Haha.
People bitch about Gulutzan not showing emotion, blowing up, etc... Then are butt hurt when he does. He called out the top guys, he called out the 4th line. Boo hoo
Quote:
They decide to take one more crack at it because they've scored so many goals and they all come off and let them fly into our zone, and catch the other line a little off guard.
Awww, the poor 4th line (and yes, a guy is included who should be and will be a 4th liner: (from Haynes article)
Matt Stajan - 1 goal in his last 23 games
Alex Chiasson - 2 goals in his last 23 games
Lance Bouma - 1 goal in his last 12 games
Micheal Ferland - 1 goal in his last 25 games
Garnet Hathaway - 0 goals in his last 20 games
Freddie Hamilton - 1 goal in his last 21 games
The only thing I'd really blame Gulutzan for is Brodie. He should have ditched that experiment after 10 games. Instead he refused to move him back to the side where he's comfortable and the result is an absolutely awful season for Brodie.
The goaltending has been brutal the past month. There's nothing the coach can do about that except give each goalie their shots. Unfortunately they both suck equally right now. And the constant stream of soft goals is demoralizing the rest of the team. They feel like they can't allow any shots on goal because the goalies won't stop them.
Gaudreau is getting his chances. He's just not burying them. He's been a massive liability the last two weeks. I'd put that more on the player than the coach. Monahan has come around recently which would indicate his issues aren't purely coaching-related. He just starts very poorly for whatever reason - either the injury or it's the way he is.
That said, I'd be ok with firing Gulutzan just for what he's done with Brodie. His stubborness with that move should be punished.
Haha.
People bitch about Gulutzan not showing emotion, blowing up, etc... Then are butt hurt when he does. He called out the top guys, he called out the 4th line. Boo hoo
Awww, the poor 4th line (and yes, a guy is included who should be and will be a 4th liner: (from Haynes article)
Matt Stajan - 1 goal in his last 23 games
Alex Chiasson - 2 goals in his last 23 games
Lance Bouma - 1 goal in his last 12 games
Micheal Ferland - 1 goal in his last 25 games
Garnet Hathaway - 0 goals in his last 20 games
Freddie Hamilton - 1 goal in his last 21 games
6. "We get a 5-on-3, broken stick, can't even muster a shot. These are things we work on. It's not like we have a bad power play. We're running at 20 percent, top third of the league. But for some reason mentally, we just didn't get a shot to the net."
It's really frustrating for me to hear the coach say this when the answer to the reason they didn't get a shot on net is because he's got a passer like Brodie on the point instead of Hamilton who is the team's offensive driver from the back end. He's the guy that actually puts pucks on the net yet he's been regulated to 2nd unit which has actually been the productive unit. Why is Gulutzan so rigid in his combinations? Time to look in the mirror Glenn. Why has a forward with 2 goals in 23 games been a fixture on the first line all season? Why is the team's best offensive defenseman not playing on the first powerplay unit? Why do you continue to play Brodie on the wrong side of the ice when its mired him in the worst stretch of his career?
As far as goaltending goes I can't fault him for that. Honestly I don't know if there are many coaches that can be successful when your goaltenders are getting badly outplayed on a nightly basis. This goaltending is every bit as bad as it was last season. It's very troubling that in the last two seasons the team has had five different goaltenders and all of them have played the worst hockey of their careers. You can't blame it on the defense all the time as even the best defensive teams give up routine scoring chances but the difference is that most NHL goaltenders make the routine saves but not Flames goaltenders. They can't even stop the easy ones. I'm at a loss here as it feels like they could bring in Bishop or MAF in and it wouldn't matter because they would suck too. I believe with 100% certainty that the team absolutely cannot bring back Sigalet. Maybe he's not to blame for everything but he's responsible for coaching up the goaltenders and it's simply not working at all.
Last edited by Erick Estrada; 01-25-2017 at 07:35 AM.
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I think the organization waits a while yet to make any coaching changes.
Starting from that game getting shutout 2-0 by the Jets, we are an abysmal 2-7-0 now. An extended losing streak is allowable by the Flames' past standards... what was it that year we made the playoffs? A 9 game losing streak in Dec? But if it continues on this way for another 2, 2.5 weeks then I think Gulutzan gets canned before the Flames hit their BYE week (Feb 8-12). Possibly sooner if Julien is let go.
The problem with this is the fact that the Flames don't seem to make timely moves. If Julien were to become available, we'd think about it for a month and then have to consult the owners. By this time,he'd be long gone.
Whilst GG has his faults (Brodie on the wrong side) I think there needs to be more of a spotlight on the players. The coach is an easy target as we all have more love for the players than the coach, they are the ones we cheer for when they score or make a great play, but they are also the ones not performing right now and need to be accountable.
Hartley had a good season and then last year things went South, so we canned him, this year things are also looking rocky but still we point the finger at the coach rather than the constant denominator. Maybe it should be pointed at the players that got those high paying new contracts over the Summer, that they aren't living up to, and I am talking about Brouwer as well as Gaudreau/Monahan. The game is the same as when they first strapped on skates, regardless of the coaches system, they are supposed to be some of the best players in the sport, time to start showing it.
I agree that the onus needs to be on the players as well but with most of these players, you know what you're getting with them and it's foolish to expect something else. Every player has strengths and weaknesses and it's the coach's job to identify them and play accordingly. GG isn't. It's like he isn't watching the games, he's looking at his fancy stat sheets. He has to look at the team and see what can be done to get the best out of each player, not implement a system that he thinks just works. Brodie needs to be used differently to take full advantage of his skills yet GG keeps using him differently. Chiasson needs to get the hell off of the first line. He needs to change how he's doing things but he just isn't. It's not working.
