[Gaskal]

He's a good strategist and a great communicator, which is why I believe Bingo that the players haven't tuned him out or dislike him. But you need your coach to motivate your players in the locker room and behind the bench as well, and I'm not seeing that. Not from the player's body language or Glen's. The Backlund line (again!) with Johnny, and Stajan, were the only ones who seemed to give a damn last night. Everyone else was really just going through the motions. That kind of stuff falls on the coaching staff.

I'm not seeing 'shake-up's mid-game, to try and claw away with a victory either. How many times have we screamed for Elliott to be yanked in relief and he's been left there to fester in front of a team that's clearly given up? Game 6, Hartley immediately staples Hiller to the bench after the Canucks went up 2-0, and we went on to win 7-4.

Also, maybe it's selective memory talking, but I don't recall a single time where Gulutzan's burned an early timeout after a shaky start to settle the team down the way Hartley used to. Is he just afraid he won't have his coach's challenge on hand or something? Isn't he supposed to be 'dialled in' to his player's emotions and state of mind enough to at least acknowledge something like that might help? The most he's done when down is to juggle lines, which often end up failing spectacularly.