Flames frustrated over star’s finger
Frustrated over the loss of his star player for upwards of a quarterseason, Brad Treliving said he has had several discussions with the league to establish that it “wasn’t a unicorn” that broke Johnny Gaudreau’s finger.
It was an illegal act that went unpunished not once, twice or three times, but almost a dozen times, by his count.
“It’s a tough job and in our case you’re voicing your frustration,” the Flames GM said of his talks with NHL director of officiating Stephen Walkom.
“There are tactics with good players, but when you chop a guy in the hand, there’s a rule that says you can’t do that.
“We’re not naive — do we whack guys, too? Probably. But the frustration comes when that turns into a player being out for an extended period of time.
“When you look at that game, it wasn’t the first one. This wasn’t a unicorn that popped up in the middle of a period. By our count there were 11 chops on (Gaudreau) in the game. Two, three, four, I got it, but maybe at nine, we dial it in a bit.”
The one that broke a finger in Gaudreau’s right hand late in Tuesday’s 1-0 win in Minnesota was delivered by Eric Staal and required surgery in Vancouver Wednesday.
“Speaking to the doctors, they’re happy with how it went,” said Treliving, who then addressed the time Gaudreau is expected to miss.
“We don’t know, but we’re sort of working around a six-week time frame. Hopefully it’s shorter. Everybody heals in different ways.”
Treliving said Gaudreau will travel with the team for their upcoming six-game road trip and already has mobility in the finger, which left him with “some hardware in there.”
Those who watched the game in which Gaudreau left in the third period saw him wincing from three particular chops — one by Ryan Suter and two by Staal.
It’s a common tactic around the league to slash star players where they are most vulnerable, especially when one of the coaches involved is Bruce Boudreau.
The first time Gaudreau left the bench for repairs was because of an injury to his left hand.
“He got a whack on the other hand and he actually got a blood blister and they drained that,” Treliving said. “It wasn’t the same injury.”
Treliving isn’t looking for anyone’s head and understands officiating in the NHL is a tough job.
He was just doing his part to discuss the issue with Walkom and was open about the conversation Thursday upon returning to Calgary.
“This isn’t moaning and groaning — this is a difficult job and we’re not throwing any arrows at officials and we’re not just trying to look after guys in our own tent,” he said.
“There are rules in the game and we feel this was a situation — I’m not going to say avoided because you can’t — but it could be handled differently.”
The debate rages on over whether more team toughness could have prevented such abuse or whether the league simply must crack down on such stick work that inevitably ends up with top NHLers injured.
“The grieving stage is real short — we’ve got games to play and
There are tactics … but when you chop a guy in the hand, there’s a rule that says you can’t do that.
points to find,” Treliving said. “We don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves. This is a fact of life in the league, everybody deals with injuries.”
Treliving also took the time to publicly back coach Glen Gulutzan, who has drawn the wrath of fans who suggest his system is too hard to grasp or that he simply hasn’t gained trust or the attention of his players yet.
“I think Glen has done an excellent job of pushing this group along,” he said.
“He has got the ear of that lockerroom. I fully believe in the way he’s pushing this group along and how we need to play in order to have some success. We understand the passion of this fan base, but I’m really encouraged.”