Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

All Johnny Gaudreau

07/26/2017 at 11:50am EDT

from Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post,

DI: What was your biggest takeaway this season with the Flames?

JG: Probably the resiliency of our team. We had a tough start this season. I think we were like 5-10. Coming around Thanksgiving we were out of a playoff spot. The statistics of when you’re out of a playoff position at Thanksgiving is really high (to miss the playoffs). It’s difficult to fight your way into a playoff spot, but our team did it. We had a great second half of the season and we played some good hockey in the playoffs. Unfortunately we got swept, but I think we could have won a game or two there and the series could have been a little different. It’s a learning experience for us. We have a really young team, a lot of good, young leaders on our team and some older leaders that us young guys get to learn from. We’re pretty fortunate with the group we have in Calgary. We had some pretty big signings this offseason (including Union College star Spencer Foo and trading for defenseman Travis Hamonic and goalies Mike Smith and Eddie Lack). I’m really looking forward to next season, too.

DI: I bet your phone was blowing up recently after your interview on 94.1 WIP. They asked you about coming to the Flyers someday and you said it would be great. Did that small spark set off your Twitter account?

JG: Yeah, the way the question was asked I said, “It would be sweet to play in your hometown.” I think if you ask any player in the NHL if they’d like to play in their hometown at some point they’d all say it would be pretty sweet. You’ve got friends, you’ve got family, you’ve got kids you went to school with, you’ve got teachers, you name it. You’ve got people that will be supporting you. The people support me down here, like it’s crazy down here. I’m just really fortunate they follow me up in Calgary. I love Calgary, don’t me wrong. It’s a great city and they’re so passionate about our team. It’s a real hockey city. I really enjoy it up there, don’t get me wrong, but I think if you ask any player if he wants to play in his hometown they’d say it would be pretty cool to do that. I’ve still got five more years on my contract and who knows…if we’re playing well up here in Calgary I could end up staying another four or five years there because I love the city so much. It’s tough to have all those articles come out when it’s something so small, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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