CALGARY — Hellbent on returning to the form that made him the highest-paid player in Calgary Flames history, Jonathan Huberdeau made significant changes in his off-season training and mental approach.
“I worked on my shot, so now I’m a shooter,” joked the 31-year-old playmaker.
Admitting he’d lost confidence in his sniping ability, he did spend more time on his release.
But the real changes came with a more focused approach to increasing his speed.
“As you get older, I think you need to change some stuff, especially with the league going so young,” Huberdeau said in a quiet hallway of the Saddledome, ahead of Thursday’s camp opening.
“The young guys are faster, so I just tried to change that and do more speed work, designed more for explosiveness. I did more cardio as well, to try to be in better shape.”
Armed with a program from longtime Montreal Canadiens strength guru Pierre Allard, and under the guidance of his own trainer in Mirabel, Que., Huberdeau put more time and effort into prepping for what he hopes will be a bounce-back season.
And if the Flames have any chance of proving prognosticators wrong, a revitalized Huberdeau will have to play a significant role.
He’s off to a good start, as his VO2 Max testing earlier in the week confirmed he’s improved on his results from a year ago.
Stats are no longer required to document his historic decline since becoming a Flame, but to offer stark perspective, the goal and point totals he’s accrued over the last two seasons in Calgary don’t equal his 30 goal, 115 point totals during his last year with the Florida Panthers.
“Maybe I didn’t need to be fast in Florida, but here I feel with the type of game I need to be better individually and trust my shot a little bit more,” said Huberdeau, whose 8.4 shooting percentage last season was his worst in a decade.
“I took all these things, and I just want to come back to where I was and be even better. I think even at my age you still have a lot of good years in front of you.
“I skated way more this summer, three to four times a week starting in June, so I feel way better.
“I know I put in the work this summer.”
That work included meetings with a psychologist, which he’d never done in the off-season before.
“I wanted to get through a lot of things that I was thinking and the psychologist helped me a lot with that,” said Huberdeau, whose 12 goals and 40 assists last year weren’t befitting of a man making $10.5 million.
“If you get yourself feeling good physically, I think it helps you mentally.
“The way I looked this summer, I haven’t looked like this in the last two years, so that was good for my confidence.”
Huberdeau’s optimism was bolstered when the Flames signed free agent right winger Anthony Mantha this summer. The addition of the three-time 20-goal scorer was made with an eye on giving Huberdeau a compatible linemate on the opposite wing.
“He’s the kind of guy that can complement my game,” said the serial passer, who has skated with the fellow Quebecker in past summers.
“I think that can be a good match.
“We’ll see what (coach Ryan) Husk(a) is gonna do with that, but it’s something we’re probably going to start with. We’re gonna get to know each other way more this year, and we’ve just got to build chemistry.”
It’s something he’s yet to build with anyone since arriving in town as part of the blockbuster trade that sent Matthew Tkachuk to the Panthers.
Top centre Nazem Kadri hasn’t been a fit, so the Flames will likely open camp with Martin Pospisil in between the two veterans as the young winger tries to prove he can play in the middle.
Such is life in Calgary where vets like Huberdeau must not only find their games but do so amidst a lineup riddled with youngsters.
Whoever it is with, a productive Huberdeau will have a large impact on the Flames’ fortunes.
“Everybody sees us as 30th or something, so I think we can surprise,” said Huberdeau, a popular teammate and leader who has embraced mentoring young players like Jakob Pelletier.
“I just always have belief in the guys that are in our locker room.
“I want to help the young guys and be good individually, I want to relay a good summer into camp and I just want to come back to having fun.”