Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe
I couldn't disagree more with the assertion that some have that the game has passed Darryl Sutter by. The same was said when he left Calgary, and boy did he get that LA team turned around in a big hurry.
The single biggest issue I see with this team, and especially contrasted to Hartley's team, is a complete lack of swagger. The opposition scores.. and they suddenly score again! 23 times, in fact. Though you can't count on the sheer number of comebacks that the Hartley team made famous, it seemed like every time this year's Gulutzan team pulled a goalie to try and get the equalizer, they allow an empty net. At the same time, how many empty net goals did this year's team score themselves?
So what does this have to do with Darryl? His teams gush swagger. They are always a confident team out on the ice. They are ready to play, and they play hard all game. This is the philosophical change that this organization desperately needed.
Ok, the next argument is "But his tactics and x's and o's are from a bygone era, and this is the new NHL! - he is a dinosaur!"
I don't buy that for one second. While Gulutzan - who was hand picked for his 'new age' possession game - kept making terrible judgment calls.
I have always disagreed with the notion that the 3M line has to be kept together. You know who should play on that 3M line? A rookie with speed who is given the task to skate hard. Tkachuk in my mind has 'graduated'. Darryl has said two things recently that already makes me believe he is more knowledgeable about the FLAMES than Gulutzan was - that Backlund's line is the best THIRD line in the league, and that in today's NHL you HAVE to transition the puck quickly.
For all the accolades that get thrown Gulutzan's way for being a modern NHL coach that takes into account possession metrics, he hasn't quite figured that one out. The 5 man zone entry system is the relic he has resurrected from the past. That was how teams played to counter the infamous trap. That was how teams would play - including the Flames in '04 - to counter the 'dead puck era'.
Modern teams play with a fast transition. I don't think it has anything to do with possession. It has to do with generating offence - better quality chances from the get-go that allow your 'PDO' (I think it is a stupid metric btw) to increase - after all, you should be expected to score more on odd-man rushes, breakaways, and other premium chances, right? As a benefit, these include things like hitting the open trailer, having the goalie move more and give up juicier rebounds rather than freeze the puck or direct the rebound.
Darryl seems to want to play defensively responsible, possession-type hockey with a quick transition, while being fricken ready to play every damn game.
Sign me up for this dinosaur. I don't care if the ownership group goes over the head of Treliving - heck, if things don't work out and they have to fire Sutter, Treliving gets an automatic pass for it, I don't care.
This is (to me) what Hartley was doing. He just had a god-awful roster (especially on defence, and especially with the injuries on defence and the goalies). You can't expect to have possession of the puck more than the other team when your team is smaller, less experienced and a heck of a lot less talented. Some will argue with me, citing things like possession metrics, but it comes full circle again - the Flames had a lot less talent, and I have always argued that your possession metrics should be a byproduct of how good your team is playing.
Coaches like Gulutzan and perhaps Peters are mucking things up with (imo, once again) by playing FOR possession. That is akin to putting the cart ahead of the horse. I don't watch Carolina play, so I can't comment, but boy do their numbers seem eerily similar to Calgary's, and they even have a drop-off in goaltending, and now everyone is saying Peters is smart but was let-down by goaltending. I don't watch them enough to comment, but that does seem a bit fishy to me. They seem to have a solid defensive group there. They seem to have decent goaltending personnel. I think there is more going on there than simply being let down by goaltending.
The thing I like most about AV is that he utilizes set-plays a heck of a lot. That is the biggest thing I have always noticed about his teams. The Flames have the talent to do that here.
I just think that Darryl is at another level, and he is, in my opinion, a very 'modern' coach with an actual track record.
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