The trials and tribulations of Glen Gulutzan

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I thought you were just from the Town of Dissen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissen,_Lower_Saxony

Interesting, I never knew that town existed. I am from St. Thomas, Ontario.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Agreed. I believe it is extremely difficult as a fan to attribute results to the coach vs. the players. We just don't know enough to tell if players are doing what they are being coached to do.

But it's a truth in sports that coaches are evaluated on results and are hired to be fired. GG simply dos not have a long track record of success and based on the actions of management, this team is being built to win now. So it's fair to say he will need to deliver an acceptable level of results. Which to me have to include an improved regular season over last year, or barring that, a playoff run.

Without either of those, he is quite likely done IMO.

When you trade away draft picks like the Flames have, there is no question they are looking for results now. Specifically in the playoffs.
Is Gulutzan gone if the team fails to deliver?
It wouldn't surprise me.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Agreed. I believe it is extremely difficult as a fan to attribute results to the coach vs. the players. We just don't know enough to tell if players are doing what they are being coached to do.

But it's a truth in sports that coaches are evaluated on results and are hired to be fired. GG simply dos not have a long track record of success and based on the actions of management, this team is being built to win now. So it's fair to say he will need to deliver an acceptable level of results. Which to me have to include an improved regular season over last year, or barring that, a playoff run.

Without either of those, he is quite likely done IMO.

I don't think anyone would disagree with this. But this is a far different opinion than those who have already concluded he is a bad coach despite the fact the results thus far suggest otherwise

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Wild GM

I don't think anyone would disagree with this. But this is a far different opinion than those who have already concluded he is a bad coach despite the fact the results thus far suggest otherwise

I would call results thus far inconclusive, which as you say is very different than those saying he is definitively a bad coach.

I like his personality and approach and he coaches my favorite team so I hope he turns out to be an excellent coach.

[AustinL_NHL]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

That team wasn't lucky though. They had a below-50% 5-on-5 goal differential (just like Gulutzan's team) which was just as you would expect. They only made the playoffs based on special teams (specifically, they were super-disciplined) just as GUlutzan's team made the playoffs based on special teams (even though those special teams meant overplaying weak 5v5 players like Versteeg, Brouwer, and Engelland.

Anyone who thinks our 14-15 season wasn't lucky is completely out to lunch.

We had the 3rd lowest CF%, 4th highest PDO, and 2nd highest shooting percentage. If that team wasn't incredibly lucky, than I don't know what luck is.

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Oh please. That's a load of B.S.

Game 1 was lost because of our third pair. Elliott might have been our best player in this hockey game. Gulutzan refused to shorten the bench.

Game 2 was lost partially because of Elliott, partially because Gulutzan refused to shorten his bench.

Game 3 was lost because of our third pair bleeding (while our top 4 might have played the best game of the season) while Gulutzan continued to refuse to shorten the bench, ultimately leading to a goal while the third pair was on the ice that broke Elliott. He could have shortened the bench given the magnitude of the game and the fact that we had one of if not the worst third pairs in the entire NHL and maybe Elliott doesn't have a breakdown.

Game 4 was lost because Gulutzan refused to bench Elliott until it was too late. And then when Johnson came in, the GWG was scored on our.. third pair.

Further to that, Gulutzan's lack of offensive adjustements were a huge part in why we didn't score 5-on-5 goals on the Ducks - you can blame Elliott all you want but you have to score at even strength, you can't just rely on a power play scoring on a bunch of callup defensemen for an injured-AF team to get you through a playoff series.

Also, anyone who thinks Gulutzan lost us that Anaheim series last year is just making a fool of themselves. We dominated Anaheim in terms of CF% as well as scoring chances.

Elliott absolutely screwed us over and was the main reason (along with our 3rd D-pair) we lost that series. We were absolutely the better team even though history with tell us we got swept.


Oh God. I just realized both of these statements were made by the same poster

[Always Earned Never Given]

Message to SCORPION: If the Flames are down early tonight against St-Lou, can you start another thread like this one as clearly yesterday's comeback is thanks to you and not on what GG is trying to instill.

[AustinL_NHL]

I, for one, am very pleased with GG. I still question some of his lineup decisions most games, but every fan base hates their coaches' lineup decisions for the most part.

Last season, he completely scraped Hartley's awful, always go for the breakaway pass, possession black hole system in favor of a much more modern day NHL system.

