The Eating Crow Thread

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

I don't really care if Hudler's been hurt, he is a better hockey player than Troy Brouwer.

I love Frolik, but he is not a better hockey player than Mike Cammalleri.

I briefly bought into the Jokipakka kool-aid but Jokipakka is not better than Russell. In fact the only time he's actually looked good was when he was playing with Nakldal in a sheltered third pair role and Nakladal was getting everything on net. Never mind actually signing Grossmann, whom the coach had pure nepotistic relationship with.

Raymond and Engelland are not better hockey players than Stempniak and Schlemko. I'll give Treliving a pass on Schlemko only because he's the one who brought Schlemko in (albeit by sheer chance with Giordano injured). And yes, Stempniak was dealt just before Tre got here. But not only was Treliving personally familiar with the player, the player hardly signed elsewhere right away, whereas Mason Raymond was a day one signing.

Freddie Hamilton has not been better than Josh Jooris, although that's a pretty minor one. Jooris has been hurt anyways so I guess Treliving lucked into a player not getting hurt.

Hell, I'd argue Glencross and Jones are outperforming Alex Chiasson. Right Now.

Do I think Treliving has made some good moves WRT minor league deals and prospects? yes I do. But it is all for naught if he is going to shackle this team down at the NHL level with bad signings every year. Bad signings are not made sensible just because he keeps preaching that "term is the killer, not AAV". Bad contracts are bad contracts if they make your team worse.

This team has gotten progressively worse since he's started to make his mark on it.

Oh, and while he may talk about Hartley's puck possession as a valid excuse to fire him, he himself has brought in all the worst puck possession players on this team with the sole exception of Wideman. The LA Kings got better by not only hiring Darryl Sutter - but by trading Jack Johnson away. Treliving's steadfast refusal to admit certain players are possession black holes becausre they fit some aesthetic criteria he has laid out does not justify his actions. He almost brought in Lauri Korpikoski, the worst possession player in the NHL - but we lucked out that another team signed him before Tre could. Grossmann and Engelland are statistically two of the three worst penalty killers in the NHL over the last, I forget, four years, and we literally went into the season expecting these guys to make a difference on the PK.

I eat crow on the enlarged text. Alex Chiasson has won me over now that he is not going offside ahead of Johnny every shift. I actually look forward to Chiasson shifts as he does a ton right.

Also I am neutral on Engelland on the PK. I don't know how I feel so if we can make it past the Ducks PP with Engelland's flopping then I will eat crow on the other one too.

[Ryan Coke]

I am glad I was wrong about GG, and that he wasn't fired. I will say that he still did some things poorly, and made some errors. The team sucked brutally at times. But I always hoped he and the team would put things together, and give him total credit for all the things he has done right to get the team where it is.

It is like a player that becomes a whipping boy or a bust, then plays better. It doesn't exonerate the poor play, but it does show the benefit of patience in most cases.

[Timbo]

I've never been happier to be more wrong as I am right now.

[Frank MetaMusil]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

Can we at least ban the poster who started the glue gun nickname? Also, everyone who used it.

Haha I've apologized multiple times for being an idiot.

On the other hand, if they don't make playoffs, the reasoning is just a simple "they aren't talented enough" right?

At least I always thought the roster was good enough to make the show.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Frank MetaMusil

Haha I've apologized multiple times for being an idiot.

On the other hand, if they don't make playoffs, the reasoning is just a simple "they aren't talented enough" right?

At least I always thought the roster was good enough to make the show.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

just as long you as you take away the unsustainable poor PP results as well.

waiting for your follow up post.

Actually the poor powerplay has been quite sustainable. First half of the season and last month.

Edit: Waiting for your follow up post where you try to deny how poor the powerplay was in October, November, March.

[SportsJunky]

Originally Posted by Frank MetaMusil

Haha I've apologized multiple times for being an idiot.

On the other hand, if they don't make playoffs, the reasoning is just a simple "they aren't talented enough" right?

At least I always thought the roster was good enough to make the show.

Was it you who coined glue gun? I honestly have no idea.

[Frank MetaMusil]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

Was it you who coined glue gun? I honestly have no idea.

Was a typo I didn't fix. I'm just happy I was totally wrong.

Treliving saying Bob took the team as far as he could was bang on too. I still wish he'd fixed the goaltending and let Hartley finish his contract, but understand the move.

Hilarious that two of the Canucks recent coaches/assistants are both in the post season now as well.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by Frank MetaMusil

Was a typo I didn't fix. I'm just happy I was totally wrong.

Treliving saying Bob took the team as far as he could was bang on too. I still wish he'd fixed the goaltending and let Hartley finish his contract, but understand the move.

Hilarious that two of the Canucks recent coaches/assistants are both in the post season now as well.

I honestly don't think Treliving had ever planned on extending Hartley, but the improbable 2014/15 season resulting in round 2 of the playoffs and coach of the year for Hartley, forced BT's hand.

