[gallione11]

Good article from Haynes about the new coach effect.

http://www.flamesfrom80feet.ca/2016/...r-new-nhl.html

The Sullivan struggles extended even further.

After taking over behind the Penguins bench on December 12, his record in his first 17 games was a very pedestrian 6-7-4. But after close to six weeks on the job, the team turned the corner and over the final three months of the regular season, they went 27-9-1 under his guidance for a blazing .743 point percentage (defined as points achieved divided by points available).

Of course, Sullivan's counterpart in the Stanley Cup final, San Jose bench boss Peter De Boer, was also in his first year on the job.

Taking over prior to the season for longtime skipper Todd McClellan, the Sharks record on Remembrance Day was a very ho-hum 7-8-0. But similar to what happened in Pittsburgh, the team settled in under the new coach, became comfortable with the changes he introduced, and they went an impressive 39-22-6 over the remainder of the regular season.

While the Calgary Flames, considering the age of their key pieces, are nothing like the Sharks either, that's also not the point.

History shows that even when you inherit well-built, older, established teams with high-end talent, it still takes a while for it all to come together.

As I looked back at the NHL coaching changes that have happened the last few years, more than 75 percent of the time the team struggled at first, before things eventually clicked and away the team went.

It was difficult to identify a typical point for when that upwards trajectory hit. In the 13 cases below, that moment came somewhere between 12 and 22 games with the median being around the 18-game mark.

I spoke with defenceman Dougie Hamilton on Saturday and he admitted there is a transition going on right now.

"Say, fronting shots in front of the net instead of boxing out. Last year, you're used to just going to the net and looking at the D, now you're focusing on the box outs," said Hamilton, providing an example of a systematic change.


When you've been doing it one way for six months, it does take some time to unlearn the old way and for the new way to become natural. The result during such a transition is more thinking and less reacting.

"When it is a habit, you're doing it second nature instead of having to think, look where guys are and that goes for our whole game -- offensively as well, power play, everything," Hamilton said. "When everyone's familiar with each other and you have chemistry and everything just happens on the ice instead of having to think of where you're going, it's a lot easier."

The way the season has begun, it's inevitable that the team will turn the corner at some point and settle in. It can't get much worse, can it? There's just too much talent for them to continue playing this poorly. However, will it be three or four wins by that 18-game mark when things typically start to take a noticeable turn for the better, or can they somehow scratch out seven or eight wins by then?

The latter may be what's required to make the playoffs and while that sounds a tad optimistic, one thing I am far more certain of is playoffs or not, Gulutzan will still be this team's coach when the season ends.

After all, three hours up the highway, McClellan survived a pretty poor first year in Edmonton and now in his second go-round, the Oilers are looking much more comfortable and are rolling along with five wins in their first six games.

Patience isn't always rewarded and hey, there's no certainties in life, but there are enough case studies out there as noted that riding out the new-coach blahs will end up worth it in the end. Yes, even if you have to plug your nose and cover your eyes to get through October.