The trials and tribulations of Glen Gulutzan

[smiggy77]

Pulled from the PGT from last night:

Originally Posted by AC

@Fan960Steinberg
With tonight’s win over Arizona, #Flames are now 42-0-0 when leading after 40 minutes since October 15th, 2016.

It needs to be posted and at least acknowledged a bit as a positive of GG's work.

[Stanley]

Originally Posted by smiggy77

Pulled from the PGT from last night:



It needs to be posted and at least acknowledged a bit as a positive of GG's work.

Holy crap...that's a cool stat

[Kybb79]

I sure hope GG does not match up the first line against the Mcdavid line tommorow. The 3M line should have that duty.If he beats the Oilers that should cut him some slack.

[Toonage]

Coaches will also be tempted to put Brodie out there against McDavid. I get this, he's the fastest D, but with the way Brodie & Hamonic have struggled I would avoid this at all costs.

They have been better, but I'd still make that adjustment.

[Kybb79]

Originally Posted by Toonage

Coaches will also be tempted to put Brodie out there against McDavid. I get this, he's the fastest D, but with the way Brodie & Hamonic have struggled I would avoid this at all costs.

They have been better, but I'd still make that adjustment.

Knowing GG he will have the 4th line out against the Mcdavid line.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Lol.

This thread.

What is the evidence this team should have a better record than they currently have?

What are the tangible explanations for why this team is better than the team that squeaked in last year?

This season has been pretty freakin' predictable as far as I am concerned. The only real departures from my expectations has been the performances of Smith, ferland and gaudreau.

Last year was seen as an adjustment year, with slow start attributed to new system, Gaudreau’s contract situation, etc. This year with the core intact, adding Hamonic and to a lesser extent Jagr, and Smith expected to be at least a wash with last year’s goalies (he’s actually been much better), there was absolutely reason to have higher expectations.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Lucky23

Has anyone else noticed that Gulutzan is the Head Coach, but doesn't actually do much coaching?

He has a separate coach for each Special Team and for Defense, Forwards, and Goaltending. I know this isn't out of the realm of the norm for the NHL but how about the fact that Gulutzan does NOT even talk his team after a game, Win or Lose.

Another aspect I hate is how after every single play he is looking at the screens on the bench to see the play. Literally every single play.. Did you not watch it with your own eyes? What are you trying to reconfirm. I understand getting another look, but to do it every single play is mind boggling to me.

He also get's out-coached every game with match-ups and line combinations. Frolik has not been great this year, I think it's time to move him down the depth chart and try and fuel the bottom 6 more.

Originally Posted by bax

Worst post in this thread?

I thought this was a sarcastic troll post.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Kybb79

I sure hope GG does not match up the first line against the Mcdavid line tommorow. The 3M line should have that duty.If he beats the Oilers that should cut him some slack.

People need to stop trotting out this nonsense.

Glen Gulutzan's job is not presently in jeopardy—not by a long shot. There will be no discussions by Flames management of a coaching change if the Flames lose to the Oilers tomorrow night; not even if they are badly blown out.

The only way Gulutzan is fired before the off season is if the wheels suddenly fall off and the team plummets to the bottom of the standings. That does not seem remotely likely.

I understand that some posters here cannot stand Gulutzan for various reasons—some of them worthy of discussion (i.e. player personnel decisions and special teams); some of them considerably less so (i.e. his supposed dearth of "emotion" and tendency for watching the in-game monitors). That's fine, so long as those of you so woodenly committed to this narrative desist from making silly predictions about how many more games management can stomach keeping Gulutzan employed before unceremoniously turfing him for losing an occasional game, or not running away with the Division.

Like it or not, Glen Gulutzan will be the coach of the Calgary Flames for the full duration of the 2017–18 season. It is best to accept that.

[Kybb79]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

People need to stop trotting out this nonsense.

Glen Gulutzan's job is not presently in jeopardy—not by a long shot. There will be no discussions by Flames management of a coaching change if the Flames lose to the Oilers tomorrow night; not even if they are badly blown out.

The only way Gulutzan is fired before the off season is if the wheels suddenly fall off and the team plummets to the bottom of the standings. That does not seem remotely likely.

I understand that some posters here cannot stand Gulutzan for various reasons—some of them worthy of discussion (i.e. player personnel decisions and special teams); some of them considerably less so (i.e. a supposed dearth of "emotion" and for watching the in-game monitors). That's fine, so long as those of you so woodenly committed to this narrative desist from making silly predictions about how many more games management can stomach keeping Gulutzan employed before unceremoniously turfing him for losing an occasional game, or not running away with the Division.