I also remember hearing about BT being in on both Talbot and Jones in the 2015 off-season, but he ended up grabbing Dougie that summer instead when he suddenly became available.

[Travis Munroe]

I have remained very impressed with Tre's performance as he can only build the team and I think he has brought all the right pieces in. Whether they perform to expectations is a different matter.

I called for GG to be fired about after about 30 something games. I kept hearing about it taking 20 or so to have a team adapt to a new style and after 30 things appeared to get worse and I couldn't believe he was being held onto.

This is a lesson I will remind myself of every down turn in the flames moving forward. Patience is key and it certainly cant be easy. Imagine being Tre and reading all that you would read about needing to fire GG. If you fire GG you make the city happy and take the spotlight off yourself for the time being while keeping GG keeps you in the hot seat.

I wonder just how close or far it was from GG being fired. For all we know there was a point in the season where he was told one more blow out loss and you are gone or he could have been told regardless of what happens he is the guy for the next 2 years minimum.

Props to GG for bringing us an exciting yet structured style of play, the team for buying into it and knowing when they stray as we hear in interviews and Tre for building a fast team with some big bodys and new goaltending. Moose gets all the credit right now but lets not forget it was Johnson who turned the ship around. Together those 2 upped the confidence of the team and fan base!

[GoJetsGo]

Patience and context are often lost on a sizeable contingent of sports fans. It seems like simply understanding and acknowledging that (and remembering it moving forward) would be more productive than apologies.

Every year we listen to a small contingent of fans / posters going off the deep end in the first quarter of the season.

I don't hold out much hope that will change. The same usual suspects are generally losing it after one bad period never mind a slow start to a season.

[jayswin]

Haha, leave it to GoJetsGo to take a thread where posters are stepping up and doing something that almost never happens online and saying "you know what? I was wrong" and finding a way to still turn it into an argument!

"No, not good enough! People need to be better, that's more productive than apologies".

Jesus, man. There's no mandate to find something wrong in every thread you visit. You're the only poster who's consistently in battles because of stuff like this. It's an "I was wrong" thread and people are saying "I was wrong".

Let it go.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I think Gulutzan has proven at least to be a competent head coach. The team looked lost, coach looked tuned out, and it was getting close looking like a one and done scenario may be possible so turning things around like he has done is no small feat. That said we have seen a few coaches over the past few years turn teams around in the 2nd half of the season only to see the cycle repeat the next season where the team starts out bad (Mike Yeo, Dave Cameron for instance) so I'm hoping the coach has learned about the importance of preseason and early preparation because this organization really needs to start playing better in the beginning of seasons. I will give him a solid B for the season because despite turning things around there were and still are (the powerplay and lack of Hamilton on the first unit) self-inflicted wounds. Next season will show if this is his ceiling or if he has potential to be one of the game's next top coaches...

I would seriously pay money to watch you have this conversation with Coach Gulutzan. Who the hell are you or any of us to tell him what he did right and what he did wrong this season?

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Actually the poor powerplay has been quite sustainable. First half of the season and last month.

Edit: Waiting for your follow up post where you try to deny how poor the powerplay was in October, November, March.

If it was sustainably poor then I would think the results would never have changed, no?

Special teams for a lot of teams tend to run hot and cold. The Flames are no different, and this is not something to get disjointed about.

[TheMagicMan]

I wanted Hartley back.

I thought Johnny Hockey was not the real deal.

Glad I was wrong in both instances.

[GoJetsGo]

Originally Posted by jayswin

Haha, leave it to GoJetsGo to take a thread where posters are stepping up and doing something that almost never happens online and saying "you know what? I was wrong" and finding a way to still turn it into an argument!

"No, not good enough! People need to be better, that's more productive than apologies".

Jesus, man. There's no mandate to find something wrong in every thread you visit. You're the only poster who's consistently in battles because of stuff like this. It's an "I was wrong" thread and people are saying "I was wrong".

Let it go.

There's nothing wrong with the thread. It's great.

But there's a lesson to be learned for those who watch hockey in an enduring state of pre-panic is all I'm saying.

[Oil Stain]

My signature.

[GGG]

What's interesting is you probably shouldn't be eating Crow if you thought this team was done in January. 95/100 times you would have been right. If you were fire the coach trade Hamilton after the first 10 games then you have Crow to eat. But a reasonable Fan should not have expected this turn around.

It's been a great ride, now lets get to second or third and beat the oilers in the first round.

[Jetfire]

I need a great big plate of crow, didn't believe in Gulutzan much at all. Glad he's proving me wrong. I did have a bunch of fun making bad Gulutzan photoshops this season when things were going bad, but he righted the ship before I ever had a reason to post this one:

Spoiler for size.

Spoiler!

Made it during that horrible road trip earlier in the season. Going to need to make some pro-Gulutzan ones for the playoffs now.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by GoJetsGo

There's nothing wrong with the thread. It's great.

But there's a lesson to be learned for those who watch hockey in an enduring state of pre-panic is all I'm saying.

Well aren't we all blessed to have you here to teach it.