The trials and tribulations of Glen Gulutzan

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by edslunch

That's a 100 point pace, so much closer to outstanding than awful

Yeah, but wideman's point totals have dropped off the map.

[shadowlord]

We went from Wideman, Engelland, Bartkowski in our bottom-3 D to Hamonic, Stone, Kulak. I don't think it's unreasonable to:

(a) have higher expectations for this team beyond just sneaking into the playoffs
(b) be satisfied with the changes on the blueline (including Hamonic)

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by shadowlord

We went from Wideman, Engelland, Bartkowski in our bottom-3 D to Hamonic, Stone, Kulak. I don't think it's unreasonable to:

(a) have higher expectations for this team beyond just sneaking into the playoffs
(b) be satisfied with the changes on the blueline (including Hamonic)

I'm actually not convinced that our defense is as significantly improved as we think. I know Hamonic is a bigger name, but I thought Engelland was excellent for us. He was pretty underappreciated around here and is now playing a big role as a captain for a likely President's Trophy winning team. That says a lot about him. Kulak was around as well last season but was fairly outplayed by Bartkowski at the time. The big difference is the swap of Stone for Wideman for a full season.

But regardless, I really don't think it's as big of a difference as others may think. Don't forget, after the poor start to last season where the team was adjusting to the Gulutzan's new system, the defense core was a top 5 team in goals allowed. Not too shabby.

[Firebot]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

I'm actually not convinced that our defense is as significantly improved as we think. I know Hamonic is a bigger name, but I thought Engelland was excellent for us. He was pretty underappreciated around here and is now playing a big role as a captain for a likely President's Trophy winning team. That says a lot about him. Kulak was around as well last season but was fairly outplayed by Bartkowski at the time. The big difference is the swap of Stone for Wideman for a full season.

But regardless, I really don't think it's as big of a difference as others may think. Don't forget, after the poor start to last season where the team was adjusting to the Gulutzan's new system, the defense core was a top 5 team in goals allowed. Not too shabby.

Aren't the Flames still on a 19-20 game streak of giving up 3 or less goals? Right now they sit at #8 in goals against.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Firebot

Aren't the Flames still on a 19-20 game streak of giving up 3 or less goals? Right now they sit at #8 in goals against.

if you're not first, you're last.

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by Firebot

Aren't the Flames still on a 19-20 game streak of giving up 3 or less goals? Right now they sit at #8 in goals against.

8th and we had a couple crazy games where we let in 8 and 7. I think this team has really tightened things up.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by Firebot

Aren't the Flames still on a 19-20 game streak of giving up 3 or less goals? Right now they sit at #8 in goals against.

Yes exactly. That was my reply to the poster who thought the expectations should be higher. What I'm saying is that our defense isn't remarkably different from year to year. Maybe on paper it should've been. But the real issue is scoring enough goals per game right now, that's the real problem. 3rd line scoring has dried up and the 4th line still can't buy a goal. That's why we're not going toe to toe with Vegas right now for tops in the division.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

I'm actually not convinced that our defense is as significantly improved as we think. I know Hamonic is a bigger name, but I thought Engelland was excellent for us. He was pretty underappreciated around here and is now playing a big role as a captain for a likely President's Trophy winning team. That says a lot about him. Kulak was around as well last season but was fairly outplayed by Bartkowski at the time. The big difference is the swap of Stone for Wideman for a full season.

But regardless, I really don't think it's as big of a difference as others may think. Don't forget, after the poor start to last season where the team was adjusting to the Gulutzan's new system, the defense core was a top 5 team in goals allowed. Not too shabby.

Hamonic's transition game is far superior. He wins more corner battles too. Engelland was good at net front, fighting and he had decent speed once he got going in a straight line. His shot was OK as well.

Engelland is an A, not a C in Vegas. However, they don't have any C (they have 6 As - 3 home and 3 away).

[Manhattanboy]

I hate the entire coaching staff. Not as people lol, as coaches. Their system sucks and it results in boring, uninspired hockey. As others have noted, we look like the Minnesota Wild of old.

