ALL EYES ON JOHNNY

We're heading into the final push.
The fourth quarter.
The Back Nine on a Sunday.
When things tend to tighten to a claustrophobic level. When the rink seems to shrink to the size of a Crokinole board. When every team, virtually each and every night, has a stake of some sort in the outcome.
This is when all those Wile E. Coyotes pull out their most nefarious detonators, anvils, rocket-powered roller skates and ACME Do-it-Yourself Kit Remote Control Missile-Bombs.
Anything to try and slow down the roadrunner.
And for 53 games, Johnny Gaudreau's Beep! Beep!has driven the game's best defenders absolutely Looney Tunes.

But now, with a division and a conference to lay claim to and a scoring title to chase, his innate ability to elude their undesired attentions takes on an even greater importance.
This is when hunger, when appetite, takes over.
When great players lick their chops, gleefully rub their hands together and tuck in like George Foreman in an all-you-can-eat $5.99 Vegas buffet line.
"This is the most important part of the season, these last 30 games," says Gaudreau, currently a half-dozen points behind Art Ross Trophy frontrunner Nikita Kucherov. "You're still trying string together wins, other teams are battling, trying to make wild-card spots.
"Big games for a lot of teams.
"It gets harder down the stretch.
"This when you need your best players to show up, night in and night out."
A big final push by their best player, their Hart Trophy candidate, and collective success obviously go hand-in-hockey-glove.
"Whatever era you care to choose, the one consistent trait of top guys, the ones you count on, the ones you remember," says Flames' GM Brad Treliving, "is elite competitiveness.
"I always say that about Johnny. For me, that's what stands out.
"People talk about him and they talk about his hands, his hockey sense, his quickness … da, da, da. And they're all right.
"But what sets him apart in my mind is that he's as competitive a guy as I've ever been around.
"He knows it's going to get harder. He knows there's going to be less room. Games are going to get more physical.
"But that's okay. Those elite guys, and Johnny's one of them, somehow find a way."
As the Flames continue their season Thursday at home against divisional foe San Jose (
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), Gaudreau finds himself honing in on seasonal highs for points (five away from 79), goals (one, from 30), powerplay goals (two, from 22) and game winners (now tied, at six).
With, remember, a full 29 tangoes still remaining on the dance card.
"He's one of those guys, you hope people are telling him he can't because that drives him, gives him fuel,'' says Flames' boss Bill Peters.
"An insatiable appetite is what he has, to win. He plays to win. He plays very hard. He was all over it in Washington, right? Those high-end guys, they don't get the touches through those holidays and it hurts them a little bit. Can lose a little timing, some of that fine motor-skill.
"But he'll be fine."

Assistant GM Craig Conroy doesn't see the wee wizard slowing down, either.
"That line, with the addition of (Elias) Lindholm, is so good together," he explains. "The rules favour skill players now. And you just look at how Billy lets him play the game. Johnny's getting two or three breakaways a night. In the NHL that's … unheard of. He's the one guy who can freelance. You're not going to let everyone play that way because everyone's not Johnny. He reads the game so well he can leave the zone early, take a chance, but can still quickly get back.
"And he's shooting the puck a little more. I remember a couple years ago, his dad telling me: 'I'm trying to get him to shoot more.' And I'm like: 'Good. If he's going to listen to anyone, he's gonna listen to you.'
"Are teams going to start game-planning for him? It's hard to believe they aren't now. But it is gonna get harder and teams are going to try and shut him, shut that line down. I do think he's got so much confidence that he feels no one's shutting him down.
"So much runs through Johnny. And he takes that as a challenge, as a responsibility. The great players I've been around - Hullie, Jarome - felt the same way.
"He wants to win. He takes losses harder than anybody. Bob (Hartley) always said that. Guys are upset, guys are p--ed off, but with him losses really hurt.
"It's not about the points per se. He just realizes how important his points are to us. He wants to win games and he wants to do his part in helping us.
"He wants it all.
"And there's nothing wrong with that."
We're rounding the clubhouse turn. Just past the seventh-inning stretch.
There's a division and a conference to claim, as well as a points-title to chase.
"I've never been in this position before, me, personally, in the NHL,'' says Gaudreau. "I'm looking forward to competing every night and helping this team win.
"It's gonna be fun."
Beep! Beep!