Clutch Monahan joins elite scorers club
FLAMES: Like Gretzky and Lindros, Calgary centreman pots eight game-winners in a season before age 21
CALGARY — Wayne Gretzky and Pierre Turgeon.
Eric Lindros and Sergei Samsonov.
“Not bad company, eh?” a smiling Dennis Wideman said the morning after Sean Monahan joined that high-profile foursome. “That’s pretty impressive.” The elite club in question — National Hockey League players to have posted eight game-winning goals in a single season before the age of 21 — includes, as of Tuesday, the Calgary Flames sophomore.
“I don’t look at that stuff — I didn’t know that,” says Monahan.
“Pretty cool to have your name in that category with those players. They’re pretty special.”
As modest as the young fellow is, he doesn’t downplay the notion that he is fuelled by pivotal moments.
That he is eager to provide telling strikes.
That he is keen to have the puck on his stick — early, late, whenever.
“Obviously, I get up for games, for those different situations, whether it’s overtime or whatever it is,” says Monahan, 20. “I try to stay calm, but I’m excited to get out there.
“I want to be the guy to make a difference. That’s what allows you to have success in those situations.”
Monahan’s penchant for being the man, coach Bob Hartley cannot explain.
Every skater, after all, wants to be known as a money player. Few actually are. “I don’t have an answer for you,” says Hartley. “I just want it to keep going because this kid is clutch. It’s just unbelievable the poise that he’s showing. There’s never a panic move in his game.
“I don’t know if he has nerves of steel — or no nerves.”
Eight game-winners stake Monahan third in the NHL (along with the Rangers’ Rick Nash, New Jersey’s Michael Cammalleri and Anaheim’s Matt Beleskey), behind only Washington’s Alex Ovechkin (11) and Montreal’s Max Pacioretty (10).
“Monny, if it’s a big game, he’s always there,” says Wideman. “His overall demeanour ... really helps him with that. Never high, never low, just straight all the time. Those are the guys that, in the big moments, can keep themselves calm, not grip their sticks too tight. When it comes down to it, he wants the puck, he wants to score that big goal.
“That’s what makes him special. That’s what’s going to put him among the elite. He’s getting there already.”
With 31 goals, Monahan is 12th in the league, right behind Jamie Benn and Zach Parise. Fifteen of his tallies have arrived after the second intermission.
Even Darryl Sutter, a legendarily hard marker, has taken notice.
“I don’t think Monahan gets enough credit in the league,” said Sutter, the Los Angeles Kings coach. “Everybody talks about the centremen in (the Western Conference) and they don’t talk about Sean Monahan. They should.
“He’s probably in that (Jonathan) Toews group, in terms of all-around. Can play minutes, play in situations, play against top guys. All that. He’s probably in that group, as a young player.”
Monahan is not exactly what Brandon Bollig expected when he arrived in Calgary for this season.
Sure, he had been aware of Monahan, who scored 22 times as a teenager.
“So you think he’s all flash and more of a one-way type player, but that’s absolutely not what he is,” said Bollig. “Obviously, the kid is a star in the league ... and he’s only going to get better. But I don’t think he’s satisfied with anything yet, either.”
Including last season, Monahan has 10 game-winning goals — in only 155 appearances. To boot, he has contributed five game-deciding shootout conversions.
“With the ice time I get, with the opportunity I get, you’ve got to be able to produce,” said Monahan, who, with an average ice time of 19:36 per game, shoulders the most work of any Flames forward.
“If you’re not producing, you’re not going to get those minutes. When I’m in those situations, I try to get the job done.”
Monahan’s latest display — a snazzy bit of third-period business against the Arizona Coyotes — puts the Flames within sniffing distance of a playoff berth. If the Flames can topple the Stanley Cup champions Thursday, they’re in the playoffs. And the Kings are out.
“I don’t think Monahan gets enough credit in the league.” — Darryl Sutter