Huberdeau calls benching 'humiliating,' vows to 'be better'

Jonathan Huberdeau was benched for the third period of the Calgary Flames' 4-2 win over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.

The 30-year-old forward, who is in the first year of an eight-year, $84 million extension, has just six points in 12 games this season. Speaking to the media on Wednesday afternoon, Huberdeau admitted it was a difficult situation but took responsibility for his play and knows he must get better moving forward.

"It's humiliating. You don't want to be sitting on the bench…it wasn't easy. I'm not going to lie," Huberdeau said. "Me and Husk talked it out. There's no pointing fingers. You've got to look in the mirror. I've got to be a better player. I know I've got it in me.

"It was difficult. As a player, you want to be out there and help your team, but at the end of the day, I sat on the bench. It's 20 minutes of my career. I've just got to move on & we got a win…it's on me to be better."

Huberdeau has struggled over his two-year tenure with the Flames, scoring just 17 goals and 61 points over 91 games after he was acquired from the Florida Panthers in exchange for Matthew Tkachuk.

Huberdeau had 30 goals and 115 points in 80 games in his final year with Florida.

Flames' coach Ryan Huska said following Tuesday night's game that Huberdeau was having an off night and that his benching was to bring a little more flow into the offence.

“I thought Huby had an off night and when we went into the third period, we wanted to try have a little more flow,” Huska told reporters. "We went with the guys that we felt were going and that’s pretty much all…you’re not going to have your A-plus game every night…we were trying to find a little bit of rhythm [and] flow to our game. At that point, we went with guys we thought were going the best.”

Without the Saint-Jerome, Que. native on the ice for the third period, the Flames rallied to win their second straight game following a six-game losing streak. 

Huska said that Huberdeau would have his normal place in the lineup on Friday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.