[sureLoss]

http://www.si.com/nhl/2017/02/28/cal...low_twitter_si

a good read

best line:

SI: Did the interview process include any similarly fun interactions? Did you go tie shopping with Brian Burke?

GG: I should’ve. I really like the organization for one reason. I hate wearing ties. I don’t like anything hanging around my neck. The organization is really almost tie-optional at times. I really enjoy that about the Flames.

SI: Going to leave this one open-ended. Your team has seen a massive uptick in penalties taken this season. [The Flames average 11:35 penalty minutes per game, most in the league; they ranked 19th in ’15-16 at with 9:11.] How do you explain that?

GG: It’s tough for me. Sometimes I take that blame on myself a little bit. I think some of it is a little bit of our youth. Usually young guys that are competitive, we’ve got some competitive, hard-nosed players trying to survive in the league. Survive isn’t the right word, but make a mark in the league. And they have to hum at their highest level to compete here, so sometimes they overextend themselves. But from a coaching standpoint, I’ve really asked this team to be engaged. Part of trying to get this team galvanized, we do certain things here that lend themselves to getting emotionally involved in the game. I think that’s a little bit different here. We have crossed the line a little bit too much. But I do like our emotion in games. I do like when our team is emotionally involved and aggressive. Lately our penalties have dropped off. Certainly in the beginning we were taken too many.

SI: It seems to be a topic of discussion lately, but in connection to what happened last year with [defenseman] Dennis [Wideman, who was suspended 20 games last season for striking linesmanDon Henderson].

GG: You know, I wasn’t there last year. A lot of people point out to the incident, and then obviously a marked increase in penalties thereafter. It’s a defined line to most people who are onto that theory. For me, I don’t really think of it. I really don’t think that Dennis himself is going to get any breaks. I don’t know if it’s caused an uptick in our team’s, but certainly there are some analytics that point that way, but I don’t pay much attention.

SI: But you feel you’ve identified reasons for the spike elsewhere.

GG: That are unrelated, yes.