Despite Monahan missing most of training camp, Gaudreau missing all of training camp, and Versteeg signing the day before the first game of the season, he turned that inevitable awful start into a very promising season, as the Flames finished 10th in 5on5 CF%, 12th in PK%, and 10th in PP%. From November 15th or around that time frame, we were top 5 in basically every category from that point on.

It was an amazing improvement from our old system and how anyone can dislike GG is beyond me.

[btimbit]

I have no strong feelings either way. He's above average, but far from a top coach in the league.
Don't hate him, don't love him

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by Always Earned Never Given

Message to SCORPION: If the Flames are down early tonight against St-Lou, can you start another thread like this one as clearly yesterday's comeback is thanks to you and not on what GG is trying to instill.

I'm not an unproductive intern, you don't have to yell my name to get my attention.

[Geeoff]

Originally Posted by Always Earned Never Given

Message to SCORPION: If the Flames are down early tonight against St-Lou, can you start another thread like this one as clearly yesterday's comeback is thanks to you and not on what GG is trying to instill.

Anyone else read all caps SCORPION in the voice of the announcer from Mortal Kombat?

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

Anyone else read all caps SCORPION in the voice of the announcer from Mortal Kombat?

I just keep thinking of this

[Jason14h]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

Anyone else read all caps SCORPION in the voice of the announcer from Mortal Kombat?

Well now I did, and will never not read it that way again! Thanks

[CroFlames]

I'm on the fence with my opinion of GG.

I like certain things he does, like keeping a very calm composure. I hate coaches (this mostly happens in soccer) that are overly excitable. Winning games should just be another day at the office, so to speak. I like his systems for the most part.

There's certain things I don't like/understand about him though. I feel 4th liners and bottom pairing d-men get too much ice sometimes when things aren't going well. Sometimes his line matching choices bottles the mind. His line combos on the PP piss me off sometimes.

Ultimately he's charged with making this team a champion and thats how he should be judged. He's 5-4 this year so far, but I'll reserve judgment until game 50+.

[SportsJunky]

Look, I’m just a lifelong hockey fan. I don’t profess to know whether Gulutzan is a good coach or a bad coach. The only thing I know for sure in all of this is that Gulutzan is a good coach. We can all agree on that.

[Stay Golden]

The bar for what is a good coach seems to be set very low for G. Much lower than past coaches. When fans point out tonight vs STL bad line combinations, disaprove with PP and PK player selections. Who the PP is running through ir adjustments not being made. Remember this, that is directly the responsibility of the HC. He is the one that has final say on those decisions. So dont go off on those that point it out tonight or in future games. Those fans are not the one behind the bench calling the shots, G is.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Stay Golden

The bar for what is a good coach seems to be set very low for G. Much lower than past coaches. When fans point out tonight vs STL bad line combinations, disaprove with PP and PK player selections. Who the PP is running through ir adjustments not being made. Remember this, that is directly the responsibility of the HC. He is the one that has final say on those decisions. So dont go off on those that point it out tonight or in future games. Those fans are not the one behind the bench calling the shots, G is.

I guess the problem is that most fans don't know the game well enough to make those assessments. And I include myself in that
And we all have our biases. When you begin your post talking about a lower bar for this coach, you reveal that your view on this isn't objective. You've decided he's a bad coach and that's that

[Kybb79]

GG reminds me of a book smart kind of guy.Really smart but no common sense.

[Azhouse]

A buddy of mine was coached by Gulutzan's dad in minor hockey. They were playing a rival town and the game didn't go well. He bought the whole team lunch and they ate it on the bus. As they were heading home from this little town he made them throw all of their garbage from lunch out the window of the bus into the street.

[Beninho]

Originally Posted by Azhouse

A buddy of mine was coached by Gulutzan's dad in minor hockey. They were playing a rival town and the game didn't go well. He bought the whole team lunch and they ate it on the bus. As they were heading home from this little town he made them throw all of their garbage from lunch out the window of the bus into the street.

Alrighty...

[MisterJoji]

I want to love him. He’s well spoken, seems to have a good system, really seems like a players coach but his lineup and roster decisions are highly questionable. Forcing the LD/RD pairing when it’s obvious Brodie is better on the right. Brodie and Versteeg as the point guys on PP1 is not good. Giving Brouwer too much PP time. Overplaying the 4th line, especially in tight games. Bizarre line matching at home games. The list goes on.