Well we're just eleven games into the season and just like some players are on fire others aren't. It's all part of the game players have slumps, it only becomes so magnified when it happens early on in the season. The interesting thing about the situation though is that Gomez of all people is receiving the blunt of the blame for his lines lack of production. Some say it's because he's paid 7.5 million dollars and should be able to carry a line as a result. What I don't get is why salary has anything to do with the equation. We didn't sign Gomez at 7.5 million, Glen Sather did. It was a stupid signing not because I don't think Gomez is a good player but he's clearly a 4-5 million dollar player. A general manager overpaid him and we were willing to trade for a guy who is overpaid. What I don't get is how it's even an issue.
Scott is the same Gomer we all knew and loved last season. He's still making great passes even though he's covered twice as often now, he's still skating well, he's still putting forth the effort. On some nights he hasn't looked great at all but I find it tough to blame him when he's been playing with half a line. Playing with a forth liner just means he and Brian are covered twice as much. Neither of them are big players and while Gionta plays a big mans game with a ton of heart, he's still not a big guy. The truth is Scott isn't in a slump he's been doing the right things out there. He's never been known for his shot so expecting him to put up 5 goals while Gionta is in a scoring slump is just an unfair expectation. Truth is when you're a pure playmaker you rely on your line mates heavily in order to rack up points.
Gionta can't even get in good scoring position. He's small and doesn't have any back up. Normally he would be able to because the other teams defenders would have to cover he and his line mates about equally. Problem is nobody is really all too concerned with Tom Pyatt scoring goals against them. These two guys are being covered twice as much and being that it's tougher for Gionta to get into a good position as a result, Gomer has to hold onto the puck a lot longer and thus loses the puck. To me it's just common sense these two guys need another top six forward to play with. I can't put the blunt of the blame on Gomez though if he's making plays and guys like Gionta and Pyatt aren't burying their chances. Though it's equally unfair to put the blunt of the blame on Gionta either because how is a guy of his stature supposed to get in a good scoring area with one to two guys covering him at all times? People need to have fair and realistic expectations here, we're only eleven games in and these guys haven't had a line mate all year.
So now you might ask why haven't we seen Pouliot given more chances or Eller? For one Eller plays much better as a center and for the sake of our team going forward needs to be developed as one. He brings much needed size down the middle for us. For two Pouliot is a young player and Martin wants him to earn the spot. He has been earning the spot and he's been gaining a ton of confidence along the way. I think Martin is trying to develop him into a consistent forward, make him earn his spot and produce on lines with far less effective line mates. To me the production of our second line can be attributed to this because our team struggled to develop players for many years once at the NHL level, this is why Martin was brought in to make sure it gets done properly. Unfortunately our second line is suffering as a result but in the long term it's going to pay off. This is a guy who knows how to develop players, who knows how to coach young guys and get them to achieve what they're potentially capable of. In Montreal unfortunately you can't win though, because one year people are complaining we rush our prospects, then when we don't rush them and our top line forwards have nobody to play with, people still complain. Heck people are blaming Gomez for this debacle as we speak, how would you feel in his shoes if you had nobody realistic to play with. Tom Pyatt is great at what he does but he isn't a top 6 forward far from it. I wouldn't even consider him a realistic fill in for a top line. Moen in short spurts has been leaps and bounds better.
This all having been said I believe in Gionta and Gomez, they're doing all the right things they just need the support of a line mate who is close to them in skill level. After a few games of Benny blasting them past the opposition teams will start covering Benoit a lot more, once he gains more confidence and is a fit on that line. He's going to be on that line people just need to be patient and by being there within a week tops you will start to see Gomez and Gionta explode on the stats sheet. Truth is for a line to work you need two people who can put the puck in the net minimum. A bottom six forward can only work in a top 6 role for so long before it starts to fail. All these guys need is a consistent line mate and I believe the reason they are lacking Benoit currently is because Martin is trying to work on Benny's consistency and confidence level.
Our team is in the right hands after so many years, we need to trust how the management will develop our players and we need to be more trusting of the decisions our management makes. You think they don't realize that Gomer and Gio are under performing? They knew it would be that way all along given the situation at hand and are working hard to fix it. This isn't a Gauthier problem, it becomes one July 1st depending on how Pouliot plays, at the very earliest by deadline. Truth is though our team is doing very well despite that second lines production currently and we're getting the added benefit of developing our young players properly during this period. We should be losing games right now and be starting to win them towards the middle of the season, we're very lucky we're doing so well this early on. I knew we would have a hell of a team this year but I never expected us to do so well this early on. Our coaching staff knows what they're doing and we just need to be patient and believe in our players and all will be well.
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