Quote:
Originally Posted by transplant99
That is you projecting what you want things to be.
How about 16-17 and 17-18? You didnt include those years when many of the same guys were involved...wonder why?
Good/great for 60 games.
Really less than average for 3 1/4 years around those 60
Which would likely be more indicative of the truth?
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That 2016-17 team was probably our best playoff performance. They ran into an incredible goaltending display by Gibson, and on the other hand had to contend with Elliott caving under pressure with some of the softest goals in recent NHL postseason history.
Strategically, they did all the right things in that series. I had issues with the coach for only one reason - he overplayed his 3rd decense pair. Bartkowski had no business being out on the ice so much, which was the primary issue with Gulutzan. Most would argue they were the superior team in that series, despite the Ducks going on to the WCF against a great Nashville team that had an almost identical season to the Flames.
The following season, they were sitting at 35-27-10 when Reeves ended Brodie's season. Gulutzan certainly deserved major criticism for attaching Brodie to Hamonic that year despite that pairing never working, among other absolutely baffling decisions (most often involving Troy Brouwer's usage) but at that point in the season, they were in the playoff race just as most playoff teams were. The wheels fell off between Brodie's concussion, Monahan and Tkachuk missing the rest of the season, and Gaudreau's play slipping following a literal heart attack in his family. The bigger issues with that team were discipline (never an issue under either Hartley or Peters!), static line/Dpair combinations (never an issue under Hartley, Peters... or for that matter Ward), underuse of his blue line in the offensive attack, and general player usage (Gulutzan had the smartest PK strategy for instance... and sabatoged it with Stajan and Brouwer as his go-to PK pairing for half that year). Little details like that killed the team. Absolutely no one thought that team was peforming to its potential. Not even Gulutzan would argue that team didn't ultimately underperform.
Gulutzan had his issues and deserved to be axed, but he also highlighted a lot of the strengths of this team - their ability to truly carry the play in particular. This carried over into the next season under Peters, who kept the team playing to the strengths Gulutzan highlighted, while also had them playing to the strengths Gulutzan masked. Forget the record - the team was carrying the play and looking fantastic doing it at both ends. Peters looked like the right coach for the job until he tried to overcompensate for Smith's rough season by playing a more defensive style, while playing bizarre mindgames with his #2 defenseman down the stretch and no longer utilizing the line Blender that had been so kind to him for most of the year. Basically... he stopped being the same coach. It sounds so absurd - but it actually happened! We all saw it! The team that lost in the playoffs was outcoached - and I say this as someone who was praising Peters left and right earlier that season.
As for the following season? Specifically eith respect to Peters' short time as coach... Hamonic was done. When your #4D starts playing like a #8 it has a huge effect. Of course I was catching a ton of flack on CP for my criticism of Hamonic. Funny, my sentiments at that time are suddenly the general consensus now, but at the time I was being called out by people like... yourself for being critical of this "Warrior"'s actual play on the ice.
Ward comes in... and has a lot more time to make adjustments... and zilch. He kept Hanifin - Hamonic together all year until a fortunate injury to Hamonic saved his coaching career by forcing him to have Andersson up the lineup.