LW Johnny Gaudreau (2011, 104th overall, Calgary) -"Gaudreaumania III: Live On PPV"

[MonaHan Solo]

When Bruce Banner gets angry, he turns into the Hulk. When the Hulk gets angry, it turns into John Gaudreau.

 

[Sean Monahan]

Pretty unbelievable that a fourth round pick has gathered this much attention. The hype is real

 

[Orca Smash]

Pretty unbelievable that a fourth round pick has gathered this much attention. The hype is real

LoL that hype wouldn't be 80% flames fans filling pages on the main board would it.

 

[Yosemite Sam]

While this video says these are Johnny highlights from the World Championships, it should be noted these are just from the one game, which is amazing. He's got lots of other great highlights from the rest of the tourney. Excellent video.

 

[Mikos87]

What I find interesting is that after observing comments on this board and others about Gaudreau for a couple years now, most of the non-Flames fans who are speaking highly of this kid are ones who have watched him since he was a teenager; seems to be mostly east coast-based folks watching him in the USHL or the NCAA. Those are the ones that can truly speak to his ability to overcome the odds.

I've also noticed a distinctly negative approach to Gaudreau from Oiler fans. Not all of them obviously, but a great number of them. I don't think that's a coincidence, either.

I'm going to trust the opinion of the former category / those who have truly watched him than anybody else.

He's the real deal. I watched a lot BC hockey, especially during Gaudreau's rookie year there since Chris Kreider was on that team. First time I saw him I thought how the hell did Brian Gibbons get that good.. but Gibbons wasn't on the team, it was Gaudreau. From that point on he was easily the most skilled player in all of college hockey imo.

Hands. Filthy.
Speed. Yeah its there.
Brains. Something special.

I still think he's going to get banged up, the guy is elusive like a greased weasel, but he plays the wing, and he's going to have to work the boards, and his head lines up in the shoulder, forearm, elbow area of most NHL defensemen, so if a guy catches him, he'll do some damage.

Also BC has one of the best athletic programs as far as fitness goes. There have been some big boys to come out of there. Gaudreau doesn't have the metabolism to put on weight from what I've seen the last 3 years. What you see is what you get when it comes to physique.

So I'm not expecting Gaudreau to be an iron man, but when he plays, he will be special. PPG player by year 3. 50-60 the 1st two years if he's healthy. He'll score goals for sure, but unlike college he'll get more assists and goals since NHL goalies are a little harder to beat.

 

[ps241]

The pimping by the Flames fans on a main board thread is over the top but those highlights are really fun to watch. Tiny dude with immense skill who will need to find a way to stay healthy. He should make an impact on the PP right away.

 

[BenningHurtsMySoul]

Great skill but if someone catches him dead to rights at that frame...yikes.

 

[OhCaptainMyCaptain]

He's the real deal. I watched a lot BC hockey, especially during Gaudreau's rookie year there since Chris Kreider was on that team. First time I saw him I thought how the hell did Brian Gibbons get that good.. but Gibbons wasn't on the team, it was Gaudreau. From that point on he was easily the most skilled player in all of college hockey imo.

Hands. Filthy.
Speed. Yeah its there.
Brains. Something special.

I still think he's going to get banged up, the guy is elusive like a greased weasel, but he plays the wing, and he's going to have to work the boards, and his head lines up in the shoulder, forearm, elbow area of most NHL defensemen, so if a guy catches him, he'll do some damage.

Also BC has one of the best athletic programs as far as fitness goes. There have been some big boys to come out of there. Gaudreau doesn't have the metabolism to put on weight from what I've seen the last 3 years. What you see is what you get when it comes to physique.

So I'm not expecting Gaudreau to be an iron man, but when he plays, he will be special. PPG player by year 3. 50-60 the 1st two years if he's healthy. He'll score goals for sure, but unlike college he'll get more assists and goals since NHL goalies are a little harder to beat.

Ask Patrick Kane if that is true

 

[theIceWookie]

The pimping by the Flames fans on a main board thread is over the top but those highlights are really fun to watch. Tiny dude with immense skill who will need to find a way to stay healthy. He should make an impact on the PP right away.

Can I honestly ask why "needs to stay healthy" is such a concern? What does being small have to do with this? What bearing does it have on his health?

Like is it honestly only "he's small, others are big, that means the big players will hurt him?"

Ryan Whitney, Kimmo Timmonen, and Martin St Louis have all had successful non-band-aid boy careers and are just as small.

I don't get why being small is an automatic sentence to becoming a significant injury risk. Brendan Gallagher and Brad Marchand seem to have no problem staying healthy and play games that are much more likely to create injuries.

Does Pat Kane regularly miss 10-20 games a season?

Where has this idea that small players get injured easier come from?

