Quote:
Originally Posted by Gaskal
While your take on Gulutzan's reasoning for sending him right back out there is likely spot on, there's still no consideration made for the emotion in that equation. That, and the fact that it was another momentum swing in the opposite direction. Sure, Frolik is normally, on any given day, one of your most reliable defensive wingers out there. So Gulutzan played the numbers game. He blindly sends out 3M + Gio / Dougie and hoped it would be enough to at least finish the game strongly.
However, the gravity of the situation here matters as he'd just coughed away the lead in a game that the Flames had under control, and did so with an incredibly uncharacteristic mistake that isn't acceptable at even youth hockey levels.
Sending them back out there is not the problem. Sending them back out there shell-shocked is the real issue. If you're going to put Frolik right back out there, call the timeout first so everyone has a bit of room to clear their heads and focus on finishing the game out. Not just that line either that needed it, the entire team was clinging by a toenail after the tying goal. Dougie made a bad decision, Gio played the 1 on 1 terribly, and Smith didn't seem to know how to play the angle at all.
Glen needs to be a better leader and manage the emotional flow of a game as well rather than try to spend the whole time outsmarting the guy across the bench.
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Who "blindly" goes with the best defense pairing in the NHL and the second best possession line in the circuit?
That's going with your best, the five guys on the team least likely to be rattled.
I would have thrown something at my TV if he put out Stone/Kulak/Lazar/Stajan and Hathaway, but I'm never going to be upset if a coach loses using his best.