From the Rink: Is Guillaume Latendresse Poised for a Fall?

Was this his true breakout season? Can Latendresse sustain this type of performance?

The answer to both questions is the same, not likely. Latendresse's performance in Minnesota was built on the back of two trends - first, he increased his shots per game rate by nearly half in Minnesota. During his career in Montreal, Latendresse averaged 1.64 shots per game. In 55 games with Minnesota he averaged 2.41 shots per game. Was this the unveiling of a new player, was it due to Minnesota's system or was it Latendresse's new linemates?

What say you, Wilderness?

over 1 year ago BReynolds 8 comments 0 recs |

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It might be true, but he didn't consider the intangibles...

Comfort, happiness, confidence… All things Latendresse didn’t have anymore in MTL. He’s regained them in Minny and he’s become a new player. People said he was slow in MTL, Lats believed them. Now he’s in Minny and he’s ‘’Pretty fast for a big guy’‘. The crowd doesn’t boo him when he screws up anymore, so he plays less scared to screw up. If he does screw up, the paper won’t read ‘’Latendresse ruins game, we hate him now’’.

These are all important things, and he said it himself that confidence is about 90% of is game, and he has it in spades now. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him score at least 30-35 goals next year.

twitter: BubbleWild48

by JSLandry on May 25, 2010 4:41 PM CDT reply actions

Exactly. In MTL he was expected to be an asskicker (in terms of performance, not in the Boogaard sense). Now that he’s in MN he’s appreciated because he kicks ass.

As long as he’s healthy: 40 goals next year.

by TylerDurdenUMD on May 25, 2010 10:05 PM CDT reply actions