We understand that our audience may be familiar with the finer details of hockey. As such, most of you probably know that goalies are not supposed to be physical. In fact, it is illegal for goalies to check skaters and vice versa. So when Huska said the team's goaltender was their most physical presence in the 1st period against the Wild, he is really saying quite a lot.
Huska was rightfully ticked off after his team lost the game in embarrassing fashion. One thing the Flames have struggled with this season has been effort. The talent level is such that this team genuinely should be much better than they are. This latest incident really underscores that the players in Calgary might just not care enough. Jonathan Huberdeau hinted at the fact that the team does not prepare enough for their games. Given that he is one of the biggest underperforming players this season, that must go for him too.
All of this puts the Flames in a tricky situation. They do not realistically have the ability to move a contract like Huberdeau's and yet the way he's playing indicates that they might just have to blow up the team. Of course, its not all on Huberdeau though. Essentially everyone on the team is underperforming this year. No one looks like they want to be there. Except perhaps rookie goaltender Dustin Wolf, who earned his first career start tonight after Jacob Markstrom went down with injury in practice.
The Flames are currently down 2-0 late in the 1st period.
POLL | ||
Should the Flames go into a full rebuild? | ||
Yes | 13 | 50 % |
Yes, but their contract situation makes it hard | 7 | 26.9 % |
No | 6 | 23.1 % |
List of polls |