The trials and tribulations of Glen Gulutzan

[kukkudo]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

And we will be Oilers bad, probably worse. You want to bring in one of the most overrated coaches in NHL history who has a terrible coaching record and implements a system that generates little to no offence to coach this team? Jesus...

I don't want Tippett as the coach, but if GG were to be replaced I can see the Arizona connection if they were on good terms.

[kukkudo]

Originally Posted by bax

I’m baffled at how you came to this conclusion. There has been no rumors of GG being on the hot seat at all.

And you think if our record is 14-11-1 by this weekend they fire him? I don’t see it

They wont fire him if they win the next two games, now if you lose the next two games they could easily drop to 13th in the conference. In this business its easier to fire a coach than trading players.

[bax]

Originally Posted by kukkudo

They wont fire him if they win the next two games, now if you lose the next two games they could easily drop to 13th in the conference. In this business its easier to fire a coach than trading players.

They won’t fire him no matter what happens in the next two games.

You don’t fire coaches based on single game results.

[kukkudo]

Originally Posted by bax

They won’t fire him no matter what happens in the next two games.

You don’t fire coaches based on single game results.

Its not a single game its the season the record looks decent because of Mike Smith. No Mike Smith this team is sitting where Edmonton is.

[icecube]

I'd remove the word good and just have the thread be titled "Glen Gulutzan is a head coach".

[colbym72]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Did the flames have their Christmas party last night or something?

20 shots? I mean, I don't know how you start with the coach in a game like that.

When was the last time the flames had 20 shots in a game? Anyone know?

Three times last year. December 6th last year in a 2-1 win vs Dallas

[bax]

Originally Posted by kukkudo

Its not a single game its the season the record looks decent because of Mike Smith. No Mike Smith this team is sitting where Edmonton is.

Okay so why does the result in the next two games matter then? If management felt this was the case then why wouldn’t they fire him now?

That’s the point I’m trying to make. Saying so and so will be fired if we don’t win a certain game is silly.

[Robbob]

Listening to some of his post game stuff I think it is clear he understands some of the problems, he is just trying to find the right buttons to push with the team.

[Frank MetaMusil]

Rhett said this morning on 960 that Gulutzan needs to start running with his top 4 as whoever is playing the best any given night, ala Keenan.

Said he's tired of seeing the same pairings, Hamilton doesn't need his hand held, and Brodano should be a thing again to try and get him going.

[The Fonz]

Does anyone remember the comment that Hrudey or Ball made in the 1st period, in regards to GG choosing not to focus on line matches?

[icecube]

Originally Posted by Frank MetaMusil

Rhett said this morning on 960 that Gulutzan needs to start running with his top 4 as whoever is playing the best any given night, ala Keenan.

Said he's tired of seeing the same pairings, Hamilton doesn't need his hand held, and Brodano should be a thing again to try and get him going.

This is what people have been saying for weeks. Good to hear a media personality state the obvious. Hopefully Gulutzan catches on sometime this millennium.

[Racki]

In the NFL more than in the NHL a coach's ability to motivate and prepare their team is really judge by their record in division but particularly against heated rivals in big games.

Last year Gulutzan was 2-4-3 against Edmonton and Vancouver. Two wins in nine games. Not good enough at all. He's already 1-2 this season. I know it's on the players to get up for these games but the coach does have a hand in that and this team seems to wilt in big games. If my math is correct Hartley (throw out lockout season) was 10-5-3 against those two teams.

I will be shocked if they beat the Oilers at home on Saturday. It's a big game on Hockey Night in Canada and I can't help but feel that the Flames will be listless and awful in a big spot as usual.

[troutman]

Don't know what a coach can do about the Leafs being quicker in every way - faster to the puck, quick to take away space. That is a skill/management problem. Smith is making up for some of it.

[Frank MetaMusil]

Originally Posted by icecube

This is what people have been saying for weeks. Good to hear a media personality state the obvious. Hopefully Gulutzan catches on sometime this millennium.

Rhett sounds like he's tired of GG. Also said he doesn't really seem overly passionate or mad about last night's loss, just kind of a "yeah, that happened" type vibe.

