WHEN YOU’RE WRONG, YOU’RE WRONG: GAUDREAU IS HART-WORTHY
I got into it with fans and fellow media members on Twitter last week when I suggested that Johnny Gaudreau wasn’t a top-three candidate for the Hart Trophy — and may not even be amongst the top five when you consider how deep the field was.
I was wrong. Dead wrong.
My thinking at the time was that as good as Gaudreau has been this season, he was the beneficiary of playing on a loaded line. It was the same argument I made with Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. You couldn’t single out just one player. To do so was a disservice to his linemates.
And then I watched the Flames play the Sabres, followed by a game against the Red Wings. And I came to realize that while Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm are both having outstanding seasons, it is Gaudreau who is stirring the drink.
Flames head coach Bill Peters apparently agrees.
“I don’t disagree with you that Johnny drives the line,” said Peters.
“He drives it with his competitiveness and his ability to make plays. He has the ability to hold on to pucks to bide time and allow guys to open up. Not a lot of people have that ability. He does.”
As of Wednesday morning, Gaudreau was tied for fifth in the Rocket Richard Trophy race with 29 goals and was tied for second in overall scoring with 73 points. Sean Monahan is amongst the top 10, with 27 goals and 61 points, while Elias Lindholm is ranked in 13th with 21 goals and 58 points.
That they are doing it on a team that headed into the all-star break with the best record in the Western Conference — a huge step up from finishing in 11th place last year — has made the point totals even more impressive.
“It’s a real good combination of three elite players,” said Peters. “Monny is a combination of an ability to score and make good plays, and Johnny is more of a playmaker as a winger, and Lindy has the ability to do both — finish and make plays. But what all three guys have done is dig in defensively and play away from the puck.
“We trust them against other teams’ top lines, we play them when we’re up a goal and we trust them defensively.”