Calgary's highest-paid player says it was humiliating to sit the whole third period of Tuesday's win but "you've got to move on"
Page turned.
At least that is what both Calgary Flames coach Ryan Huska and forward Jonathan Huberdeau said the day after.
Huberdeau, the club’s highest-paid player, was benched for the whole third period of Tuesday’s 4-2 victory over the Nashville Predators. According to both of them, it is now in the past as the club readies to begin a three-game Eastern Canada road trip Friday against the Ottawa Senators.
“It’s 20 minutes of my career. You’ve got to move on and we’ve got to win, that’s all that matters. It’s on me to get better,” Huberdeau told the assembled media after Wednesday’s practice. “I always want to look forward. You can’t think in the past.
“It’s humiliating. You don’t want to be sitting on the bench,” he added.
“It wasn’t easy, I’m not going to lie, but it was a coach’s decision and we move on.”
Huska, the first-year head coach, does not believe there will be any lingering impact.
“He’s a really good hockey player, and everybody goes through a stretch like he went through last night at some point,” Huska said. “We all heard the story of Tampa, they sat their whole top line out one period, it happens. You’re not at your very best every day, it’s how you respond to that is really what matters, and that’s what’s coming next."
Sounds good, but the Flames truly need more from Huberdeau as they look for a third consecutive win. Much more.
Only a dozen games into the eight-year, $84 million contract he signed in in the summer of 2022, he has just two goals, six points and a dreadful minus-12 rating. His play has been filled with repeated turnovers and missed passes, nothing close to what the Flames expected when he was acquired in the deal that sent Matthew Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers.
“I still believe in myself. I just got to show it on the ice,” Huberdeau insisted yet also noted his confidence has dissipated.
From an execution side, Huberdeau’s struggles appear to have him playing with nowhere near enough pace to use his talents. Instead of driving play, he appears to often be guilty of waiting for the play to come to him, which provides far too little margin for error.
In turn, it’s obvious to all his confidence light if flashing like a check engine light on a clunker of a car.
“I don’t think there’s anybody that’s harder on himself than Johnny,” said defenseman MacKenzie Weegar. “I know he wants to be the best player that he can be. Maybe he’s putting too much pressure on himself. I know he wants to be the player he once was and I know he’ll get there.”
