Since November 15, this team is 3rd in the Western Conference and 6th overall. Their points/game pace since then would put them at 104 points over the course of an entire 82 game season.
Yeah - I have been using US Thanksgiving because that is always a point of the season that people like to state.
The turnaround really has been remarkable and outside of that stretch of 4-0 deficits this team has looked really good.
Amazing turnaround. At US Thanksgiving I felt for sure the Flames goose was cooked for the 2016/17 season. Kudos to GG and the team on how they have righted this ship.
Top players still aren't lighting things up but the overall team game and play of the Backlund line seems to be enough to compensate. Goaltending probably the biggest reason though for the turnaround. The soft goals have been reduced from one or two a game to one or two every five games or so. Makes a huge difference.
This was posted in the Herald yesterday. Talks about Gulutzan's learnings from Darryl Sutter:
Quote:
And, of course, there was the occasional opportunity for the up-and-coming coach from Hudson Bay, Sask., to talk shop with the man who led the Flames to Game 7 of the 2004 Stanley Cup final and has since guided the Kings to a pair of championship parades.
“One of the things that sticks out is I asked him in 2004, ‘How did you get the team to play that hard?’ ” said Gulutzan, now 45. “I remember that was one of the questions I asked him after their playoff run. I hadn’t seen a team play that hard. And Darryl’s answer, I still remember, was: ‘I didn’t. I didn’t do it.’ He said, ‘Once Jarome and the leadership got on board and together, they looked after it themselves.’ Darryl had the horses hitched to the wagon, and they just ran.
“I can remember him saying, ‘It wasn’t me. It was them. It was on the leadership, it was on the players, and they took hold of it,’ ” continued Calgary’s current bench boss. “And I’ve tried to adopt a little bit of that. You kind of set up the framework, you set up the structure, you set up the passion, you try to bond the team together, and different coaches bond teams together in different ways. But at the end of it, you need to let the players take hold of it and take it where they want to go. I’ve always kept that in my thought process when I’m trying to develop a team.
The timing is interesting because Gio had one of his best games last night, and certainly tilted the ice with his thundering hit on Brown. We don't know what is said in the room but I don't hear many complaints about Gio's leadership now that the Flames have been winning...
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Didn't want to make a new thread for it, but there's an interview with GG from Fan 590. Some cool insight 'post Montreal game' that may have kick-started this whole turnaround.
Apologies, I'd link it, but work's not havin' it....
Gulutzan: Beer and Honesty with the vets helped turn Flames around
Last edited by Ardor; 03-06-2017 at 01:27 PM.
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Didn't want to make a new thread for it, but there's an interview with GG from Fan 590. Some cool insight 'post Montreal game' that may have kick-started this whole turnaround.
Apologies, I'd link it, but work's not havin' it....
Gulutzan: Beer and Honesty with the vets helped turn Flames around
Personally, here is how I judge if a system works, that is, when you slot in different players in the placeholders, and they deliver along with a strengths to meet the expectations of the team goal. It comes with all other variables, such as drafting, development, trades.
In a smaller sample size of about 45 games, GG was able to adjust and hide the few glaring weaknesses we had this year such as the PP, GK, top 6F, and top 4D...it comes with the support from the manager Treliving.
The strengths of the system show obviously in many games this year. The big thing is being patience.
I am not saying we can start a 25 year playoff appearance streak now. But it will be interesting to see if GG has reinvented the wheels to adjust and shine in the salary cap era.
The timing is interesting because Gio had one of his best games last night, and certainly tilted the ice with his thundering hit on Brown. We don't know what is said in the room but I don't hear many complaints about Gio's leadership now that the Flames have been winning...
Exactly.
I think of this, or similar comments, when a number of posters talk about one of the coach's main roles being motivation.
Any time you hear anyone involved in hockey at the professional level, they will always tell you motivation comes from within the room - peer to peer. That a coach prepares you, sets a system or game plan, but doesn't provide inspiration or motivation. Except maybe in movies.
It's really kind of silly to think otherwise.
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In my professional experience, I'll take a calm and composed leader any day of the week over a guy who yells and screams in order to get performance from his team. That should be true for any workplace, including professional hockey.
How often did you see Sutter visibly upset? He gets his teams to work hard consistently without screaming at them.
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"You know, that's kinda why I came here, to show that I don't suck that much" ~ Devin Cooley, Professional Goaltender
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To me he has to be in the running for the Adam's trophy. This is a coach that completely turned a team around after a bad start and made them one of the hottest teams in the league since as pointed out earlier thanksgiving.
I mean who do we think are under consideration here?
If the Eastern Media has its way its Babcock in Toronto, probably Trotz and Tortz.
In the West T-Mac in Edmonton needs consideration though its not that hard saying "I'm startin Talbot and holding the gate open for McDavid derr". Deboer in San Jose and Boudreau in Minny.
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