[Badgers Nose]

Originally Posted by Mike F

When you look at what Colborne, Hudler, Jones, and Jooris are doing this year, yes, I think it's clear that the Flames upgraded their forwards, even remembering that Colborne had some impressive goal scoring streaks last season. And the fact that the goaltending has been upgraded shouldn't need argument - as I've said before, none of the three guys Calgary used as their #1 last year could even land backup jobs this year.

As for whether Gulutzan is getting more out of the new guys... Tkachuk is impossible to say, being a rookie. For the rest of the forwards: Brouwer is having one of his worst seasons production-wise in years; Chiasson is better than last year but still nowhere near his best year in Dallas; and Versteeg has had a bounce back season, but IMO you can chalk a lot of that up to increased opportunity and ice time (particularly on the PP, where he's getting 2:28/game this year vs. 1:07/ game last).

So, I'd say you have 2 guys who have flourished this year under Gulutzan (Backlund and Frolik), and the rest have either taken a big step back or just muddled along. Add to that the team overall not having an improved record despite an upgraded roster, and I can only conclude that the coach has failed to do his job.

Given that Gulutzen has no track record of success at the NHL level (two unremarkable seasons in Dallas followed by an assistant coaching stint for an unremarkable Canucks team under Desjardins, who himself has had no significant success in the NHL), I'm surprised so many people are loathe to consider that he might be the problem.

... and GG leaves MB and MF alone. Hmmm.