Calgary Flames forward Jonathan Huberdeau's struggles continue and if there's one regular season game he'd like to explode in, it's Monday night against the Florida Panthers.
Offensively, the Quebecer is literally out of fuel. He hasn't picked up a single point in his last eight games, but still has 15 points to his name and a deficit of -14. His head coach Ryan Huska only sent him onto the ice for 14:10 in Saturday's duel against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The veteran was entitled to his second-lowest playing time of the season and nothing suggests an awakening for the one who accumulated 55 points in 2022-2023, around sixty fewer than his previous year.
• Also read: Is he the savior of the Maple Leafs?
• Also read: Very touching farewell to Pittsburgh for Fleury?
• Also read: Jonathan Drouin “stopped being too nice”
The person most affected makes no secret of it: The current situation is anything but pleasant, even if the Flames bounced back a little at the end of the week with a 4-2 win, putting an end to a series of four defeats.
“Of course it's not easy not to get points, but we have an important winning streak and the team is the only thing that counts. “I obviously want to contribute to the successes, but it's difficult at the moment,” he told the Calgary Sun newspaper. All I can do is work hard. If it doesn't go right, then that's how it will be. I don't do the good jumps, but that's no excuse and I want to be there for my teammates. In the end, the only thing that counts is victory.”
Even when confronted with his previous organization and media attention, Huberdeau remains in the same mindset.
“This meeting is the same. We're at home and that doesn't change anything. I'll be playing against some familiar faces, but it's still a game like any other. It’s more meaningful and special when we go to Florida,” he said.
No regrets or discomfort
However, some will remind him that the Panthers played in the Stanley Cup Final at Sunrise last spring, thanks in particular to Matthew Tkachuk, who was acquired in the deal that sent Huberdeau north of the border in July 2022, scoring 40 goals and owning among the candidates for the Hart Trophy.
“At some point I didn’t care. Of course it would have hurt if they had won the cup, but on the other hand I felt sorry for the friends with whom I played for a long time and who had the chance to win the big honor for the first time. It wasn’t easy, but if they had done it, that would have been it,” he said.
The Alberta team will travel to California before the holiday break for games against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday and the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.