LW Johnny Gaudreau (2011, 104th overall, Calgary) IV

[SaintMorose]

Only seen bits and pieces of him and the Flames, period here, period there. How's he doing defensively? Sometimes those takeways/giveaway stats can be different building-to-building. Not doubting the stat just crious how he looks.

In the first 3 games pretty invisible, after getting sat he's been on his horse beating his man back to the zone and just being strong stick on stick to knock pucks loose.

He clears the zone really well which is what I had worried most about, both by being good at tipping passes out and being able to make a shifty horizontal move and set-up a breakout pass.

 

[hockeystick89]

Missing the game tonight even though I had tickets for it... What kind of goal did he score?

 

[JurassicTunga]

 

[Paper]

Only seen bits and pieces of him and the Flames, period here, period there. How's he doing defensively? Sometimes those takeways/giveaway stats can be different building-to-building. Not doubting the stat just crious how he looks.

He's got 16 takeaways, Brodie is second best with 8 for the Flames. Brodie also has nearly double the time on ice as Gaudreau.


Gaudreau also got 9 giveaways, which is a bit higher considering his time on ice. But he likes to have the puck on his stick and isn't afraid of taking the low chance plays.

 

[SaintMorose]

Missing the game tonight even though I had tickets for it... What kind of goal did he score?

The only highlight of his goal was fighting off the back-checkers 3 stick lifts to maintain the puck. Dman took him outside and he had a seeing-eye wrist shot that beat Rinne as he had dropped really low and put up his trapper for a blocker shot

 

[Beesfan]

Thanks. Other than the deflection, that's a classic JG goal. Skate wide and shoot from a ridiculously sharp angle just under the crossbar.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

6 points in his last 6 games? And here I was thinking he was going to be a career power play specialist with a 40 point ceiling . . .

 

[Rolen]

6 points in his last 6 games? And here I was thinking he was going to be a career power play specialist with a 40 point ceiling . . .

It's 6 games, I don't think anyone should be drawing conclusions.

 

[Pip]

Pretty sick goal

He's really heating up now

 

[CNuck]

nice goal

 

[SmellOfVictory]

It's 6 games, I don't think anyone should be drawing conclusions.

NO. 70 point rookie season! YeaH!

 

[Goodlad]

It's 6 games, I don't think anyone should be drawing conclusions.

So after the first 6 games it was completely understandable for people to consider Flames' fans as over-estimating Gaudreau's abilities, but the last six games don't count for as much. Cool.

 

[Johnnybegood13]

Thanks. Other than the deflection, that's a classic JG goal. Skate wide and shoot from a ridiculously sharp angle just under the crossbar.

Not that it really matters but I seen it from the other angle as well and I still can't see a deflection.

And LOL at Volchenkov, Johnnys move on him twisted his jockstrap so much his brain stopped working whereas he's looking at a suspension.

 

[King In The North]

It's 6 games, I don't think anyone should be drawing conclusions.

I agree, but it works both ways. Plenty of posters coming in saying they expected more after x amount of games, have been disappointed and really questioned his potential.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

It's 6 games, I don't think anyone should be drawing conclusions.

Where were you when people were doing exactly that after only 5? He's had a tremendous start to his career, and should really have 2-3 more points than he currently has.

Career stat line: 12 gp 3g 4a 7p +7. Leads the league in takeaways. I'm gonna go ahead and draw the conclusion that he has a higher ceiling than a 40 point power play specialist. Anyone who disagrees with this is frankly an idiot.

 

[YMCMBYOLO]

Johnny is a special player, the Flames and USAH have a special player on their hands.

 

[Paper]

And here I was thinking he was going to be a career power play specialist with a 40 point ceiling . . .

I'm a Gaudreau supporter but I think a 40 point ceiling is still quite high. Sitter's 10 point record has stood for 38 years so I don't know if we should be expecting more than 20 or so.

 

[DCDM]

I'm a Gaudreau supporter but I think a 40 point ceiling is still quite high. Sitter's 10 point record has stood for 38 years so I don't know if we should be expecting more than 20 or so.

 

[tfong]

Only seen bits and pieces of him and the Flames, period here, period there. How's he doing defensively? Sometimes those takeways/giveaway stats can be different building-to-building. Not doubting the stat just crious how he looks.

He is sneaky like Datsyuk, ninja steals and is deceptively strong on his stick.

 

[SenzZen]

To quote the bard Ladies Love Cool James: Doing it, and doing it, and doing it...well.

 

[Caged Great]

Only seen bits and pieces of him and the Flames, period here, period there. How's he doing defensively? Sometimes those takeways/giveaway stats can be different building-to-building. Not doubting the stat just crious how he looks.

He's a little pain in the butt. Because he's so quick, he sneaks up behind players and picks their pocket. He's also fairly good positioning wise, for some reason I don't think he'll have much success muscling people off the puck.

Just stealthy and shifty like Datsyuk. If he was 6'0", he would already be one of the top 10 players in the league. He might possibly get there anyway.

 

[Pizza the Hutt]

Shaking my head at people who hope Johnny fails. This kid is magic.

 

[blankall]

Shaking my head at people who hope Johnny fails. This kid is magic.

Even if you're not a Flames fan, you have to find his style of play to be one of the most entertaining in the game.

 

[PZA*]

Johnny Hockey.

 

[stardefender*]

He did look tentative in his first five games, coming straight from college to the NHL - and at that size disadvantage - it's understandable he had to acclimatize to the speed and space in the NHL.

But since he sat out that game he's scoring at a point a game pace (6 points in 6 games) and now leads the league in take-aways with limited ice time. He's also tied for game winning goals with two in that span.

In his last two games, he's been absolutely lights out and the Flames best forward by a country mile. Every time he touches the puck something happens and he's gaining confidence with each game.

It might take a while, but this kid is going to be a star. He's absolutely electric to watch and enthrals the crowd. How anyone can dislike the kid or root against them because of their allegiances is ridiculous. That's a special brand of hockey and everyone should enjoy it when they see it.