Of all the things Johnny Gaudreau has sacrificed to nestle himself in amongst the NHL’s elite, cheese pizza isn’t one of them.
“No, non-negotiable,” chuckled the NHL’s third-leading scorer.
“After a game playing 20 to 23 minutes I think I can handle a pizza – or at least a couple slices – in my hotel room before I go to bed.
“Even if it’s one or two in the morning I’ll order a pie.
“That won’t change.”
Despite the healthy alternatives offered up post-game by the team, Gaudreau’s go-to sharply contravenes the typical athlete’s diet.
From the time he learned to skate with the aid of Skittles as his proverbial carrot, the Calgary Flames dynamo has been inextricably linked to shaky sustenance.
In the local quest to determine what the Calgary Flames’ 25-year-old scoring leader is doing differently than years past, he’s the first to make it abundantly clear his nutrition has nothing to do with it.
“I like a few vegetables, just not many,” said the way-too-generously-listed 5-foot-9, 165-pound Jersey native, attending his fifth all-star game in five years.
“I like green beans and peas and that’s about it.
“I was really picky when I was younger – I’ve grown out of it a little bit now, which is nice.
“But I still have those tendencies every once in a while to not eat very well. The guys still give me a hard time about it.”
[snippet id=4265503]
Fact is, the lads don’t want him changing up anything, as he’s elevated himself from star to superstar.
A 23-point scoring binge over his recent 11-game point streak earned him endless league accolades while carrying the Flames to the top of the Western Conference.
Results of mid-season voting by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association released Thursday landed Gaudreau second in the Hart Trophy race, behind Nikita Kucherov.
Gaudreau’s 29 goals and 73 points tie him with Connor McDavid and trail the Tampa star by five in a scoring race Gaudreau has only once finished in the top 15 (seventh, three years ago).
So what has changed?
How has he made the jump from star to superstar?
Gaudreau shrugs off the question, suggesting his off-season training regimen was the same, as was his mental and nutritional approach.
“I think I’m shooting a little bit more this year,” offered Gaudreau, on pace for 40 more shots than his career high.
“Obviously Lindy (Elias Lindholm) is a good guy to play with – he’s really helped out our line a lot. He gets me to shoot a little more because he’s got a really great pass and sees the ice really well.”
Indeed, Calgary’s big summer acquisition from Carolina has elevated the Flames’ top line to another stratosphere, helping Sean Monahan and Gaudreau five-on-five and on the power play.
Lindholm has added a layer of defensive consciousness to the trio coach Bill Peters believes has translated into more offence.
“Johnny’s taken his game to another level and I think a lot of it is because his defensive play is that much better,” said the Flames’ first-year coach of his star pupil, who sits a robust plus-20.
“Because of it he has the puck more, they don’t get caught in their own zone a lot, and he’s been really dangerous in transition trying to play fast.”
[snippet ID=3322139]
Gaudreau is tasked with entering the zone with the puck, setting up shop and dishing to any number of weapons with a playmaking ability, creativity and hockey sense few can match.
Few have more magical mitts and no one in the league is shiftier.
The main ingredient he’s added this year is consistency – something he’s improved on annually.
He’s a factor in every game now.
Although radically different players, Gaudreau’s ascent is reminiscent of Jarome Iginla’s breakthrough season in 2001-02 when the former captain went from a 31-goal scorer to a 52-goal season in which he won the scoring title and finished second in a close Hart vote to Jose Theodore.
Flames assistant GM Craig Conroy was Iginla’s linemate that year and said there’s one significant difference between the two dream seasons in his mind.
“I’ve always thought Johnny was a superstar and I thought Iggy was a very good young player,” said Conroy, well aware Gaudreau’s next goal will tie a career high at 30.
“When I got here Iggy scored 31 goals, so I knew he was good. But I probably could have named 40 or 50 guys I thought were better. Then at the end of the year I don’t know if I could name anybody better.
“I would put Johnny in the top 10 every year.
“He’s always doing it – maybe it didn’t translate into points as it is now. But now, holy cow, it’s special.”
The comparison is an interesting one as Iginla has long credited his late invitation to Team Canada’s summer Olympic camp that year as the confidence boost he needed to become Hall of Fame material.
Conroy thinks Gaudreau’s experience for Team North America’s young stars at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey was similarly beneficial.
“I’m biased for sure, but I thought he was the best player,” said Conroy.
“I think Johnny is a competitive guy and with Connor there he wants to show ‘I’m here too. He’s not the only guy in Alberta.’
“In my mind he should be in all those conversations with Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Alex Ovechkin and top players in the league like Kucherov, but for whatever reason he just didn’t get the exposure.
“It took him to do something off the charts and now everyone is paying attention.”
[relatedlinks]
Flames assistant coach Martin Gelinas believes what Gaudreau is doing this year is part evolution and part motivation.
“My personal opinion is our team is maturing and every year our younger players are maturing into what they’re going to become,” said Gelinas, who credited Peters with giving Gaudreau even more ice time (20:22 on average) than his predecessor (19:25).
“We always knew he was a special player and now he’s ensuring that and is a little bit older. Now he knows what the league is all about and he’s taking charge.
“He’s playing with passion and some purpose now – he’s going for the NHL scoring lead. There’s some incentive.”
Gaudreau says the incentive revolves around what his team now believes it’s capable of achieving.
“In college I was part of some good teams but the guys in this locker room care about each other,” said Gaudreau, who will soon eclipse his career-best 84-point season.
“They love to be at the rink. We give each other a hard time in practice and just have a really good mix.
“I think we can do something special here, especially starting with our captain Mark (Giordano). He leads the way for us every night – a great leader to look up to.”
A man of few words, the soft-spoken Gaudreau has become a leader too, spearheading his club’s surge from 20th and out of the playoffs last year to second overall at the all-star break.
“I’m not on the bench but I think every time Johnny steps on the ice he’s thinking we’re going to do something special, and that’s a mindset,” said Conroy of the role confidence is playing in his success.
“It’s getting to the point you can’t believe the chances he’s getting and what he’s doing. Breakaway after breakaway, it’s fun to watch.
“This kind of stretch I’ve never seen as long as I’ve been here. It’s amazing.”
