The last week or so has been extremely dry on news for the Calgary Flames, that was all until just a couple of days ago when Calgary Flames forward Jonathan Huberdeau made some comments about his former team, the Florida Panthers winning the Stanley Cup at his annual golf tournament in Quebec.
While some of his comments came off as Huberdeau being respectful and classy to the organization he spent a decade with, some of his comments made the highest-paid player in Flames history look a little bad. Without further ado, let’s take a look into what Huberdeau said regarding his former team and the current state of the Calgary Flames.
Huberdeau’s former club winning the big one
I can only imagine how tough it would be to be the top-scoring player in your team’s history, be shipped off after a record-breaking season only to see that team make two consecutive Stanley Cup Finals and win it all in 2024. The past couple of years for Huberdeau could not have gone much worse. Obviously, it was emotional for him, as this is what he had to say about the Panthers’ Cup run.
It’s hard to see the guys lift the Cup. You say to yourself: “I was there for 10 years, during more difficult times.” But that’s how you build a team. When you’re young, you don’t care, you just want to build your career. Now I’m back in that situation, but a little older. I’m happy for the guys, they worked hard… Aleksander Barkov, I’ve been with him for years, he works so hard. Aaron Ekblad, Sam Bennett too.
Tkachuk arrived, and yes, he is good, but he is well surrounded. They have talent, you see it. Bill Zito was good at getting guys like Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Dmitry Kulikov, who were doing less well elsewhere. And a good coach like Paul Maurice, it seems. I thought they were going to win.
I wouldn’t say the Panthers winning this season was a shock to anyone after the strides they made as a team in 2023. Would they have gotten there with Huberdeau still on the team? We will never know the answer to that question, but the Panthers identified what they needed and made a major change that was quite clearly for the better.
I can stand with Huberdeau on this one, he knows it was tough watching the Panthers win, but he said the right things about the guys he spent a large part of his career with. He didn’t choose to be traded, and if it were up to him he would still be a Panther, that is not the way the cards fell for him unfortunately.
Huberdeau on his time in Calgary
This is where his comments take a little bit of a turn. Huberdeau was asked about his time so far in Calgary and his lack of production since becoming a Flame. Here is what he had to say;
It’s certain that I’m hard to trade. I knew it when I signed the contract, but I didn’t know how it was going to happen. I thought I was going to produce points, that it would be good, but the more defensive system of play didn’t help. The contract, I know I’m worth that. Several factors didn’t help me, and it’s up to me to get through it.
We can get into the playoffs, even if everyone sees us as the underdogs. But it’s never fun to be in [rebuilding]. When you are young, you can learn, gain maturity, you have time. But at 31, you want to win and you want to win [now]. It’s harder to swallow, but you have to accept your role 100 percent.
I can appreciate Huberdeau being honest towards the end of the quote where he knows that he has to be better. What makes my stomach turn a little bit though is when he continues to blame the system for his lack of production. While yes, I understand the Flames mindset is much different than the Panthers in the way they play. In saying that though, the story in the 2022–23 season was that Darryl Sutter hindered Huberdeau into tapping into that game-breaker player he was in Florida, so they fired Sutter and hired Ryan Huska. He was worse this season despite a new coach and system, so I don’t love him blaming two different systems after two bad years. This is on Huberdeau and only Huberdeau.
With the Flames entering a rebuild, Huberdeau will have no choice but to lead on and off the ice. So, this whole “woe is me” attitude will need to stop. As a fan of this team, I am getting so sick of hearing this from him, at this point he is only proving the Panthers right for trading him. If the Flames want to go anywhere, it will have to be on Huberdeau’s back, and while they won’t be a good team for a good bit, Huberdeau can still be a guy they can lean on moving forward. He is certainly paid to be that guy, so it is time for him to go and show it.
No more talking, time to do it on the ice
Huberdeau has certainly made enemies with the fans over the past couple of seasons. Again, I understand that he never wanted to leave Florida in the first place, and it is extremely emotional seeing your old club win. In saying that, he gets paid a lot of money to be the best player on the team. The team may not be a good one, but that is no excuse for him to not go out and earn what he is being paid. As a fan, I want to see that Panthers version of Huberdeau, it would be a lot of fun.
With seven years remaining on his deal, he is not going anywhere, so it is time for him to become that game-breaker again, he and the Flames have to make this work.
Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire
