Slovak striker Martin Pospíšil did not follow up on his great start to the new season and stretched the streak without a point to 7 games. In addition to the search for the best place in the Calgary Flames lineup for the native of Zvolen, he also has to work on his biggest weakness.
Slovak forward Martin Pospíšil in the services of the Calgary Flames experienced perhaps one of the wildest rotations in his NHL career. After taking the ice in the opening period of the game against Utah, the play flowed from one end to the other at lightning speed. And the native of Zvolen played one of the main roles.
These are penalty minutes, or unnecessary exclusions on the part of the 24-year-old forward. In the current year, he already presented himself with 15 penalty minutes, which he committed from the opening duels.
He partially compensated for these shortcomings by regularly gaining Canadian points, as he collected up to 5 points in the first three duels. “Martin Pospíšil was excellent, especially in the opening match. He scored a very important goal in III. in the third and then passed to Connor Zary’s winning shot in overtime.
His speed was key in this action. This turnaround win against the Vancouver Canucks kicked off a surprising start for the Flames that has been one of the best stories in the NHL this season.” reporter Wes Gilbertson from the Postmedia portal tells ŠPORT.sk.
“Even if Martin Pospíšil doesn’t always score, he significantly influences the course of the match. I mostly follow his hit count because he’s one of the leaders in that stat.”
The coach does not accept lazy fouls
Hard play is one of the aspects that make Martin Pospíšil a valuable player for his team. Currently, he has the most hits in the team (31), the second is defender MacKenzie Weegar (29).
His physical fights do not bring only positive reactions for Calgary. Already in the previous season, the player served a 3-game suspension for a tackle on defender Vince Dunn from the Seattle Kraken.
Martin Pospisil with a dangerous hit on Vince Dunn.
He gets a major penalty and a game misconduct. Might be getting a call from the DOPS too. pic.twitter.com/WGaC1JgUy4
— Emerald City Hockey (@EmeraldCityHky) March 5, 2024
Although Martin Pospíšil has not made a significant mistake in the new season, his discipline is still the subject of criticism. Coach Ryan Huska also benched him several times for this. For this reason, the Slovak attacker has not yet received more space on the ice and his average time is currently just over 13 minutes.
“His ice time is slightly skewed by the battle against the Philadelphia Flyers and benching against the Pittsburgh Penguins – both situations that knocked him out for a while and lowered his average. Still, his 5-on-5 ice time is similar to last season. In addition, he was used in the weakening during the preparation, which could lead to an increase in time on the ice.” continued Wes Gilbertson.
“When Martin Pospíšil was benched against the Penguins, Ryan Huska explained to reporters that he understands the suspensions due to the physical play that is part of his style. But he does not accept lazy fouls, such as hooking. That’s the standard they demand from all players.
Teams always try to avoid weaknesses, but Martin Pospíšil has already shown significant improvement and maturity in handling an aggressive style without unnecessary penalties.”
He needs to improve his throw-ins
Martin Pospíšil entered the season for the first time as a center and got the chance to lead the third attack alongside Jonathan Huberdeau and Anthony Mantha. With them, he experienced a strong start to the season, which was followed by a period without a point gain lasting 7 duels. Mantha and, to a certain extent, Huberdeau also experience a similar spot dry period.
In the match against the Carolina Hurricanes, Zvolenčan was moved to the right wing in an elite formation with Nazem Kadri and Andrej Kuzmenko, creating the old composition from last season. However, even this change did not bring the expected effect.
In the last matches, Martin Pospíšil returned to the attacking formation with which he started the season. In the game against the Vegas Golden Knights, he later found himself on the wing of the first attack next to Nazem Kadri and Connor Zary, where he remained in the last meeting against Utah. It is obvious that coach Ryan Huska is trying to start the whole team, including the Slovak striker.
“The Flames are still testing where he will be most effective. He can be very strong in attack, but centers are often the last to enter the attacking zone due to their roles in the defensive third.
Moving Martin Pospíšil to the wing does not necessarily mean criticizing his performance in the center position. Rather, it’s a belief that he can be more useful in picking up hits and getting pucks with his forechecking. If he’s going to be a full center, he’s going to have to improve his throw-in stats.” the Calgary Flames reporter thinks.
This comment is in response to his low success on throw-ins, which reaches only 38.7% of the total number of 75. Almost all of his teammates can boast of better success: Nazem Kadri (47.3%), Mikael Backlund (45.8%) and Justin Kirkland (43.2%).
“Martin Pospíšil is a very important part of the Flames’ long-term plan. They want to be a fast team. He is like that. They want to play hard against them. It contributes significantly to this as well. He also provides secondary scoring, but the goals and assists aren’t an accurate indicator of what he has to offer.”
He also helps Honzek
In addition to his contribution on the ice, Martin Pospíšil will make sure that Samuel Honzek’s development goes more smoothly in the future, which he already did during this year’s training. “One of the main topics in Calgary during training camp was Pospíšil’s influence as a mentor and partner to Samuel Honzek,” says Wes Gilbertson.
“He was credited with helping Samuel Honzek get a spot in the team, which is an excellent example of the leadership he can provide. He is clearly a favorite teammate,” concluded the Canadian journalist from Postmedia.
VIDEO – watch also the episode with Martin Pospíšil in the show Goals from the buffet:
The premier season in the NHL and an invitation to the debut WC in hockey. Slovakian striker Martin Pospíšil was considering the end of his career after a series of concussions, he was one of the offensive leaders of Craig Ramsay’s selection in Ostrava.