And why is management so stubborn that they refuse to acknowledge the futility of the power play and hire a new teacher? The inept PP continues to cost us valuable points.

[theinfinitejar]

Originally Posted by Manhattanboy

I hate the entire coaching staff. Not as people lol, as coaches. Their system sucks.

Why is management so stubborn that they refuse to hire a new PP teacher?

At this point it's so awful that firing him isn't enough. Tar and feather him and run him out of town.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Hamonic's transition game is far superior. He wins more corner battles too. Engelland was good at net front, fighting and he had decent speed once he got going in a straight line. His shot was OK as well.

Engelland is an A, not a C in Vegas. However, they don't have any C (they have 6 As - 3 home and 3 away).

Well I don't know if he's far superior at what you're insinuating. I mean what we do know for sure is that Engelland is absolutely crushing it right now on a far superior team and it's not like Hamonic is on pace to surpass what Engelland did here statistically either. Considering what we paid to acquire him, I did have higher expectations.

But regardless, my main point was that this defense wasn't going to be head and shoulders above last season's team, it's about the same. It's goal scoring that's been the bigger issue with this team. Actually, more specifically, a lack of secondary scoring.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by theinfinitejar

At this point it's so awful that firing him isn't enough. Tar and feather him and run him out of town.

I get that people don't like the coaching staff and the PP and want to run these guys out of town and etc. But everyone needs to remember that this team finished top 10 on the PP last season and were close to top 10 before Versteeg went down with an injury. It's the same coaching, it's the same strategies, it's a personnel issue more than coaching right now.

[Monahammer]

The Canadian Junior team this year had a better PP than we do. Extremely ineffective.

[Gaskal]

Rick and Kelly last night mentioned the special teams road splits. Maybe they were reading Bingo's article.

The fact that it seems to be at least around league average on the road vs abysmal at home definitely reeks to me more of a personnel issue. Guys last night on the less inspiring PPs looked unsure of themselves and where the play was heading - not just when the formation was set up, but advancing into the offensive zone as well.

When the bump-back doesn't go 100% perfectly then guys kind of just stand or circle around in the neutral zone and don't get to build up any speed coming in. Flames need to figure out another entry other than the bump-back and the dump-in. Maybe utilize a drop-pass to the D using Backlund if enemy ranks closes around a charging Johnny.

There also seems to be a severe lack of set plays on our PP. There was an article way back, detailing the differences between the two assistant coaches and their approaches to their parts of the Flames coaching responsibilities. Cameron liked to let his players be creative and free-wheel a bit on the PP, and Gerrard was very by-the-book, stick to the system, details down to a tee kinda guy with the PK. But what we need is at least 2-3 set shooting plays that they practice ad nauseum until they can recognize an opportunity for one in their sleep. It should help greatly with confidence and direction when we have the formation set up.

[Red]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

I get that people don't like the coaching staff and the PP and want to run these guys out of town and etc. But everyone needs to remember that this team finished top 10 on the PP last season and were close to top 10 before Versteeg went down with an injury. It's the same coaching, it's the same strategies, it's a personnel issue more than coaching right now.

So can't they adjust and play a different system if Versteeg is glue that held it together?

Or is that also too much to ask of the coaches?

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Manhattanboy

I hate the entire coaching staff. Not as people lol, as coaches. Their system sucks and it results in boring, uninspired hockey. As others have noted, we look like the Minnesota Wild of old.

And why is management so stubborn that they refuse to acknowledge the futility of the power play and hire a new teacher? The inept PP continues to cost us valuable points.

"Passengers! Wilford The System is Divine! Eternal Order is prescribed by the sacred System! All things flow from the sacred System! Everyone in their particular, pre-ordained positions! So it is!"

How dare you question The Sacred System?

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by Red

So can't they adjust and play a different system if Versteeg is glue that held it together?

Or is that also too much to ask of the coaches?

What's the adjustment that they haven't made? They loaded up the #1 unit with Tkachuk, Backlund and Giordano which has helped. Monahan had a bunch of chances yesterday and also hit the post.

