Ryan Huska’s promotion to Calgary Flames head coach no doubt pleases Jonathan Huberdeau, but according to the new pilot, the Quebecer won’t need him for a revival.
The left winger’s decline in performance in his first season in Alberta is well documented. It’s one of the highlights of the 2022-23 campaign and a sad conclusion to the Darryl Sutter era.
In fact, the latter and Huberdeau never really got along. With his former assistant now acting as the main voice behind the bench, we can expect some changes in the performance of some players.
“He’s an excellent hockey player. “You don’t get to this level by accident,” Huska told TSN on Monday. It’s going to come back strong this year and I think it’s going to gain momentum. We will see. I don’t necessarily want to see a different version of Jonathan, just a version he’s more comfortable with.
A few months before joining the Flames for Matthew Tkachuk, Huberdeau had just accumulated 115 points with the Florida Panthers. Last season his performance dropped to 55 points.
According to Huska, the 30-year-old still had to get used to his new surroundings after a decade at Sunrise.
“When you factor the whole play into the equation – the new teammates, the new playstyle, the new city – it’s tough for a man. But now all those distractions are behind him, and that’s one of the reasons we’ll be seeing a different Jonathan Huberdeau this year.