NEWARK – It seems his good pal Jakob Pelletier will have to schmooze a bit harder to ring up an endorsement deal.
“I saw that,” Pelletier laughed of Jonathan Huberdeau’s late-night Instagram reel promoting his very own line of ‘performance fuel.’ “He said he might offer me a pack.
“Just one.
“Hopefully, anyway.”
Pelletier isn’t overly concerned with any freebies right now, mind you.
With his mentor set to play in his 800th career game tonight as the Flames take on the New Jersey Devils, he isn’t surprised with how the 11-year vet has gotten here.
And taking care of his body is a reason why.
“It’s amazing,” Pelletier said of the milestone. “There aren't many players play for that long, so for me, I look at what he’s done, how he (prepares) himself before, during and after games, and as a young player, you try to soak as much of that up as much as possible. You look at him off the ice and you see all that goes into it and you learn a lot.”
Pelletier arguably has the most intimate knowledge of what makes Huberdeau such a special case.
Growing up in Quebec, he was the guy everyone looked up to – and after being drafted third overall in 2011, when he was fresh off a 105-point season with the Saint John Sea Dogs, the legend grew taller for a then-nine-year-old dreamer.
“It was sick,” the mentee marvelled. “I remember watching him play when he was in junior and I was like, 'Hoooooly!’ You could see the skill-set and the work ethic that he had.
“It was different.
“It was unbelievable.
“I think when people think of Huby, they think that he's mostly just a skills player. But the work he puts in off the ice – it's crazy.”
Huberdeau has 697 points (220G, 477) in 799 career spins, including 84 points (22G, 62A) in Flames silks.
It hasn’t always come easy since being acquired the Florida Panthers in July of ’22, but the raw talent he has – along with that undeniable passion for the game – has most definitely been on full display recently.
The 30-year-old is coming off a monstrous three-point effort against the Bruins and seems to have found some immediate chemistry with newcomer Andrei Kuzmenko.
“When you think about it, you don’t know how your career’s going to go, but it’s pretty cool, a number like that," Huberdeau said following the morning skate in Jersey. “Eight hundred's pretty good, but it's getting closer to 1,000 (and) that's your goal.
“Just thankful to be able to play this game, your passion, and to do that every day of your life.”
“This is a big night," added Head Coach Ryan Huska. “I mean, 800 games is not a small task when you look at what goes into being an NHL player and the grind that comes along with it. This is a night that he should be very proud of, but for him, I feel like his game is starting to come and go in the right direction.”