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I think one of the main problems with Gaudreau is Chiasson/the coaching staff. Johnny is more dangerous when his line carries the puck in through the blue line in the offensive zone with passing plays and that rarely happens anymore. Chiasson isn't good at play making, and is constantly dumping the puck in which is fine when you have big bodies to retrieve the puck, but that's definitely not Johnny's style/strength.
The coaching staff should be tailoring their strategies to specific key players strengths for our advantage. The reason Hudler worked so well with Monny and Johnny was because he played their style and was creative in the offensive zone and you'd rarely see them dump and chase.
It's was no surprise that Johnny played so well at the worlds, as those we're some of the most creative players in the world that play at such a high level. Johnny and Monny need a creative type player on the right side and currently the Flames system doesn't have one player that fits that description, so they're stuck with dump and chase grinders.
Take a look at the 3M line, they're having success because all three of those players play the same style of game tailored to their strengths, and it's working.
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The problem with this is the fact that the Flames don't seem to make timely moves. If Julien were to become available, we'd think about it for a month and then have to consult the owners. By this time,he'd be long gone.
I have a hard time believing that if Julien was fired he would jump at the chance to coach the flames. IMO he would probably take some time off and come back fresh with a team next year. Only way i see Julien signing with a team right after getting fired, is if its a legit stanley cup contender team, or a team offers him Babcock money.
I agree that the onus needs to be on the players as well but with most of these players, you know what you're getting with them and it's foolish to expect something else. Every player has strengths and weaknesses and it's the coach's job to identify them and play accordingly. GG isn't. It's like he isn't watching the games, he's looking at his fancy stat sheets. He has to look at the team and see what can be done to get the best out of each player, not implement a system that he thinks just works. Brodie needs to be used differently to take full advantage of his skills yet GG keeps using him differently. Chiasson needs to get the hell off of the first line. He needs to change how he's doing things but he just isn't. It's not working.
This.
What makes a good coach good, is his ability to get the most out of his players.
Gaudreau, Monahan, Gio, Brodie, Elliott are all proven NHL-ers. We know what they're capable of. But they're not playing like it.
Sure, some of it's on them but when all of your star players struggle at the same time?
Uninspired hockey is the perfect definition of the Flames team. No emotion! No push back! Just a bunch of sad faces on the bench waiting for the game to end quickly. We quit coach! That seems to be the message.
It's time to seriously question the leadership on this team. We need a Mark Messier style leader who isn't afraid to hold players accountable for their poor effort and push them to play with some emotion. Cleary Gio is not that man when you read his post game comments during this losing streak. Give the "C" to someone else!
I'm not going to pretend I know what kind of leader Giordano is. Pretty much every player/coach/GM around the league has nothing but good things to say about him.
But it was very telling on the bench when the camera panned over and Kelly Hrudey said something about 'this is how a team looks when it's down and out with no confidence'. Leaders like Brouwer, Gio, Monahan. Heads down, not saying anything. That's what GMG the most.
Now maybe when the game is in action, they are talking to the boys, encouraging everyone. But it's not a good sign when everyone has their head down, no one is talking, and the coach is off in la-la land. Hrudey mentioned several times just how quiet and head-down everyone was.
I don't think this team hates to lose bad enough yet. GG's quote of as soon as the team has something bad happen to them they crumble, is literally line for line what Hartley said last season. The big guns all got their paydays. Brouwer signed his retirement contract. Wideman knows he's probably out of the league next season. Bennett knows he's still going to get a raise next season regardless of the numbers he puts up. But until a leader steps up and wraps his hands around someone's neck and shakes the suckage out of them, this is what we are stuck with. I'm not expecting them to win every game. But FFS try. Just try. It's crystal clear to even the dumbest fan when someone isn't trying.
And off topic, but this is exactly why I have zero issue with a GM holding out and trying to low-ball a player during contract negotiations. Like clock work, a player signs a big contract because their agent has everyone convinced just how good he is and everyone falls for it. Then they proceed to suck for a large duration of it, clearly not living up to their end. Some people here were fine paying Gaurdreau 8 million +. Imagine that was his salary now with how he's performing. We'd be the laughing stock of the league.
I see little wrong with what was said about the 4th line. It seemed a personal jab but i think it goes along with a message of doing the right things. As a 4th line player you don't have, umm for lack of a better term, "permission" to make that extra push at the end of a shift to try to make something happen. You aren't truly expected to score and it isn't likely you will score. Rather your job is to have a good shift, maybe get some possession and then get off quickly and safely. They didn't. For it to come out like that at the end of the game I'd have to imagine that this is something that has been discussed with the players before. That doesn't seem to be a reaction from a coach on something a trio did for the first time.
The other problem is that despite playing well they are unable to finish and that is on the stars. In the Leaf game it's 2-0 and Gaudreau has a chance where he is wide open and walking down main street and he shoots high. Doesn't even force a save. The puck goes the other way and it's 3-0. Right after that, Giordano (I think) is allowed to walk into the slot and he to shoots it high. Putting those pucks in the net (especially at 2-0) changes the game. Last night you had a careless giveaway by Gaudreau.
No question a lot can be out on the coaching staff but until players expected to perform at a high level start doing so you can have Scotty Bowman behind the bench and the result is going to be the same.
Last edited by ernie; 01-25-2017 at 09:40 AM.
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Haha.
People bitch about Gulutzan not showing emotion, blowing up, etc... Then are butt hurt when he does. He called out the top guys, he called out the 4th line. Boo hoo
Tough crowd eh?
"Show some emotion! Not like that!"
I also like how many "fans" were legitimately upset that Bennett scored.
And now we're ripping on Versteeg? Versteeg and his contract are the least of the Flames problems right now. Guys like Versteeg and Chiasson are playing large roles because the cupboards just aren't that full. Tough pill to swallow but it's true.
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