Just to keep all the long rants in one spot so it doesn't bog down every other thread. Here's mine:
Okay, I haven't posted much lately due to .... emotions, but here we go.
1) Goalie, goalie goalie goalie goalie .... can we get a fracking goalie already? If people are having flashbacks of the young guns era, it isn't necessarily due to the quality of skaters, it's due to the constant carousel of sub par goalies. Here's what we had in between Vernon and Kiprusoff (1994-2004):
Trevor Kidd
Rick Tabaracci
Dwayne Roloson (before he was any good)
Fred Brathwaite (though he did have a couple decent years)
Ken Wregget
J.S. Giguere (before he was any good)
"washed up" Grant Fuhr
"washed up" Mike Vernon
Roman "the pretender" Turek
Jamie McLennan
Now since Kipper's last good season we've had this run of goalies (2012-present):
"washed up" Kiprusoff, or he just stopped caring. Either way.
Leland Irving
Joey MacDonald
Reto Berra
Joni Ortio
Karri Ramo (although he did put up ok numbers during his tenure)
"washed up" Jonas Hiller with one vintage season thrown in
Brian "I may as well have Jamie Lannister's gold prosthetic from Game of Thrones for all the good my glove hand does me" Elliott.
and Chad Johnson, who has done yeoman's work, but is really a backup who can play 30 games for you. He's not a #1 goalie.
We need to find a permanent solution at goalie ASAP. Teams like San Jose had a quick turnaround because they found a solution like Martin Jones. Why can't we just fix this already? Overpay for a goalie. Find someone with the ability to keep a team in games and make a timely save or two. I can't watch this anymore. I am literally calling goals before they go in because I know what will happen with our goaltenders. I am rarely wrong, but oh god I wish I was wrong more often.
I'm done with Elliott. If anyone is willing to take him at the trade deadline I'd dump him and see if either of Rittich or Gillies looks ok at the NHL level backing up Johnson.
2) Where is the passion? Where is the intensity? Where is the willingness to go into a corner and come away with a puck?
I put this one squarely on the demeanor of our coach and captain. They are far too calm in the face of incredible adversity. I don't want screaming fits and angry tirades, but stop being so complacent and accepting of losses! It seems that they believe playing smarter means playing without emotion. I'm not saying Gio is completely devoid of emotion, but he's not someone that I would follow into a battle at the moment. It's filtering on down through the lineup, and guys are just listless way more often than not. The lack of intensity is glaring when you see someone like Hathaway or Tkachuk in the lineup. Those guys bring a level of gamesmanship that few others are bothering to bring.
3) This is also a call out of guys like Monahan, Gaudreau, Brouwer, Bennett, Ferland, and others to a lesser extent. These are guys that have shown that they can play the game with intensity and passion. They have ZERO passion for the game right now. Whether that is because of the coach or not, they need to find that passion again somehow and show something on the ice. Perhaps it's been coached out of them. I don't know. IF that's the case, then we need to dump Gulutzan immediately. In a league full of parity, the only way you can beat most opponents is to want it more than they do (see: Columbus this year).
4) Hartley was a great motivator, and his team's were good at creating offense, but he was possibly the worst defensive coach I've ever seen. Gulutzan is clearly good at coaching defensive structure and getting the most out of less talented players, but has no ability to coach offensively skilled players at all. If there were a way to blend these two into one coach I'd be all over it, but sadly, genetic experiments like these are considered "unethical".
However, if there were a way to have Hartley lead the team and handle the offense, and have Gulutzan as an assistant to coach the defense and overall structure, we'd have a winning combination. Is it too late to apologize to Bob?
5) As for Gaudreau getting run and there not being a response, I have a few thoughts:
-He never used to get hit like that because he knew to dodge, duck, dive, dip, and dodge. Now he's getting hammered because he's admiring his passes and he now longer is thinking about avoiding contact. He's gotta get back to that elusive style that drove the opposition nuts.
-Teammates know that he complains too much and they don't want to give the refs a reason to call a penalty against them. Seems like the refs are tired of Johnny's routine and are waiting til he stops complaining so much to make regular calls on him. It's slowly happening this season, but I'm thinking it's going to take a while to get rid of that reputation.
-Teammates are responding when things happen, but in today's NHL, there's just not a lot of fighting, nor guys willing to fight. Moreover, there's only a couple guys on the Flames that can dish out hard hits, and they don't play very much (Hathaway, Ferland, Engelland).
-WHEN teammates respond and take a penalty, like Chiasson did last night by giving the forearm shiv to Komarov's face, they get benched. Chiasson missed his next 3 shifts after taking that penalty. The message from Gulutzan is pretty straightforward, "I'd rather be weak and playing 5 on 5 hockey than be physical and intimidating but short-handed a little more often". I'm calling B.S. on that mindset, especially with smaller players like Gaudreau on your roster that you have to stick up for.
6) This team doesn't have the horses to run with the big dogs yet. Down years from everyone not named Backlund, Frolik, and Tkachuk will do that to you as well, but it's obvious that they need to fill a few more spots in the lineups with quality players. This off-season will be an important one as Wideman, Smid, Engelland, Elliott, Johnson and their combined $15 million come off the books. Use that money wisely.
Find a capable starting goalie, even if you have to overpay for someone like Bishop. Bring Johnson back at his current salary as the backup, or don't. I don't care.
Find a capable #4 defenseman long term and a stopgap bottom pairing defenseman.
Find a legitimate scoring threat top line right winger (or two).
Do those things and we can talk about playoffs realistically. Until then, we have to accept that this is a bubble team with some glaring holes in the roster.
We are still in the "jog" phase as Burke would put it. Not quite ready to "run".