'I'm Creating Way More'

NASHVILLE - It truly is one of the greatest phenomena in the history of the franchise.

Ladies and gentlemen … Back by popular demand:

The Backlund Bump ™.

“He’s a fixer,” linemate Blake Coleman said of the captain. "He's one of those guys where you pretty much always know where he's going to be on the ice. Predictability makes the game a lot easier and no matter how much skill somebody has, if they're not playing within a system or are being predictable, it makes it more difficult.

“He brings stability to whatever line he plays on.”

Over his 926 games in a Flames uniform, there have plenty to choose from.

From fostering youngsters like David Jones and Lance Bouma, to leading the vaunted ‘3M’ Line with wingers Matthew Tkachuk and Michael Frolik, there’s a long history of high-level play with No. 11 leading the charge.

These days, Jonathan Huberdeau might be the biggest beneficiary.

The winger is on a serious roll, recording five points (2G, 3A) on a three-game point streak. While the cookies are an obvious boon for a player that lacked confidence earlier in the season, visually, Huberdeau looks like a completely different player.

That’s not to suggest it’s all because of Backlund – but something about that unit just seems to click.

Huberdeau has responded to the early season adversity with some of his best hockey as a Flame, while bringing himself out of his comfort zone and finding new ways to have a positive impact.

“I think I'm creating way more,” Huberdeau said following Wednesday’s morning skate. “Some games, I probably could’ve had more points, but I think it’s more about ‘creating,’ while being tough to play against.

“I think the last week has been like that.

“When you look at a guy like Backs, he's the type of player that makes everyone better. The poise he has with the puck makes it easier on you on the wing and he's a guy that's never going to cheat the game. He always takes pride in his defensive game, he's great on faceoffs, and I think he's a guy that you can talk to. I like having good communication with my centreman and Backs has been awesome for me.”

The winger is showing a physical side to his game that we haven’t seen previously. His three hits on Monday in Seattle were tied for the team lead with Andrew Mangiapane, and at least two of them were worthy of the highlight reel – first, walloping Brandon Tanev and sending him crashing to the ice in the offensive zone, before delivering another stiff shot to Oliver Bjorkstrand to separate him from the puck in his own end.

“I'm not the guy that's going to lay big hits every night,” Huberdeau laughed. “I think it's the kind of thing where other guys look at you and feel more engaged into the game. It's more to win battles than to (deliver) a big hit.

“It shows that you’re working hard.”

Head Coach Ryan Huska agrees, adding that while ‘effort’ has never been a problem for the talented forward, a demonstration like that can bring others into the fight.

“The last three games in particular, he's been a lot more – I don't know if you want to say 'energized' – but more intense with his play,” he said. “Now, he's around the puck a lot more these last three games, he's making plays like we know he can make.

“It’s nice to see.

“A lot of times when guys are going the other direction, they try too much to make the cute play instead of getting back to hard hockey if you want to call it that. If that means finishing a check or taking a hit to make a play.

The work isn’t going unnoticed by his teammates, either.

When one of your best players – one primarily known for finesse – goes out and digs in the trenches like that, the collective energy level goes up a notch.

“He’s been taking that on himself and I absolutely love it,” smiled Huberdeau’s longtime pal, MacKenzie Weegar. “I came over (on the bench in Seattle) and gave him a nice little look at it (on the iPad).

“That gets the team fired up.

“It's what we want to see and gets everybody involved.”

Last year, the Mangiapane, Backlund, Coleman trio was the NHL's most effective line when looking at their expected goals percentage, according to MoneyPuck.com (among forward units with at least 300 minutes together). In 47 games, they were expected to score 67.8% of the goals when they were on the ice at 5-on-5 – which is more than 4% more than the next-best line of Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe from the Stanley Cup finalist Florida Panthers.

This year?

The Huberdeau version is on track to have similar impacts in possession and scoring-chance counts.

While the sample remains small, the early returns are certainly encouraging.

And if the Flames – who are 5-1-2 in their last eight games – hope to make noise this year, a humming Huberdeau is crucial to their success.

“He's definitely bought into the way we play,” Coleman said. “Obviously, he's got a different dynamic to his game that he brings to our line. He's not changing the way he plays, but he's playing hard and it's brought out that competitive edge in him.

“Any player, when you're more engaged in the game, the results tend to come. Whether it's physically or blocking shots or whatever it is, he's committed to everything.

“And when he does that, it brings out the best of the rest of his game.”