However, the game seems to have a hold on many players, and Baertschi started a new opportunity a year after concluding his playing career by returning to coach the Portland Winterhawks, the team where he started his hockey career in North America.
A conversation with Portland’s general manager and head coach at the time, Mike Johnston, marked the start of the next chapter in Baertschi’s hockey career.
“I believe Mike contacted me a few months after I retired from the game about coming in and working one-on-one with some of the players,” stated Baertschi. “He provided me with a chance to pursue my goals after football. I managed to enter and observe what
Baertschi listed coaches Travis Green and Johnston as having had a significant impact on him. Green coached in the NHL in Vancouver, Utica, and Portland. Johnston was described as “a great standard for coaching in the Western League” by him. Following his 2023–24 season as an apprentice with the Winterhawks, Johnston hired Baertschi on a full-time basis. On August 14, he was named as the new assistant coach to Kyle Gustafson, the head coach of Portland.
“I’m here. We had some conversations over the summer,” Baertschi remarked. “Excited to start a new opportunity and learn a little bit about coaching.”
Baertschi’s playing career in Oregon was short but unforgettable. He played two seasons with the Winterhawks after Portland selected him in the 2010 CHL Import Draft. Each season saw him go to the WHL championship series, however he was defeated by Kootenay in 2011 and Edmonton in 2012. Despite some success along the road, he was unable to fully convert his junior promise into a lengthy, successful pro career. The Flames selected him in the first round of the 2011 NHL Draft, 13th overall. He spent 11 seasons as a professional hockey player, with stints in the AHL, NHL, and Switzerland.
Despite the fact that injuries forced him to terminate his career before it should have at age 30, Baertschi said he felt fantastic physically. He conveyed his excitement about starting his coaching career with the Winterhawks and mentoring a fresh group of youngsters.
“I knew I would play hockey eventually, it was just a matter of what role,” Baertschi remarked. “I believe I have a tremendous opportunity to deal with our young players, junior players, because I have experienced and lived through it myself. I advanced all the way to the world’s top league. Because I have that experience, I can maybe help the younger players succeed by sharing some of my knowledge with them. My professional life was filled with ups and downs, many various locations, highs and lows, and a variety of circumstances that I had to somehow overcome, struggle through, or work through.
The only way Flames fans will be able to watch Baertschi in the dugout this season will be through WHL Live broadcasts; the Winterhawks will not be traveling to the Calgary Hitmen in 2024–25, but they will be returning to Calgary in the following season.
As everyone is aware, Huberdeau has had a really difficult time since coming to Calgary in July 2022 as a part of the Matthew Tkachuk trade.
(The 82-game point pace set by Jonathan Huberdeau since the 2018–19 season)
Huberdeau’s 2021–22 season point total dropped to 52 in the 2023–24 season based on an 82 game point estimate. A 66-point decline!
When the Flames acquired Huberdeau and signed him to an eight-year, $84 million contract, nobody saw this coming.
There’s no shortage of reasons to blame Huberdeau’s play for its dramatic collapse. He still can’t get over leaving a franchise where he believed he would play for the Panthers forever. His playing style isn’t compatible with the Flames’ setups. He hasn’t been able to connect with any of them.
When someone isn’t feeling like themselves, they can experience all of those very genuine challenges. And in that sense, I do feel bad for Huberdeau.
But now is the moment to set all of that aside and proceed. Huberdeau will be joining the Flames for a third season this coming season. He is familiar with the city. He is familiar with the company. He gets along well with his teammates. It’s time for him to turn things around and return to the player he was in Florida.
Did he exhibit any life last season? Let’s examine some numerical data.
Huberdeau’s October through December was a complete disaster. In his first 36 games, he scored 16 points and four goals.
However, he did begin to improve matters in 2024.
Huberdeau recorded eight goals and 28 assists in 45 games. Over 82 games, that translates to a 15 goal, 51 assist, and 66 point pace. This, over a lengthy period of games, is by far his highest level of performance while playing with the Flames.
In the second part of the season, there was a significant increase in production. And if his teammates had given him greater finishing support, those numbers may have increased. Several times, Huberdeau provided passes to teammates who were in position to score but couldn’t get the ball in the back of the net.
Since December 31st, Jonathan Huberdeau has 29 points in 35 games. That's a 68 point pace over 82 games.
It's his best stretch of games since joining the Flames.
He would have even more points if his linemates could finish off some of the nice passes he's made recently. pic.twitter.com/OxugtYYTmw
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) March 27, 2024
As the season went on, it was also evident that Huberdeau was starting to exude a little more confidence. In a sport where confidence is essential to a competent player’s success, he was making more high-end plays and appeared to be having fun on the rink once more.
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