Slumping Gaudreau in spotlight on and off ice
With one goal in last 20 games and off-ice rumours swirling, winger is a marked man
When you are the face of a franchise, making US$6.75 million a year, there are always going to be plenty of rumours and speculation surrounding you.
Especially when things aren’t going as expected.
All season long, there has been no shortage of theorizing on why Calgary Flames star Johnny Gaudreau has struggled to generate the type of offence he’s been capable of his first two seasons.
Fair or not, talk around town has some subscribing to the theory it stems from off-ice issues.
It has been just over a year since Johnny Gaudreau and two teammates showed up late for practice following a Super Bowl party, were benched for a game and issued apologies to teammates.
Fast-forward a year and speculation is running rampant Gaudreau was at it again.
This time, the scuttlebutt revolves around him missing the team bus in Manhattan for the club’s outdoor practice at Central Park on Saturday, Feb. 4.
Shortly after the team climbed off its bus in full gear for their memorable skate in the iconic setting, Gaudreau climbed out of a taxi in full gear as well, accompanied by a staffer.
Relatively few in New York City could identify a hockey player unless you spotted them a jersey with a name bar, but several people saw Johnny Hockey arrive and the buzz was out.
There was even a picture circulating as part of the online chatter that followed.
With innuendo swirling about a lifestyle contributing to his worst NHL season to date, many choose to connect dots and assume Gaudreau ran afoul of team rules.
Not so, says Glen Gulutzan, who wants the record straight on what happened that day.
“I can tell you this — it wasn’t a big deal,” the Flames head coach told Postmedia. “We were in a gong show that day — we were dressing in a hotel ballroom, it was a real mess.
“He was with the trainer, so he came over with him. It was a 10 a.m. bus and I said, ‘hey do your thing, everyone else get there.’ So he jumped in a cab with (head therapist) Kent (Kobelka).
“We got on the bus, and we knew we had Johnny and Kent behind, but we just went and got there. They came in a cab after. We were supposed to be on the ice at 11:30 a.m. and everybody, including Johnny, was on at 11:22 a.m.”
He insists no team rules were broken and no discipline was needed. And, no, none of it had anything to do with Gaudreau being demoted to the fourth line the last two periods of a blowout a week later.
Gulutzan and other team officials said exceptions weren’t made for the superstar, nor were there whispers on the bus about him getting preferential treatment.
For what it’s worth, Gaudreau was with his parents the night before, where they attended his game in New Jersey.
While missing team meetings or practices without permission is often dealt with harshly, especially if brought to light by the media, missing the bus isn’t always an act of insubordination.
Last month in Ottawa, for example, Chad Johnson missed the bus as he somehow got the 7:30 p.m. start time messed up. No biggie as he arrived in plenty of time.
Some players skip the bus at times to get to the rink early.
Buses don’t wait and, well, stuff happens.
His brilliant four-assist effort in Nashville on Tuesday aside, Gaudreau has not been the differencemaker he was before he signed his US$40.5-million deal.
With one goal in his last 20 games, the former 30-goal scorer has gone from sixth in league scoring a year ago to 81st with 11 goals and 28 assists in 50 outings.
His most glaring stat is his minus-16.
He missed 10 games with a broken finger suffered as part of the leaguewide mauling issued to most superstars, and the space he generally creates with his quickness and creativity has regularly been taken away from the gifted playmaker.
He’s a marked man on the ice and off.
He’s the first to admit it hasn’t been an easy year.
However, his perspective on the situation is spot on.
“I think looking back at last season, it was more successful personally, but I’d much rather be in a position with the team we have today than last season,” he said of his club’s grasp on the final playoff spot in the west.
“I don’t even know where we were at in the standings this time last year. I can be an important player in the last 20 games and make a big push to help my team succeed as much as possible the last 20 games.
“I think my next (goal) won’t be a pretty one, but I just want to get it out of the way.”
It might do well to stop some of the speculation, too.
I can be an important player in the last 20 games and make a big push to help my team succeed as much as possible the last 20 games.