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Originally Posted by Bingo
Man I had this all wrong.
I thought the hardest thing about coaching was developing a team structure that had them consistently out playing the opposition.
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I always thought structure and systems were the easiest things about coaching. It's x's and o's, and practice time. It's all about repetition and developing muscle memory for players so they don't think, they just do. It is why you drill, drill, drill in practice. Once you establish the talent level of your team you define a system that will be exploit the strengths of your talent base and shield the weaknesses. Then its teaching and practice.
Therein lies the problem with Gulutzan. He's come in with a system that is not about the talent level on the hockey team. He's come in with a system that is about the talent level of the coaching staff and is trying to force a bunch of players to play a system that exposes their weaknesses and prevents them from using their strengths. He doesn't recognize there is something wrong. He's taken your perspective of outplaying the opposition, in his terms, as the end goal rather than using the talents available to him to their greatest advantage. He doesn't recognize when things aren't working, or will never work.
See, this is what I think the hardest part of coaching is. Preparing your team for what the opposition is going to use against you is key. Making fine adjustments to your system that address what the other team does is the difficult part. Making adjustments during the game to take advantage of what the opposition is giving you is crucial. The game inside the game is where good coaches thrive and bad ones wilt. Gulutzan is just horrible at making adjustments. When things don't go according to plan, his teams fall apart, and quickly. That's what happens when you have such a rigid system.
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Who knew it was just calling time outs and yanking warrior goaltenders from the cage when they had off nights!
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This is grossly simplifying things, but I agree with you. The timeout thing is so stupid. The best coaches in the game don't have to rely on timeouts. They can coach on the fly. They can make adjustments on the bench. They don't need a chance to calm everyone down, because they command their bench and already have their players focused. Well coached teams rarely get flustered.
Another earmark of well coached teams is see the in-game adjustments. Good coaches know their players and recognize when they are on and when they are off. When they are on, you give them more time and opportunity. When they are off, you give them less time and shield them. This is another problem with Gulutzan. He doesn't know his players worth a damn. He just keeps rolling the lines and thinking that things will just come out in the wash. He doesn't recognize when a guy just doesn't have it on a given evening. The handling of Smith was like that.
Smith wasn't pissed that he was pulled last night. Smith was pissed when he was pulled. Smith let in that weak sister and was looking to the bench, almost begging to be pulled. Instead Gulutzan left a struggling netminder in to give up another and the game was pretty well done. At that point Gulutzan decides to pull him, but Smith knows the damage was done. The reaction was at the poor decision, not at the fact he was being pulled. Smith was looking to be pulled, for the good of the team, but Gulutzan missed the cue and the opportunity, just like he does with every other player personnel decision.
I see the call for a timeout as more of a shot at Gulutzan than anything. Gulutzan needs time to think things through. He needs time to ponder on what is going on. Gulutzan needs the timeout to gather his thoughts, not the players. Guktuzan needs the game to slow down so he can see the adjustments to make, and most importantly, when to make them. In a league where all the teams are so close, those small adjustments you make are the difference between winning and losing.