 

[theIceWookie]

Great skill but if someone catches him dead to rights at that frame...yikes.

Yeah that can be said for pretty much any player ever.

Size has very little to do with any of this. Lindros got caught dead to rights and his size didn't do anything to prevent it.

So why is it so much more of a consideration for a smaller player than a larger player?

 

[MC Ride]

LoL that hype wouldn't be 80% flames fans filling pages on the main board would it.

It wouldn't... I'm primarily on the Flames board and I recognize like 2 people in this thread....

 

[Ashasx]

Has Gaudreau missed a single game in the last 5 years?

The smaller they are, the lighter they fall.

 

[PZA*]

Great skill but if someone catches him dead to rights at that frame...yikes.

That's a funny comment seeing as Hunter Shinkaruk got injured this past season..

 

[Hardyvan123]

When all is said and done, yes I feel he has the chance to be the most prolific player the Flames have ever had, barring significant injury. And besides, that's 15 years down the road, so good luck on trying to pull that quote out in the "Crow Eating Thread"

Man more points than Iggy, this sure is the hockey futures board were every prospect is bigger than life.

No disrespect but if gets half the number of career points that Iggy got he will be a success story.

BTW at the same age Iggy had over 80 points to Johnny's single point, so good luck at getting even close.

Speaking of bigger that's what Johnny needs to do weight wise, without losing his speed to have a legit chance at becoming a regular.

It would be a great story and good for the Flames too but people have to realize how many guys like Johnny look like awesome prospects and then become AHL stars and then....

 

[PZA*]

Man more points than Iggy, this sure is the hockey futures board were every prospect is bigger than life.

No disrespect but if gets half the number of career points that Iggy got he will be a success story.

BTW at the same age Iggy had over 80 points to Johnny's single point, so good luck at getting even close.

Speaking of bigger that's what Johnny needs to do weight wise, without losing his speed to have a legit chance at becoming a regular.

It would be a great story and good for the Flames too but people have to realize how many guys like Johnny look like awesome prospects and then become AHL stars and then....

What's the point of being excited about prospects then? With your mindset, all of Vancouver's prospects are going to be ECHL stars since they haven't achieved as much as Gaudreau has. People who are fans of Gaudreau are completely aware of his limits in becoming a regular NHLer. It's posters like you who constantly remind Gaudreau fans of his limtations, that have been pointed out 100000x in his threads, just show signs of insecurity and jealousy. What he is doing outside the NHL completely warrants the hype he deserves. And the only game he has played in the NHL, was impressive to say the least.

 

[ps241]

Can I honestly ask why "needs to stay healthy" is such a concern? What does being small have to do with this? What bearing does it have on his health?

Like is it honestly only "he's small, others are big, that means the big players will hurt him?"

Ryan Whitney, Kimmo Timmonen, and Martin St Louis have all had successful non-band-aid boy careers and are just as small.

I don't get why being small is an automatic sentence to becoming a significant injury risk. Brendan Gallagher and Brad Marchand seem to have no problem staying healthy and play games that are much more likely to create injuries.

Does Pat Kane regularly miss 10-20 games a season?

Where has this idea that small players get injured easier come from?

It is true of any player and perhaps he will prove to be elusive and avoid injury but the NHL is a man’s league and it is one of the hurdles. John has passed the test in collage so maybe it will be an easy transition but he is tiny. He is listed as 5’7” 150 pounds and perhaps he is a bit bigger than this but it doesn’t appear by much . The guys you are listing as comps are the next level up size wise. MSL 5”8” 175 , Timmonen 5’0” 194 , Razor 5’10 180 , are all athletic in build. Gallagher 5’8” 174 and Marchand 5’9” 183 are more thick guys like Theo Fluery was. I look at Johnny hockey as closer to a Kane in style of play but Kane is much bigger at 5”10” 181 . Gaudreau doesn't play a physical game but he is going to get tagged at some point (like every other player) and he is going to need to prove his smaller body can absorb that at the next level.

 

[theIceWookie]

It is true of any player and perhaps he will prove to be elusive and avoid injury but the NHL is a man’s league and it is one of the hurdles. John has passed the test in collage so maybe it will be an easy transition but he is tiny. He is listed as 5’7†150 pounds and perhaps he is a bit bigger than this but it doesn’t appear by much . The guys you are listing as comps are the next level up size wise. MSL 5â€8†175 , Timmonen 5’0†194 , Razor 5’10 180 , are all athletic in build. Gallagher 5’8†174 and Marchand 5’9†183 are more thick guys like Theo Fluery was. I look at Johnny hockey as closer to a Kane in style of play but Kane is much bigger at 5â€10†181 . Gaudreau doesn't play a physical game but he is going to get tagged at some point (like every other player) and he is going to need to prove his smaller body can absorb that at the next level.

