like he doubled down on complaining after whistles and when he got crickets from the refs he kind of fell apart.
I don't know if that's a thing or just something I was reading in, but I think that's a contributing factor to whatever between-the-ears issues he's having.

[pepper24]

Needs better line mates. Buddy Robinson is a good story but not a top line player.

Ferland is sorely missed. Lindholm is doing well at center so not sure if you move him back. No one really to replace Lindholm on that line. You need someone who is big and skilled like Ferland and Lindholm. Dube, Mang aren't the answers.

[rohara66]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

System.

Ward let it slip that they’re trying to be something other than a scoring team. Hence the seemingly infinite number of dump ins and safe plays every night. It’s why the entire team’s offence has plummeted this year - simple reactionary coaching to a bad playoff series/slide at the end of last year.

Dump it into Gaudreau’s 100 times, and how many times do you think he’ll get it back?

Sure, he could be and should be competing harder - but the way the Flames are playing is not suited for Johnny’s game when he’s on. This team wants to grind and play a slow game. Johnny doesn’t fit - and pretty much no one else does either it would seem. Boring ass hockey, and incredibly ineffective on top of it.

Our breakout is so, so slow. How many odd man rushes do we generate thanks to a quick transition on a nightly basis? It seems low - very low.

Originally Posted by Envitro

When was the last time this team scored a goal off of the rush?

Not off a cycle or a weird bank-in "hope for the best by throwing it at the net from the side boards". Most of their goals lately are from clappers off the point... seemingly.

On both of these posts about having a slow breakout and never scoring goals of the rush this is 1000% the 'system' the team is playing right now.



How often does our breakout or offensive attack include a drop pass, a back pass or a full regrouping by flipping the puck back to a defenseman.



Clue: ALL THE DAMN TIME!


The players regroup backwards as a unit so often that they've forgotten to just grab the puck and skate it out of our zone or into the other teams zone. Watch any puck battle (which we rarely win, but thats a separate issue) that we pickup, we never just attack or skate it, its always flip back to the defense then try to work our way up the ice a group of 5.


Its impossible to get an odd man rush playing like this.



They're playing the style the wings played a decade ago where they always had the puck... except none of our players want the puck (another separate issue) and we're clearly not skilled enough to play this style.



The system is broken and this team is seriously ####ed up.

[Young Guns]

I think Johnny is just exhausted from having to circle back into our zone on the power play while the rest of the team sits at center ice waiting for him.

[Flames0910]

The players regroup backwards as a unit so often that they've forgotten to just grab the puck and skate it out of our zone or into the other teams zone. Watch any puck battle (which we rarely win, but thats a separate issue) that we pickup, we never just attack or skate it, its always flip back to the defense then try to work our way up the ice a group of 5.

It's the exact same complaint we had under GG.

It's like they switched to the uptempo system, had a tonne of regular season success, and then when they got crushed in the playoffs the coaching staff decided uptempo was too risky and would never work, threw out the whole system and went back to safe/slow hockey.

[rohara66]

Originally Posted by Flames0910

It's the exact same complaint we had under GG.

It's like they switched to the uptempo system, had a tonne of regular season success, and then when they got crushed in the playoffs the coaching staff decided uptempo was too risky and would never work, threw out the whole system and went back to safe/slow hockey.

Yup exactly. And its not an excuse for Johnny or the other skilled players (cause they've sucked in many other ways) but the system this team plays is trash.

[Flames0910]

Yup exactly. And its not an excuse for Johnny or the other skilled players (cause they've sucked in many other ways) but the system this team plays is trash.

Totally. I'm sure nobody is telling the players "never rush the puck" but the drilling in that they need to be safe and defensive is causing them to second guess it when the opportunity presents itself so it either a) doesn't work because of the hesitation and/or other guy not expecting it, or b) doesn't happen because they decide to play safe.

Tre keeps finding coaches who want to put a square peg in a round hole. The way this team is built, playing safe kills us every time.

(IMO Johnny's sucking this year is compounded by the system issue but there's probably more to his struggles than just blaming it on the system.)

[Radio]

I think it's an enjoyment/confidence issue. He's making good money now and with that come heightened expectations. It's probably more like a job now. he needs to get back to enjoying the game.

It's been pointed out numerous times in this thread, he just looks miserable and angry all the time.

[monkeyman]

The real question is, what’s right with Johnny? He’s been brutal in all aspects of the game this year. I have no idea why they continue giving him so many minutes including on the Power-play.
If he truly has some kind of problem outside the rink, the Flames need to addresses it, sit him and assist him in getting treatment ASAP.

[Manhattanboy]

He had great chemistry with Hudler and Monahan years ago.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Flames0910

It's the exact same complaint we had under GG.

It's like they switched to the uptempo system, had a tonne of regular season success, and then when they got crushed in the playoffs the coaching staff decided uptempo was too risky and would never work, threw out the whole system and went back to safe/slow hockey.

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

[Stanley]

I wonder if it's worth putting Lindholm back on the RW with Johnny/Mony for a few games to get things going...thing is I like him as our #1C

[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).

[rohara66]

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).

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.....