[MisterJoji]

A thought I had regarding a potential Gulutzan firing while watching the Oilers/Jets game last night. Here’s a case where sticking with a head coach has proven to be beneficial. Now I fully realize Paul Maurice has a lot longer of a resume with some moderate success including a finals appearance with Carolina in 2002, but his more recent history was not great up until this season. Before being fired by Carolina (the 2nd time) he was working on his 3rd straight season of non-playoff hockey after a miracle Conference Final run in 2009. Prior to that he had 2 seasons of non-playoff hockey in Toronto. So when hired by Winnipeg he had had 6 out of 7 season where his teams missed the playoffs. His first year in Winnipeg was yet another losing season followed by a season where they qualified for the playoffs by were swept in 4 straight. Follow that up with 2 more seasons of no playoff hockey in Winnipeg. It would’ve been pretty easy decision to fire him after last season, yet he was given a vote of confidence and extended. Now he’s coaching a team 2 points out of 1st in the Conference. Now I’m not saying Gulutzan shouldn’t be fired if we miss the playoffs the next couple of seasons but maybe he should be given a little more rope to see if he can get the team firing on all cylinders, given the teams solid advanced stats. Just a thought.