First of all, 150 and 5 foot 7 are older numbers. As in not correct. He's closer to 5 foot 9 and 160-165 pounds but I digress. That's been discussed to death for multiple posts, no need to go into that further.

Essentially you're saying "he's small, he'll get injured as a result of that". Why? Why does being smaller mean that? What logic says that being smaller means that he has a higher likelihood of getting injured? Just because you're theorizing it, doesn't make it true.

These issues don't seem to be an issue for a guy like Calle Jarnkrok, who happens to be listed as 156. Jared Spurgeon has done a pretty good job at sub 170. Tyler Ennis and David Desharnais seem to have little issue at 170. Claude Giroux is 172, that's probably going to mean he can't hack it against men?

Height and weight are not hard measures of a players durability. You cannot say "he's small, therefore he'll be injury prone" just as much as you can't say "he's big, therefore he'll be able to withstand injury better than most". It doesn't work that way. Other factors come into play.

Size is not a be all, end all argument to determining a player's ability to withstand injury. In fact I'd hazard a guess that it probably doesn't even correlate to it. It's a fallacy that has little basis in cold hard numbers.

And absolutely NOTHING suggests that Gaudreau's size will lead to a stronger propensity to be injured against stronger competition. Again, as it's been pointed out literally dozens of times before, what difference does size make when EVERYONE is bigger than you. It's not going to matter whether it's a 28 year, 6 foot 2, 220 pound NHLer (which is bigger than the average of 6 foot 1.3, 203.5 pound NHLer) as opposed to a 21 year old 190 pound NCAAer. They're both going to be as effective to a player of Gaudreau's size. The relative difference is minimal for him, compared to the relative difference for a player that might be 5 foot 11, 180 pounds stepping up a level. Gaudreau has no injury history, he game is not a game that constantly leads him into highly physical areas of competition against opponents (such as grinding it out on the boards or battling in front of the net). He has the same injury risk as the average player, not more so based on his smaller stature.

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

Trying to defend Johnny Gaudreau is like trying to kill Oddjob in Goldeneye.

With this in mind, I personally can't wait for the Calgary/Boston game next season.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Trying to defend Johnny Gaudreau is like trying to kill Oddjob in Goldeneye.

With this in mind, I personally can't wait for the Calgary/Boston game next season.

LOL!!!!!!!
Best comment on Johnny Gaudreau ever

 

[johnnystormcgy]

Its getting crazy in hur. What happened to hoping for a Steve Sullivan? A guy who's going to work the power play and not hurt you 5 on 5. For a 5'8 player drafted in the 4th round that would be absolutely fantastic. The moderator who compared him to Iginla just put himself in the same category as that Edmonton fan, who said Schremp would score 600 goals and 1300 points.

 

[Halfy]

Over/under: will he be knighted by the Queen of England before or after his 22nd birthday?

 

[Flames Fanatic]

Over/under: will he be knighted by the Queen of England before or after his 22nd birthday?

Neither. He's the one who crowns the Queen.

 

[The Sweetness]

Trying to defend Johnny Gaudreau is like trying to kill Oddjob in Goldeneye.

With this in mind, I personally can't wait for the Calgary/Boston game next season.

Haha, amazing analogy.

 

[theIceWookie]

Its getting crazy in hur. What happened to hoping for a Steve Sullivan? A guy who's going to work the power play and not hurt you 5 on 5. For a 5'8 player drafted in the 4th round that would be absolutely fantastic. The moderator who compared him to Iginla just put himself in the same category as that Edmonton fan, who said Schremp would score 600 goals and 1300 points.

That would be fantastic for Gaudreau. I would be more than pleased with a Steve Sullivan type player.

People need to take a step back though and realize that many of those so called insane comparisons are style comparisons.

And it's obvious that Gaudreau has significant talent, much more than the average or even above average prospect. Why is it a bad thing that people are hyping him? Guys like Teravainen or Granlund get this kind of hype all the time and he's arguably more talented than those two on a TALENT comparison.

 

[PZA*]

That would be fantastic for Gaudreau. I would be more than pleased with a Steve Sullivan type player.

People need to take a step back though and realize that many of those so called insane comparisons are style comparisons.

And it's obvious that Gaudreau has significant talent, much more than the average or even above average prospect. Why is it a bad thing that people are hyping him? Guys like Teravainen or Granlund get this kind of hype all the time and he's arguably more talented than those two on a TALENT comparison.

People have bad reading comprehension, a lot of these comments regarding Gaudreau being compared to stars in the NHL are, "He reminds of _____" not "he is going to be putting up Crosby, Gretzky, Datsyuk numbers". There is nothing ridiculous or wrong about comparing a prospect to high calibre players stylistically.