Like it or not, Glen Gulutzan will be the coach of the Calgary Flames for the full duration of the 2017–18 season. It is best to accept that.

I have been a die hard Flames fan since the 80s. I have seen some bad coaches come and go but im not alone in thinking GG is up there with the worst. This team is not playing up to par with him most nights. I understand we might not see a change this season but i look forward to the day he is gone. He will never change his coaching style and if we do lose tomorrow that will be a big reason why.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Kybb79

I have been a die hard Flames fan since the 80s. I have seen some bad coaches come and go but im not alone in thinking GG is up there with the worst. This team is not playing up to par with him most nights. I understand we might not see a change this season but i look forward to the day he is gone. He will never change his coaching style and if we do lose tomorrow that will be a big reason why.

You are perhaps not alone, but I would imagine this is not a large group. Nor is it one that has paid a good deal of attention to the Flames's coaching history which features such luminaries as Doug Risebrough, Guy Charon, Pierre Page, Don Hay, Greg Gilbert, Jim Playfair and Brent Sutter. As of today, there are exactly four coaches in the entire history of the Calgary franchise to record a higher winning percentage than Gulutzan. He is not even remotely close to being among the worst by ANY metric.

[Kybb79]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

You are perhaps not alone, but I would imagine this is not a large group. Nor is it one that has paid a good deal of attention to the Flames's coaching history which features such luminaries as Doug Risebrough, Guy Charon, Pierre Page, Don Hay, Greg Gilbert, Jim Playfair and Brent Sutter. As of today, there are exactly four coaches in the entire history of the Calgary franchise to record a higher winning percentage than Gulutzan. He is not eve remotely close to being among the worst by ANY metric.

Some of those coaches you mentioned had bad teams actually most of them. This team in underachieving and that sir is on the coach. This team is stacked on D but can't seem to play like it. This is the best Flames team since 2004 but are lacking a good coach.

[Gaskal]

Brodie and Hamonic last night were actually the most buried defense pairing, and put up the best and 3rd best possession numbers out of all Flames skaters - including the usual suspects in 3M + Gio/Dougie. It was against a terrible Coyotes team, but still - there's something there, and this builds confidence. They appear to be stapled to 3M now.

Conversely, Johnny's line sees a lot of time with Giordano and Dougie, which is right in line with Gulutzan's interview on TheAthletic.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Kybb79

Some of those coaches you mentioned had bad teams actually most of them.

Hilarious. I am dying to know which of the seven coaches I mentioned you have ranked ahead of Gulutzan.

This team in underachieving and that sir is on the coach. This team is stacked on D but can't seem to play like it. This is the best Flames team since 2004 but are lacking a good coach.

Originally Posted by JerryUnderscore

...if you look at 5v5, our goals against are 11th...

Looking at the data from Natural Stat Trick, our shots for are 595 while shots against are 593. That's a +2 in the shots differential. (Again this is for 5v5)

As for scoring chances? 579 for, 518 against (that's a 52.78% scoring chance ratio).

What about high danger scoring chances? 214 for, 187 against. Once again that's a 53.37% high danger ratio.

The Flames ended the season last year posting a 0.573 winning percentage, and are presently running at a 0.580 winning percentage.

Are they really "underacheiving"? It sure doesn't look like it. In actual fact, I would say they are within range of where they were expected by most to be at the beginning of the season: holding down a playoff spot, and within very close striking distance of the Division lead.

[Flash Walken]

If Darryl Sutter was coach the flames would've already won the cup.

[theg69]

Originally Posted by Kybb79

Some of those coaches you mentioned had bad teams actually most of them. This team in underachieving and that sir is on the coach. This team is stacked on D but can't seem to play like it. This is the best Flames team since 2004 but are lacking a good coach.

Not this again... people tend to focus on the negative and cannot separate it from the positive. The team is currently 14-10-1 and if someone told me before the season that the flames had that record after 25 games, I would deem it quite reasonable. If you were making the argument that the Flames might be in a better position with another coach, I might buy that... But to say he is one of the worst coaches is hyperbole at its finest.

These same posters are the ones that blame the coach for players playing poorly (Brodie, Hamonic, Bennett, Brouwer) and not give him any credit for players that have had career years or playing well so far (Johnny, Monahan, Ferland, Backlund). That makes absolutely no sense to me.

