What are your thoughts on Glen Gulutzan's system?

[mikephoen]

Originally Posted by Bandwagon In Flames

The team has played way better in front of Johnson and if all you see is a stud goaltender then you are not following closely enough. Johnson is steady and making the saves he needs to along with an occasional highlight save, but the Flames are making sure he can see all these shots and they have been great at sweeping away rebounds. Something they weren't doing with Elliott.

The SF/SA is VERY easily explained. We have had lots of early leads in the past 12 games and typically teams will start to fall back and protect their lead when up by 2-3 goals. And the Flames have been great at protecting leads lately.

Powerplay is also looking miles better even if they aren't producing at a much higher clip. Not sure why you'd leave out the Anaheim game though... Might as well leave out the Buffalo game too because that was an equal anomaly for PK goals against.

All 4 lines have been providing lot's of scoring chances and lots of goals. The 8 goal game in Anaheim was with 8 different skaters. The Flames have playoff level depth.

And all these games won came without our top scorer. The first game he's back we score 8 goals against a team that usually makes us their bitch. If that's not a positive sign, I don't know what is.

A good post overall, but did it really need the condescending comment I bolded? Way too much of that in responses around here lately, from a lot of different posters.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by mikephoen

A good post overall, but did it really need the condescending comment I bolded? Way too much of that in responses around here lately, from a lot of different posters.

Lately?

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by mikephoen

A good post overall, but did it really need the condescending comment I bolded? Way too much of that in responses around here lately, from a lot of different posters.

This forum has always been full of "If you think X..."

"... you haven't watch player X lately"
"... you didn't watch the game"
"... you never played hockey"
"... you don't know goaltending"

etc.

Of course, just because it's a cliche doesn't make if false all of the time. But it is a little off putting.

ETA: I actually agree, however, that the PK improvement isn't just about goaltending.

[Gaskal]

Originally Posted by mikephoen

A good post overall, but did it really need the condescending comment I bolded? Way too much of that in responses around here lately, from a lot of different posters.

We're seeing team victories, with last game being a prime example - all but a handful of Flames got on the scoresheet.

The whipping boys have their stuff in order. Wideman's playing alright again, Monahan and Chiasson are scoring.

Look at his points. Corsi( without even taking score effects into consideration? We have an absolutely stellar record when scoring first/leading after 2. Nothing to consider there? OK.) and our PP (that's been struggling still, but seems to have climbed out of the craphole it was in before)

A poster that cherry picks two outlying advanced stats to suit an outrageous narrative, after strongly implying that he hasn't been tuning in for games? That's ricardo territory, there.

[MarkGio]

Not to sound like a debbie downer, but upon checking some stats, I also noticed the following:

Negatives
- 25th in the league in Pt%
- 29th in PP%
- 27th in PK%
- 27th in Shots/GP
- 20th in goals-for/GP
- 23rd in goals-against/GP

Positives
- 10th fewest shots against/gp
- 14th best face-off win %
- 9th in Conference, tied with the WC spot

Just to check if things are sustainable, I see the Flames are mid-way through the pack in shooting percentage (14th), they're ranked 10th in goals-for 5-on-5, and 8th in goals-against 5-on-5, which tells me nothing is inflated.

Now the standings could also be attributed to the goaltending. Elliot's 0.885 Sv% is the 2nd worst in the league, and Elliot has only played 2 less games than Johnson, who ranks 11th best in Save percentage. But that doesn't account for the Flames terrible power play, terribly few shots on goal, and relatively poor goals-for.

Maybe the Flames can sustain a positive trend, like they have been in their past 10 games, but even if Johnson plays at a career high Sv% for another 40 games (giving Elliot only 14 starts for the remainder of the season), he's going to need to sustain this level of play for a career-high number of starts too. This would be uncharted territory for him.

The Flames are also going to need to vastly improve upon their special teams too. Right now power play goals range from 13 to 27% of a teams goals-for. It's no surprise the teams with the worst power play sit near the bottom of the standings (with some exceptions), and very likely, the Flames will get fewer opportunities/gp than what they've been receiving (right now they're among the highest in the league).

