[GDT] Flames @ Blackhawks. 6:30 PM. Sportsnet, Fan 960

[flamesforcup]

If gaudreau and monahan wake up we got a chance. And hopefully the depth scoring keeps up

[pylon]

Originally Posted by Crumpy-Gunt

Wtf is wrong with you. You sound like the Alex Jones of the Calgary Flames.

Lol. I'll take that dig.

But it is plain as day what the problem is right now. We go nowhere with Gulatzan at the helm. Flames management is just as much to blame for hiring this complete dud. We finally have the roster, and they hire a 4th line/press box caliber coach, with a garbage resume.

But he sure has great hair though eh?

[shadowlord]

Originally Posted by Crumpy-Gunt

Loubardias just went on a huge rant defending the coaching. Says he's spoken to every player in the locker room on and off the record and they all respect Gulutzan and to a man they all said the system is not to blame.

As if the players would say anything else at this point. That's tantamount to asking for a trade by publicly badmouthing management's hiring decision.

[OmegaV4]

Only way we win this is to acquire All-Star d-man Brad Richards.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by pylon

Lol. I'll take that dig.

But it is plain as day what the problem is right now. We go nowhere with Gulatzan at the helm. Flames management is just as much to blame for hiring this complete dud. We finally have the roster, and they hire a 4th line/press box caliber coach, with a garbage resume.

But he sure has great hair though eh?

Sorry pylon, I really respect what you have to say most of the time, but this is so over the top and reactionary that I question your ability to be rational about this.

There is no reason to think that this team can't get better. Read the Haynes article posted in another thread to see how almost all teams go through an adjustment period with a new coach.

Then rethink your last statement. A current assistant coach in the NHL with previous experience as a head coach (with mixed results for sure) is NOT a 4th line/press box coach with a garbage resume.

Ease up on the rhetoric, will ya? This is a bit extreme.

If it's still looking like this by game 20, you can go ahead and say the same thing, but I think you should give the guy a chance to show why he was hired in the first place.

I can't think of a single other situation where everyone was calling for the head of a new head coach 6 games into the season. This is insane, and I think everyone needs to just calm the f*** down.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

Sorry pylon, I really respect what you have to say most of the time, but this is so over the top and reactionary that I question your ability to be rational about this.

There is no reason to think that this team can't get better. Read the Haynes article posted in another thread to see how almost all teams go through an adjustment period with a new coach.

Then rethink your last statement. A current assistant coach in the NHL with previous experience as a head coach (with mixed results for sure) is NOT a 4th line/press box coach with a garbage resume.

Ease up on the rhetoric, will ya? This is a bit extreme.

If it's still looking like this by game 20, you can go ahead and say the same thing, but I think you should give the guy a chance to show why he was hired in the first place.

I can't think of a single other situation where everyone was calling for the head of a new head coach 6 games into the season. This is insane, and I think everyone needs to just calm the f*** down.

Sometimes it's plain as day a guy is out of his league. So by Haynes assertion, you hire a new coach, you basically kiss off the playoffs year 1? Because if pretty much every mid range team can be taken as an example for the last decade. A start like this, means you're golfing in May. The only teams that have bucked that trend, were elite teams. If what Haynes says is true, and accurate, Treiliving should have taken the podium at the introduction of GG and said "By the way, we aren't going to make the playoffs this year because we're gone start terrible, but according to Haynes, that's normal." BS. Haynes is full of BS.

We saw it with Eakins up north, and this is just a replay.

[H2SO4(aq)]

Cali it's not so much that they're having a slow start, it's how they're losing. This flames team is showing no improvement, no system, coach weirdly blending up lines and d pairings along with playing some questionable players in the first two games. It's very concerning because it's not just a matter of the flames not getting bounces or something. They look as disjointed as any team I've seen in recent years. And 6 games in, they look way too similar to the horrible teams we've seen up north in recent years.

[Looch City]

I want the Flames to win. But I'm not expecting much.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by pylon

Sometimes it's plain as day a guy is out of his league. So by Haynes assertion, you hire a new coach, you basically kiss off the playoffs year 1? Because if pretty much every mid range team can be taken as an example for the last decade. A start like this, means you're golfing in May. The only teams that have bucked that trend, were elite teams. If what Haynes says is true, and accurate, Treiliving should have taken the podium at the introduction of GG and said "By the way, we aren't going to make the playoffs this year because we're gone start terrible, but according to Haynes, that's normal." BS. Haynes is full of BS.

We saw it with Eakins up north, and this is just a replay.

Nope, if you read the article he cites recent examples (like the last 3 seasons) where teams got off to pretty poor starts and then most of them went on to make the playoffs. The ones who didn't had terrible rosters that had no business making the playoffs in the first place. Not all of those teams were elite. They were playoff calibre, but not playing like it.

Now maybe we just aren't good enough to be a playoff team anyways, but you certainly don't fire a coach after 6 games, no matter what the hire is or how bad the team is playing. That means you never believed in your hire in the first place, and now nobody takes you seriously as a GM, especially the next coach you try to hire. There goes all the quality coaching candidates for the future.

It's just too soon to get all upset about any of this. Give it time. If it's still bottom of the barrel play, then you're fully justified in calling for his head.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by H2SO4(aq)

Cali it's not so much that they're having a slow start, it's how they're losing. This flames team is showing no improvement, no system, coach weirdly blending up lines and d pairings along with playing some questionable players in the first two games. It's very concerning because it's not just a matter of the flames not getting bounces or something. They look as disjointed as any team I've seen in recent years. And 6 games in, they look way too similar to the horrible teams we've seen up north in recent years.

Sure, but that happens, especially with such a drastic system change. Most of the players struggling are young and have never had another coach other than Hartley (Gaudreau, Monahan, Bennett). To them, learning a new system is something new that shows their youth and inexperience. The veterans are the ones picking it up well, and starting to turn around the play overall.

What you're seeing out there are guys that lack confidence in where they're supposed to be, overthinking the play, and then relying on instincts or old habits instilled by Hartley when things go south, which has been often. The result is a mix of play from game to game and period to period which shows a team in transition. It looks really bad a times, but there are other times they have been solid, and a few time they have looked downright great.

All I'm saying is that this is all premature, and you won't know what this team is capable of with this coach for another few weeks.

[pylon]

I just don't see it happening. These new age, touchy feely, "How does that make you feel?" pretty boy coaches just don't have the track record of winning. Quenville, Sutter, Babcock and Bowman get you results. Gulatzan and Eakins don't.

Chop water! Carry wood!

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by pylon

I just don't see it happening. These new age, touchy feely, "How does that make you feel?" pretty boy coaches just don't have the track record of winning. Quenville, Sutter, Babcock and Bowman get you results. Gulatzan and Eakins don't.

Chop water! Carry wood!

Again, if you heard the comments today, it sounds like he ripped them a new one in practice yesterday. Just because he's a "player's coach" doesn't mean he can't get the job done. Boudreau is also a "player's coach", and he was coveted by just about everyone around here and other teams.

Also, Jon Cooper is not a super hard ass (despite the Drouin situation) but he gets the job done too. I wouldn't put Babcock in the hard ass category either, he's just extremely competent at what he does.

You can't throw Gulutzan in the Eakins camp, at least not yet. To a man, the players are saying that the coach isn't the issue and the system is certainly not the problem. They know how they've performed, and they did this last year too under Hartley.

I don't know what else to say.

[Street Pharmacist]

Babcock is certainly a hard ass. Most of the players were pretty happy he was gone