Honestly, I think we attribute too much success and failure to a coach. There is enough variability in results by the same coach to demonstrate that maybe a lot of the results on ice have to be placed squarely on the shoulders of the actual players.

Are Mcllelland, Boucher, Boudreau horrific coaches all of a sudden? Conversely, is Paul Maurice a fantastic coach now? How about Mike Yeo - that the Wild ran out of town - is he a great coach now? I can give tons of examples of variability of results with the same coach and in most instances with almost the exact same roster.

GG is an average coach, but that's ok because there are only a handful upper echelon coaches (ie Babcock). He has demonstrated that he can get the team to play well and fairly consistently (back half of last season) and to say that he is awful is disingenuous at best. I agree he gets the rest of this season and will be re-evaluated in the off-season. It's ridiculous that these posts on GG keep coming up, even when we play well and win.

My only gripe with him is overplaying the fourth line and third d pairing at critical times and maybe the stubbornness to make Brodie-Hamonic work - but I do recognize that he has done things to help Johnnys line more successful (keeping him away from the opposition checking line) as well as trying things to kickstart Bennetts awful season (shifting to the wing, more offensive starts, pp time on the second unit). It's all about a balanced perspective.

[Kybb79]

If we didn't have Mike Smith playing lights out GG would be fired like he was in Vancouver. I found it funny when Babcock thanked GG for matching the lines they way he did. Lets hope Tmac doesn't say the same tomorrow night.

[theg69]

Originally Posted by Kybb79

If we didn't have Mike Smith playing lights out GG would be fired like he was in Vancouver. I found it funny when Babcock thanked GG for matching the lines they way he did. Lets hope Tmac doesn't say the same tomorrow night.

1) When did GG ever have a head coaching position in Vancouver? Must be some alternative reality...

2) Ya.. coaches in Columbus, LA, Winnipeg, Nashvile, Chicago, San Jose should all be on the hotseat as well.. I mean all those goalies must be in god mode with save percentages higher than Smith.. I don't understand this narrative either - Yes Smith has been very good but last time I checked, the goalie was part of the team. Secondly, Smiths numbers have dipped back towards the mean after his hot start - he is still above average - but there are a number of goalies that are playing better than him.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Kybb79

If we didn't have Mike Smith playing lights out GG would be fired like he was in Vancouver. I found it funny when Babcock thanked GG for matching the lines they way he did. Lets hope Tmac doesn't say the same tomorrow night.

You make it sound as though Smith is turning in an historic performance. Yes, he has been very good, as good goalies playing for good teams tend to be. However, it bears pointing out that he currently barely cracks the top-ten of save-percentage leaders among goalies who have started more than 10 games, and he ranks sixth in wins in this group.

Moreover, some added context: In the first month of the season Smith recorded a 0.927 SP, and a 5-5 record to go with it. In the last month his SP dropped to 0.916, but maintained a pretty stellar 6-3-1 record in November.

That does not look like a goalie stealing games hand-over-fist to keep his team above water. Those numbers suggest much more obviously a goalie who turned in a series of excellent performances while his team adjusted to the new season, but who has settled back as the rest of the group has improved.

[belsarius]

Originally Posted by Kybb79

Some of those coaches you mentioned had bad teams actually most of them. This team in underachieving and that sir is on the coach. This team is stacked on D but can't seem to play like it. This is the best Flames team since 2004 but are lacking a good coach.

I don't think this lineup is even close to some of the line-ups in that timeline. There were a lot of stacked Flames lineups in the mid-late 2000s that just somehow failed in the playoffs. 2006-2007 had 4 players at over 0.95 ppg. 2008-2009 had 18 players with over 30 points.. 18 players.. They had a defense man putting up regular 50 point seasons, the best power forward in the game and arguably the best goaltender for the better part of the decade.

This team has some decent talent that's for sure. They are all young and have a chance to be great. But regardless of coaching on paper this team is not "the best team" since 2004.

[ClubFlames]

Originally Posted by belsarius

I don't think this lineup is even close to some of the line-ups in that timeline. There were a lot of stacked Flames lineups in the mid-late 2000s that just somehow failed in the playoffs. 2006-2007 had 4 players at over 0.95 ppg. 2008-2009 had 11 players with over 30 points.. 11 players.. They had a defense man putting up regular 50 point seasons, the best power forward in the game and arguably the best goaltender for the better part of the decade.

This team has some decent talent that's for sure. They are all young and have a chance to be great. But regardless of coaching on paper this team is not "the best team" since 2004.

Fixed.