[tkflames]

For some reason - quoting is not working for your specific post, but below are my thoughts on the valid points you raised as someone on the opposite side of the fence.

Here is why I defend him
- I largely view a lot of the criticism to be based on anecdotal evidence, hearsay and narratives that are poorly supported but people have just chosen to believe. I believe this is cherry picking of posts that support this narrative. There has been excellent analysis done in this thread on the power play approach, player usage, lack of creativity in both break outs and entering the oppositions zone. The core data point that has not been investigated with data is how the teams responds to adversity versus other team, but visually I think we can agree that this team (whether coach or players) used to have a confidence when down in the third period and is now distracted by adversity in the game. Last night, they hard 30 minutes to regain momentum and there was no response.
- As an extension of this, I view this to be a witch hunt and scape goatism. I’m not a fan of that. It reminds a lot of what happened to Playfair who I viewed as a good coach not given a fair shakeI agree that some of us (myself included), did not like him from the start and have a bias toward finding flaws. The key issue that he has no success in his history to counter this argument. There was always an inherent risk in hiring an inexperienced coach for a young core. The team and coach is trying to grow and gain experience together, but I fail to see a safety net of experience that will right the ship when things don't go well.

- I think that coaches get too much blame overall. I’m of the view that it is on the players to execute. Coaches are the easy one to blame so they take it I agree.
- I value stability within key roles and think that teams that are changing coaches and GMs constantly suffer because of it. The Flames included. I agree - this team desperately needs a coach that will be here for 5-7 years. This is why it didn't make sense to hire an unknown commodity in GG 2 years ago.

- I think there are some fair criticisms of GG, namely player usage and inability to figure out, with his ACs special teams, which are vital to success in the NHL now. I’m not disagreeing on those points I agree - I believe where we disagree is that this is a major issue for me.

- I really get frustrated when people slam a coach over things like facial expressions, looking down on the bench, etc. I think all of that is unfair. I agree.

- Overall in my view I see a team that generally has outplayed other teams most nights, and the underlying metrics support this. Their inability to finish though is both a combination of bad luck, and lack of skill within the forwards. Neither I can blame GG for. The team SHOULD be better than its record based on the metrics and eye test. I agree. Where we disagree is that I believe the "luck" is influenced by confidence. I believe GG has an influence on that. If anything, the above noted item supports that Tre has done his job.

- That being said, I also don’t think the team is distinctly more talented than most other teams. The Smith injury has set them back, but in general they are tracking to finish close to where I thought they would. I agree - I believe they are underperforming my expectations by 4-6 points (right around 98-102 is what I expected). The west is extremely flat and each of the 10 or so teams from 2 - 12 all have holes in their line-up and game. This is a salary cap NHL - you can no longer build the perfect team. Having said that, I don't believe that our points are disproportionate to our team this year. There are an equal number of games this year where I have felt like we stole points to where I felt like we deserved a better fate.