Flames’ Gaudreau upset about benching
Calgary coach worried about rookie’s safety
ANAHEIM • To be benched for the entire third period of a Stanley Cup playoff series opener does not sit well with Johnny Gaudreau.
But, it wasn’t the 21-yearold rookie’s decision — it wasn’t his call to be stapled to the bench in the final frame while the Calgary Flames were being thumped 6-1 by the Anaheim Ducks in Game 1 Thursday night.
According to Bob Hartley, he and the Flames coaching staff felt the Ducks had been taking too many liberties with their young star.
No, that call did not sit well with Gaudreau.
“I believe he wasn’t OK with this,” said Flames head coach Bob Hartley. “When I told him early in the third period and I told him why he wasn’t playing. Johnny wants to be on the ice.”
Before Thursday’s game, much had been made about the size of Anaheim and the Western Conference brutes who average 208 pounds while the Flames weigh in at six-feet and 193 pounds (the smallest club in the NHL).
How would players — such as five-foot-nine, 150-pound Gaudreau — handle the added physicality of the Ducks. And not just the Ducks, the playoff-prepared Ducks? How would Calgary match that force?
However, Gaudreau, who posted 24 goals and 40 assists in 80 games to earn a Calder Trophy nomination, had answered those questions all year long. First, when he cracked the squad in the fall and, again, when the post- season started.
Still, Hartley stuck to his guns. And the player, understandably, isn’t happy.
“As much as he’s not a big size player, this young man is a great competitor,” Hartley said. “My job as the head coach of the Calgary Flames is to do what’s best for the organization. And, what’s best, was to keep him on the bench. There was no sense exposing him out there. He’s a big time player for us.
“I was not surprised by his reaction. He was not happy.”
This was the same guy who was a difference-maker on Dec. 22 as the Los Angeles Kings crumpled while Gaudreau scored a natural hat-trick to come back from a 3-0 deficit and win 4-3 in overtime.
Many times this year, Gaudreau had been counted on for timely goals and was expected to perform in physical situations. He was a difference maker in Game 6 of the Vancouver series and had a three-point night.
“Yeah, I mean watching the guys out there skate to a 5-0 game, in a physical game like that,” he said following the Flames meetings on Friday at Anaheim’s Honda Center. “I want to be out there with them. But you’ve gotta listen to the coach. He knows what’s best.”
It sets a dangerous precedent for the team, and player, if they use any type of protection strategy. Gaudreau was undersized when they drafted the Boston College star in 2011 (104th overall).
But he’s proven, time and time again this year, that while he has some physical maturing to do, he’s a dangerous player.
Still, Gaudreau took the blame squarely on his shoulders.
“Obviously I need to play better and play harder,” he said. “It was a 5-0 game at that point, so I don’t know what the coach was really thinking at that time. But I think I’m going to come out flying in the second game and make sure I’m a little bit better.”