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by MarkGio

Not to sound like a debbie downer, but upon checking some stats, I also noticed the following:

Negatives
- 25th in the league in Pt%
- 29th in PP%
- 27th in PK%
- 27th in Shots/GP
- 20th in goals-for/GP
- 23rd in goals-against/GP

Positives
- 10th fewest shots against/gp
- 14th best face-off win %
- 9th in Conference, tied with the WC spot

Just to check if things are sustainable, I see the Flames are mid-way through the pack in shooting percentage (14th), they're ranked 10th in goals-for 5-on-5, and 8th in goals-against 5-on-5, which tells me nothing is inflated.

Now the standings could also be attributed to the goaltending. Elliot's 0.885 Sv% is the 2nd worst in the league, and Elliot has only played 2 less games than Johnson, who ranks 11th best in Save percentage. But that doesn't account for the Flames terrible power play, terribly few shots on goal, and relatively poor goals-for.

Maybe the Flames can sustain a positive trend, like they have been in their past 10 games, but even if Johnson plays at a career high Sv% for another 40 games (giving Elliot only 14 starts for the remainder of the season), he's going to need to sustain this level of play for a career-high number of starts too. This would be uncharted territory for him.

The Flames are also going to need to vastly improve upon their special teams too. Right now power play goals range from 13 to 27% of a teams goals-for. It's no surprise the teams with the worst power play sit near the bottom of the standings (with some exceptions), and very likely, the Flames will get fewer opportunities/gp than what they've been receiving (right now they're among the highest in the league).

I think the special teams have made some substantial strides lately. The overall percentages are being dragged down by the atrocious start.

[FurnaceFace]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Lately?

I think Mike has forgotten the Lanny McDonald years. Now that, that was some quality condescension.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I'm certainly not rushing to anything.

Just pointing out recent results could suggest that sacking the guy on Halloween may have been a tad over the top.

Now they've found some success and lets see where it goes. I'm far from putting this guy up with Bob Johnson for Flames greats behind the bench.

All I've ever said from the beginning is that I see a committee of brains making decisions, and I trust they wouldn't hire a boat anchor after a process that took that long.

Agree with everything here except the bolded. I don't think any team thinks they are getting a bad coach when they go through their hiring process and brings the guy on board. Well, outside of perhaps a team that is intentionally tanking anyways.

I don't think it was too wrong of fans to lose patience. I myself lost patience before the 20 game mark, and it was simply because the team itself wasn't improving on the ice. They were looking very dysfunctional out there.

They really tightened everything up quite nicely in the last 10 games I have to say. No more 'guaranteed breakaway(s)' for the other team. A lot more organized in the defensive zone. Passing is getting crisper out there and the Flames are 'speeding up' their plays. For that, Gulutzan is very deserving of any and all praise.

Looking forward to an LA game against the 'masters' of grinding out 1-0 and 2-1 wins, and Pittsburgh with great team speed that will test the defence.

[tvp2003]

Sorry if it's been discussed in this thread already, but can someone explain what Gulutzan (and Gelinas) mean when they talk about "playing good 50/50 hockey"? I have a rough idea what it means (based on context when I first heard Gulutzan start using it), but would appreciate some clarification since it doesn't seem to be going away...

[MarkGio]

Originally Posted by Robbob

I think the special teams have made some substantial strides lately. The overall percentages are being dragged down by the atrocious start.

Their power play tonight looked deadly, but again, Johnson was the main reason they won. The Flames were outshot 30 to 20

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by MarkGio

Their power play tonight looked deadly, but again, Johnson was the main reason they won. The Flames were outshot 30 to 20

If ever the shot totals didn't tell the story it was tonight.

