Flames Notebook: Huberdeau feeling at his 'best' after dramatic turnaround

CALGARY – Last year at this time, Jonathan Huberdeau returned from the Christmas break still in search of his first point in December.

It may have been the low point in his career.

On Friday he returned from a five-day break with a radically different outlook and approach, thanks to a dramatic turnaround in his game. 

“I feel like I’m at my best ever, I would say,” declared Huberdeau, whose struggles his first two seasons in Calgary prompted him to focus on being a more complete player.

“Especially on the other side of the puck. I’ve never really been the best at that, and I take pride in that.

“I’m having way more fun.”

The resurrection of his game coincides with his reunion with Nazem Kadri on a productive top line that has seen him score five goals and 11 points in nine December outings this year.

With 13 goals so far, he’s on pace to eclipse the 30-goal mark for the third time in his career. His 25 points are a long way off the 115-point pace that earned him an $84 million deal in Calgary, but his improved play has played a big role in putting the Flames in a playoff race few believed they were capable of challenging for.

Asked continually if he’s used a current or former player, like Steve Yzerman, to help him re-shape his game, he insists his motivation has revolved around being a better team player who can help in different ways.

“I’m not trying to be somebody else,” said Huberdeau, whose goal totals the last two years in Calgary combined for just 27 finishes.

“There’s been some tough stretches, and I just took that and tried to learn from the game, and I think I learned a lot from it.”

That doesn’t mean there haven’t been some anxious moments, including just before Christmas when Huberdeau barely made it to the airport in time for a flight to Montreal that left just over an hour after the team’s 6-4 win over Chicago.

“It was tight,” smiled the Flames winger, who has maintained a lighthearted, refreshingly honest approach throughout his time in Calgary.

“That third period was the longest period, they were coming back and I’m like, ‘here we go, overtime…’

“But it was good, I got there right at the boarding.”

Three Chicago goals in the third period prolonged the period, as did a big hit by Martin Pospisil that prompted plenty of scrums, making for some anxious times for Huberdeau.    

“I never looked at the time so many times in a game,” laughed the Montreal native, who returned to Calgary in time for a team skate Friday before departing for Saturday’s game in San Jose.

The mood was light, as the team is on a four-game point streak. 

First day for new Flames coach

The Calgary Flames added a new assistant coach over the holidays, and the face is a familiar one to the youngsters on the squad.

Trent Cull, who has been head coach of the Wranglers the last year-and-a-half, was brought in on an interim basis just before Christmas to fill the void left when Brad Larsen left earlier in the month to deal with a family matter.    

Cull’s first day with the Flames was Friday, making him a popular addition.

“The first guys that were giving him knuckles this morning were all the guys that he’s had in the last year-and-a-half down with the Wranglers,” said Ryan Huska.

“He’s worked very hard to get where he’s at, he’s done an excellent job with that team and I think he’s the best choice for us to bring up in this situation.”

His job won’t be an easy one, as his chief responsibility will ultimately be to turn around the team’s ailing penalty-kill unit.  

“He’ll work with our defencemen and our forwards and will kind of be in all kinds of different situations, but as we get going he’ll be taking over the PK,” confirmed Huska.

Huska said the 51-year-old Cull was the best fit given his confidence.

“In losing Lars, he was a presence for us in the room - I felt like he had some swagger and he has been a head coach before and you could see that in him,” he said.

“With my time around Trent, I feel he has that in him as well. 

We think that’s important for someone to walk into the dressing room and have a presence about him. With his time with the Wranglers and in the AHL and in his short time in Vancouver he’s shown that.

“So I’m excited to have him around, he’ll be a strong addition to our staff.”

Wranglers assistant Joe Cirella will be the team’s interim head coach, and Flames player development staffer Martin Gelinas will join the Wranglers coaching staff on an interim basis.