LeafOfBread
Registered User
Going by the playoffs, it seems that Carlyle showed more confidence in him than any other time. Gardiner actually had the highest even strength ice time per game at 21:34 in 6 games. Was also 2nd behind Phaneuf for total time on ice per game.
I think Carlyle just didn't like how Gardiner looked after his injury and could probably tell he needed time to adjust his game back to where it should be.
Hopefully this year Gardiner is given enough responsibility to show how he manages it for a full season.
Agreed.
A lot of people also seem to forget how when Carlyle first came to town, how well Gardiner played under him to end off the season.
I remember how the entire team was falling off a cliff while Gardiner managed to be our only player who continued to play well and get better. Pretty sure he scored almost half his points that season after Randy took over the head coaching position and was also averaging well over 20 minutes a game.