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As it stands now, Boston winger Benoit Pouliot is on pace for the first 20-goal season of his career. In a career that's a hair over 200 games old, one that's come with far more misses than hits for the Alfred, Ont. native, the notion that Pouliot could finally hit such a mark is enough to make fans in Minnesota and Montreal scoff. They've seen this story before. No, better yet, they've lived this story before. To them, Pouliot, despite all his talent and spurts of success that fans in the Hub will see, is just another disappointment.
However, as any late-blooming NHLer can tell you, the maturation process can be a tricky thing. Especially when it comes to the tricks of No. 67. Recording goals in three straight games, the most recent without question one of prettiest goals you'll see this year (below), the development of the former 5th overall pick has opened eyes in Boston. The smoke of mirrors of Pouliot's past may be just that and maybe, just maybe, Pouliot's finally found it.
Surely, there are factors working against the bid for this version of Benoit being the real deal. The Bruins are rolling -- with victories in 20 of their last 23 -- and the Chris Kelly line has undoubtedly been a key cog in their success. However, Boston's coaching staff has certainly noticed a hungrier Pouliot as of late.
"He’s kind of paid his dues early in the season where he was trying to fit in and now he’s got himself in a position where he doesn’t want to let it go," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "Everybody that’s had him before thought there was some untapped skill in his game that he could start showing a little bit more of," Julien added regarding Pouliot on Friday night following the Bruins' 8-0 victory. "Right now he’s feeling pretty comfortable with his team and showing that."
Settling in as a steady contributor has never come easy for the wily-skating winger. In fact, it's barely come at all. Pouliot's never had a point-streak longer than five games in his NHL career, which has happened just once, and he's currently riding his career's third wave of goals in three straight games. That's the good. On the flip side, the 25-year-old needed 11 games to register his first career point at the NHL level, boasted some brutal skids -- including a one point in 13 game stretch in 13 game run in 08-09 and two goal in 14-game stretch the following season -- and has a mere two points in 22 career playoff games.
But that's not scaring a Boston club that's reaped the benefits of realizing how the 6-foot-4 speedster fits into their plans.
"I think everybody felt the same way: There was a lot of talent in that young player," the Boston bench-boss remarked when asked how he assessed Pouliot prior to his tenure in Boston. "Sometimes guys just need an opportunity, and he got it in certain places where probably they didn’t feel that he fit in. But we thought that with the type of team that we had, he would be a good fit."
Opportunities and talent aside, it wasn't all roses upon Pouliot's switch into Black-and-Gold. Going point-less in his first eight contests as a Bruin, the drought finally broke with the opening goal of a Boston rout against the Isles back on Nov. 1. Since then, the 25-year-old has seven goals, two assists, and a plus-13 in 20 contests.
"We talked about being patient at the beginning of the year when a lot of people probably were writing him off, and right now he’s showing that he’s very capable of playing on our club," Julien said. "He scores big goals for us, he gets us going in the right direction."
Boasting four game-winning-goals on the year, Pouliot's ability to fly with an established role has left him with the results he couldn't produce elsewhere. "In the past I didn’t really have good experience with that stuff," Pouliot said. "And now we’re winning. We lose one or two and then we get back on the streak again which is nice, and which is what we need. Everything feels right."
Logging personal-high's as a Bruin in ice-time in the last two games, joining Boston's line-up as a noteworthy presence hasn't been anything short of seamless as of late thanks to the guidance of his teammates. "[You] just find your role and find what you’re supposed to do and right now I think know what I’m doing," the former Sudbury Wolves forward said. "I’ve always been told, 'you’ve got the speed, you’ve just got to keep that going. Sometimes you slow down when you’re not supposed to.'"
"I think he was trying to get adjusted to the team and find his comfort zone when
he first came this season but you know you really see how great a player he is as the season's gone on," Boston sophomore Tyler Seguin said of the Bruins' newest teammate. "We always welcome new members of the team with open arms and I think once he realized that and got comfortable, he's really picked up his play."
In defense of reality, history has told us that Pouliot's due for a slump. A big one, in fact.
But in the grand scheme of things, history means nothing to this Bruins club and its roster -- who have gone from 15th to first in a matter of a month and change -- and the reality just may be that Pouliot is the ideal player the Bruins had in mind when they went bargain-bin hunting back in July.
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