The Flames were clearly the better team and had by far the better scoring chances (until the end when the Stars were pushing to tie)

If you want to talk goalies, Kari stopped Gaudreau twice on breakaways or this game could have been a blowout.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

Sorry if it's been discussed in this thread already, but can someone explain what Gulutzan (and Gelinas) mean when they talk about "playing good 50/50 hockey"? I have a rough idea what it means (based on context when I first heard Gulutzan start using it), but would appreciate some clarification since it doesn't seem to be going away...

Winning board battles where neither team has control, jumping first on puck races, only pinching if you have a 50%+ chance of acquiring the puck, dumping and chasing if there's no clean entry. Basically just inviting and winning loose pucks and not playing helter skelter going for the home run play.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by FurnaceFace

I think Mike has forgotten the Lanny McDonald years. Now that, that was some quality condescension.

Ha ha ha just to be clear for the newbies that is the poster Lanny McDonald. The real Lanny is all class. Yeah but that was just one poster. Not sure what happened but this place has become a little hostile since the summer. Maybe with the team's fortunes turning things around posters will be in better spirits.

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by MarkGio

Their power play tonight looked deadly, but again, Johnson was the main reason they won. The Flames were outshot 30 to 20

I am on my phone so I don't have time to confirm, but I think the flames had a ton of shots blocked. Like it has been said the Stars pulled away late with that push at the end. Even so I didn't think that the shots they gave up were high end.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Robbob

I am on my phone so I don't have time to confirm, but I think the flames had a ton of shots blocked. Like it has been said the Stars pulled away late with that push at the end. Even so I didn't think that the shots they gave up were high end.

The Flames blocked 18 shots and the Stars blocked 16 shots, so they edged us there as well.

I have no problem at all with the way the Flames are winning right now. The high end skilled guys are doing their thing which is great. They shouldn't need to be cogs in the machine for 20 minutes a game. I would rather see 5 high percentage scoring chances than 10 low percentage scoring chances which seemed to be the game plan earlier in the season.

It depends on getting solid goaltending, which we are getting at the moment and I don't see a problem with that.

It gives me hope that Guluztan is more adaptable than we gave him credit for.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

If ever the shot totals didn't tell the story it was tonight.

The Flames were clearly the better team and had by far the better scoring chances (until the end when the Stars were pushing to tie)

If you want to talk goalies, Kari stopped Gaudreau twice on breakaways or this game could have been a blowout.

A few really good Flames chances missed as well. Stajan's breakaway comes to mind - it wasn't a shot on goal because the puck bounced at the last second and it went wide.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

The Flames blocked 16 shots and the Stars blocked 18 shots, so they edged us there as well.

I have no problem at all with the way the Flames are winning right now. The high end skilled guys are doing their thing which is great. They shouldn't need to be cogs in the machine for 20 minutes a game. I would rather see 5 high percentage scoring chances than 10 low percentage scoring chances which seemed to be the game plan earlier in the season.

It depends on getting solid goaltending, which we are getting at the moment and I don't see a problem with that.

It gives me hope that Guluztan is more adaptable than we gave him credit for.

Who is we?
Regardless, if Gulutzan showed anything early, it was he was adaptable. And certainly not all of it worked.

But I think you are dead wrong. The system hasn't adapted, the players have. What we are seeing now is the players understanding the system, and not having to think it first - not Gulutzan changing the system.
Just like jumping on him way too early was foolish, it would be just as foolish to use the last dozen games to project the Flames success over the rest of the season... but it is far more likely the play of the team looks like this than looking like it did in the first 15 games.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

The Flames were clearly the better team and had by far the better scoring chances (until the end when the Stars were pushing to tie)

30 shots is still typically 2 goals against, even with a good goalie. (.933 SV%).

In general I agree with the sentiment that our current success is a bit too much about great goaltending.

That said, I'm not overly worried. It's pretty rare to have every part of the team working perfectly at the same time.

[calumniate]

I think gulutzan figured out his d pairings too finally. That was a tire fire out of the gate

[DuffMan]

I'm just happy there is some success, and we hopefully won't be recycling coaches yearly, like the strinking greasy oilers did. That was my biggest worry with bringing in a new coach. well that and losing a lot