There was a stat mentioned yesterday that the Flames were 4/13 on the PP before going 0-5 against the Kings. That's 30% right there which is very proficient. Even though the PP didn't look great last night, I'm not concerned yet. In the games the PP has looked bad, they've faced against the league's best PKs (i.e. Kings x 2, Wild, Ducks and etc.) These teams make a lot of PPs look bad.

[smiggy77]

Originally Posted by Red

So can't they adjust and play a different system if Versteeg is glue that held it together?

Or is that also too much to ask of the coaches?

Systems don't change over night. It's tough to build instinctive decisions at ice level and at full speed in a game scenario.

The question is do you try to continue to teach a formula that worked in the past with your current personnel and hope they will eventually adapt to it, or do you try to go do something new, which will take time to build and plan, which require all your existing players to now learn and adjust to, with the probability of going back to the original formula that worked?

In the game of odds, you probably have a better chance of sticking to your system rather than having a bad drop off putting in a new system with your best players.

And in terms of personnel, you see the both PP lines constantly change. I've seen Gaudreau, Monahan, Gio, Hamilton, Brodie, Janko, Ferland, Bennett, Brouwer, Backlund, Tkachuk, Stone all cycle through it while we had Versteeg, Frolik, Jagr play on there too when they were in. There are obvious attempts to adjust personnel. You just need that right combo to click like how it did in the past.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by smiggy77

Systems don't change over night. It's tough to build instinctive decisions at ice level and at full speed in a game scenario.

The question is do you try to continue to teach a formula that worked in the past with your current personnel and hope they will eventually adapt to it, or do you try to go do something new, which will take time to build and plan, which require all your existing players to now learn and adjust to, with the probability of going back to the original formula that worked?

In the game of odds, you probably have a better chance of sticking to your system rather than having a bad drop off putting in a new system with your best players.

And in terms of personnel, you see the both PP lines constantly change. I've seen Gaudreau, Monahan, Gio, Hamilton, Brodie, Janko, Ferland, Bennett, Brouwer, Backlund, Tkachuk, Stone all cycle through it while we had Versteeg, Frolik, Jagr play on there too when they were in. There are obvious attempts to adjust personnel. You just need that right combo to click like how it did in the past.

This is a great point. The biggest problem I see with the PP is not with who is on it, nor the set up. It's the speed and accuracy of passes. That's not going to get better by (a) changing the set-up or (b) changing personnel constantly.

Last night I thought a large part of the problem was that thgeir units got messed up because they were often going from 4 on 4 to a PP, and because important guys were being penalized (Gio and Backlund) and thus weren't on the ice.

[Red]

Originally Posted by smiggy77

Systems don't change over night. It's tough to build instinctive decisions at ice level and at full speed in a game scenario.

The question is do you try to continue to teach a formula that worked in the past with your current personnel and hope they will eventually adapt to it, or do you try to go do something new, which will take time to build and plan, which require all your existing players to now learn and adjust to, with the probability of going back to the original formula that worked?

In the game of odds, you probably have a better chance of sticking to your system rather than having a bad drop off putting in a new system with your best players.

And in terms of personnel, you see the both PP lines constantly change. I've seen Gaudreau, Monahan, Gio, Hamilton, Brodie, Janko, Ferland, Bennett, Brouwer, Backlund, Tkachuk, Stone all cycle through it while we had Versteeg, Frolik, Jagr play on there too when they were in. There are obvious attempts to adjust personnel. You just need that right combo to click like how it did in the past.

Well I said change the system, not necessarily the personnel.
2 D on the points would be a start. With the threat of a bomb from Gio and Hamilton you would hope for more room for the down low plays that JG and Monny like.

The system we have now is great if you have good shooters in the slot. We have none unfortunately so it's not working well. Versteed is a good shooter so that's why it looked better with him.
We do however have Dmen that can shoot from the point. But not being utilized.
I like that Gio took over for Brodie on the first unit, it helps. But he is still the only player holding the line. That's a lot of ground to cover for Gio. It was easier for Brodie to do it, but he has no shot so not rebound chances.

And in no time has GGs formula worked consistently. They had some hot streaks here and there last year, but overall the PP has always been unreliable to say the least.