Johnny Gaudreau: 2015/16 expectations?

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Volica

Papa Shango
May 15, 2012
21,645
11,333
Johnny's defensive strength is transitional defense. When his line is hemmed into their own zone, it's best to close your eyes until you hear them clear; neither Johnny, Monahan or Hudler are good at playing behind their own blueline.

Where Gaudreau's strength comes from is his shifty and speedy skating to steal pucks with stick lifts and batting pucks down. He'll never be confused with Dats for all around defensive game; but that transition defense is probably top 5 in the league.
 

Johnny Hoxville

The Return of a Legend
Jul 15, 2006
37,560
9,364
Calgary
Gaudreau/Crosby: I do see a lot of comparisons here. They think the game very much the same and can visualize how the play will develop 2-3 steps before everyone else. This is probably a good explanation for them finding open ice. Both control and have the play go through them in them in offensive zone. Watch them, they both hang onto the puck and cycle it down low in the offensive zone. They let the play come to them, exercise patience and use elite vision to distribute the puck. Multiple times a game I watch Gaudreau and say that's exactly how Sid does it. But Signature is right, Johnny does not have the same grit and forechecking element to his game, that's why I said hybrid because Gaudreau is much more of a finesse player than Sid.

Gaudreau/Datsyuk: Whiskey said everything about Dats that I could pretty much say. It's almost as if he has tried to mould his defensive game after Dats. He is so good at backchecking, reading the play and especially takeaways. On top of that, his puck handling skills and vision are very comparable as well.

I think his skating and edge work are probably most closest to Kane's, but they are different players.
 

djpatm

Registered User
Feb 2, 2010
2,525
929
Calgary
He's a great player but he absolutely is not the best playmaker/have the best vision in the league. Don't be ridiculous

I have a feeling that next year this will be an accepted statement just like everything else that people called Flames fans out for "hyping" about Gaudreau which turned out to be true.

I have no doubts that by his prime, he will be considered one of the best in the game.
 

Tkachuk Norris

Registered User
Jun 22, 2012
15,878
7,145
I don't know...Whiskey has been saying "ridiculous" things about JG for years now and people on him laughed at him/her. It turns out, a lot of those things turned out to be true... :handclap:

Whiskey has been saying those things for a while now because he actually watched Johnny play. He's not a Flames fan at all (although he might be becoming one). He saw Johnny play in college and at the WJC.
Flames fans have been saying it for a while too. Anyone that watched this kid got laughed at and called crazy because they would say things like he will be a superstar. Everyone was saying these things because they were true. And what Johnny has been doing since his days at Boston College were special.

Jerry York knew he was special. Brian Burke, said he had the best vision he's ever seen before Johnny Hockey even played a game in the NHL.

Meanwhile, there was an unprecedented group of Johnny haters on this site. A lot of Oiler fans or fans of other teams that just loathed the idea that Flames fans were hyping up this 5'9" 155 pound kid 4th round pick. Johnny faced more criticism than any prospect in this history of this forum. The vast majority of that criticism came from people that had never seen him play, or they clearly didn't watch close enough.

The kid is a superstar, as entertaining as any player in the league, and it's nice that this site is finally willing to accept that. 17 points. +3 on a team that's only scored 37 goals and has allowed 59. Imagine what happens when Hudler, Monahan and the team start playing well. :amazed:
 

soliak

Registered User
Mar 26, 2013
661
56
Straya
He's a great player. I picked him for PPG this season even though everyone said he would regress. He's been brilliant since the Flames haven't exactly been scoring a lot of goals.

Not a top 10 player by any means, however for some, perhaps he is. Ratings are subjective on the individual.

I think he will end up as one of the top offends dynamos in the league though. His skill set is unique. He can do things that no one else can. His size is a big reason for that IMO. Small stick, arms, body + insane stick handling ability = slippery gypsy
 

djpatm

Registered User
Feb 2, 2010
2,525
929
Calgary
He's in the top 5 of scoring right now on a team where he has been carrying almost all of the load, but calling him a top 10 player is a stretch?
 

tmurfin

That’s the joke
May 8, 2010
11,256
1,310
If he finishes with 80+ points this year, which I think he will, it's going to be very hard for people to doubt the guy. Only a handful of ELITE players finished with over 80 last year.
 

Peter Zezel

Registered User
Sep 12, 2003
983
31
What make Gaudreau so polarizing is he has exceeded expectations and continues to. Fans of him think he is a top NHL player while non-fans think he is a flash in the pan. His actual skill is probably in between those two.

He is for sure a skilled guy, but he does seem to have some real puck luck.
 

WhiskeyYerTheDevils

yer leadin me astray
Sponsor
Apr 27, 2005
34,777
32,625
What make Gaudreau so polarizing is he has exceeded expectations and continues to. Fans of him think he is a top NHL player while non-fans think he is a flash in the pan. His actual skill is probably in between those two.

He is for sure a skilled guy, but he does seem to have some real puck luck.

It seems that way because he is really good. But if you watch him you'd know he's probably under produced relative to the chances he creates.
 

robbie111

Registered User
Nov 10, 2013
269
67
That was a great move on Darling who was incredible in this game. Stripped Seabrook for the game winner but the thing that impressed me most was when he walked Keith. I don't think I've ever seen Keith turned inside out like that before. Got to say the kid is fun to watch.
 

sureloss

Registered User
Jan 5, 2006
839
62
I am pretty sure Keith is still trying to figure out what happened:

EssentialLightIrishsetter.gif
 

OvermanKingGainer

#BennettFreed #CurseofTheSpulll #FreeOliver
Feb 3, 2015
16,156
7,179
2022 Cup to Calgary
Need to start keeping a running list of defensemen Johnny has walked. Off the top of my head:

-Doughty
-Burns
-Lindholm
-Keith
-Volchenkov
-Entire Avalanche Team
-That poor, poor soul on the Senators earlier in this thread.
 
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GeeoffBrown

Registered User
Jul 6, 2007
6,220
4,274
In the admittedly tiny sample size, Johnny Gaudreau is the best player in the world...in 3-on-3 OT.
 

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