He said GG should forget about the top 5 d corps on paper mentality and start trying to blend some chemistry into the rest of his lineup. It was actually refreshing to hear him rant about this stuff.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by troutman

Don't know what a coach can do about the Leafs being quicker in every way - faster to the puck, quick to take away space. That is a skill/management problem. Smith is making up for some of it.

Are they quicker, or were the Flames just slow last night? I felt that the compete level on the Flames just wasn't there, even in a number of situations that guys were fighting for those '50-50' pucks along the boards. I don't know how much of it you can pin on the coach, but I do believe that the Flames were quite listless and it made the Leafs seem much faster.

[nik-]

I just hope the change is made this season with a good number of games left.

I don't want to go into another new season with a new head coach and piss about the first 20 games while they "learn the system".

[Red]

Originally Posted by troutman

Don't know what a coach can do about the Leafs being quicker in every way - faster to the puck, quick to take away space. That is a skill/management problem. Smith is making up for some of it.

I think it was Scotty Bowman that said that you can't outskate a puck. Get your passing game going to neutralize speed.
But again, we pass the same every game so teams catch on on our trends and interrupt with great success.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by troutman

Don't know what a coach can do about the Leafs being quicker in every way - faster to the puck, quick to take away space. That is a skill/management problem. Smith is making up for some of it.

Extremely weak arguement and giving the Leafs far too much credit. They were quicker because they worked harder plain and simple. Outside of Smith the Flames were not ready to play last night. They were not ready to play opening night, and had stretches last year when they were not ready to play. Wasn’t it 4 straight games they got down 4-0 before Gulutzan finally had his “pathetic display” press conference and then some beers on the train helped turn things around?

[IgiTang]

The leafs were not very good last night. They capitalized on Flames turnovers for the first half of the game and then went into lockdown mode. Zaitsev continues to shutdown the left side entry but the flames continued to try the left side entry by walking across the line and the Toronto RD simply stepped up to the blue line and that confused the flames, but yet they continued to do the same thing.

The turnovers are what killed the Flames. Mathews didn’t even have a shot for 55 minutes of the game. The Leafs didn’t beat the Flames, the crappy outlets, turnovers in all 3 zones and the poor defensive gaffs cost the Flames.

Who is all of that on? The players? The coaches? I don’t know... but it seems that the games the flames win are more of a product of the top line getting open space I. The o-zone rather than a team game from all lines in all 3 zones. Who is responsible for that? The players?

Also, to me, it appears the flames played tighter with Rittich in net. So I’m wondering if Smith’s need to handle the puck so much is really causing the players to not know when to support the backend or start streaking for an outlet.. as a spectator, when Smith leaves the crease, I know a hail marry is coming.. other teams have to be catching on and taking advantage of the confusion.

This crap needs to get cleaned up. How does that happen?

[Five-hole]

Originally Posted by Frank MetaMusil

Rhett sounds like he's tired of GG. Also said he doesn't really seem overly passionate or mad about last night's loss, just kind of a "yeah, that happened" type vibe.

He said GG should forget about the top 5 d corps on paper mentality and start trying to blend some chemistry into the rest of his lineup. It was actually refreshing to hear him rant about this stuff.

A coach who gets mad about everything gets tuned out quickly.

I have no problem with a measured approach to correcting the team's problems. I know that "it's a process" is a cliche around here but it's true. You don't become a contender overnight by having the coach yell at the team.

I am slightly concerned that these problems don't seem to be getting corrected. At times they almost seem to be getting worse. I see three possibilities. This team is not as good as we thought it was (certainly possible). Gulutzan is not effective in curing what ails them (also possible). Or, it's very difficult to be an elite team in this league (possible - most likely).

Using Burke's crawl/walk/run/sprint analogy, we're still learning how to run. We were the 5th worst team in the league two seasons ago. Most of our best players are under 25.

I know we sucked last night but the Leafs are a good team and you aren't going to have 82 great games. The expectations around here are incredibly unrealistic. We should be talking about a lack of progress, not a lack of mistakes, IMO.