[POLL] Calgary Flames coaching change mega-thread—with poll

[SuperMatt18]

My worry with Sutter is more the NHL seems to have changed again in the last 5 years since his 2nd cup win with the Kings.

This league is much more about speed & skill, with more of a secondary benefit if you can play that way with size (aka Predators and Jets).

People here complain that GG didn't play with enough speed, or activate his puck moving d-men enough - yet want Sutter whom faced those same criticisms about Doughty not being as offensive as he could be because of the shackles that Sutter had on him (Doughty hit 60 pts for the first time this season post-Sutter).

Great coach for the right team but this roster isn't built for his style of play the same way that Kings roster was.

That Kings roster was built for D.Sutter "Grind You Down" style of play with Quick, Richards, Brown, Mitchell, Stoll, Green, Scuderi, etc. This Flames roster would be an absolute failure if they were forced to try to play Sutter's style IMO.

[H2SO4(aq)]

I know it was mentioned a few pages back but perhaps a new thread with a poll should be created now that it is official? See who is cp’s Top candidate

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by stang

Craziest thing is that cannon7 is actually Gultzans son.

Originally Posted by H2SO4(aq)

I know it was mentioned a few pages back but perhaps a new thread with a poll should be created now that it is official? See who is cp’s Top candidate

This please.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

He's got his cups, he's clearly got his money, chances are what's he got left to achieve?

Unfinished business from 04.

[The Boy Wonder]

Originally Posted by Willi Plett

I have much the same feeling. I feel like Bill Peters has a style that’s very much similar to GGs but maybe he’s a slightly better coach. The benefit of a similar style might be an easier quicker transition. Still, I feel like we need bigger changes and that key players shouldn’t be traded but a coach brought in that suits them.

When Alain Vigneault became available and reading about his coaching style, my first reaction was that I didn’t like the sound of it. BUT I had read the speculations that some Flame players are more in it for themselves and gave it more thought. A coach with a style like AV puts players in distinct roles which can maximize their potential and might in fact help them “pad” their stats at the same time as helping the team perform. For example our most offensively gifted players would likely have more O zone starts and less defensive responsibility. An offensively gifted D man would be activated more, have O zone starts, and slightly less defensive responsibility. By helping them and their ego or want for stats you help the team. Could we then shelter some players with less of a team mindset without harm? To me this plus a coach with a stronger emotional drive reduces the need to blow up the player corps. Now trades can be made but that component reduced. Of course my whole rant and speculation is based on believing there is some truth to the rumors of key players who see things mostly through their own eyes.

None of this is to say we shouldn’t trade key individuals but you don’t always get good value back especially when coaching hasn’t maximized their key marketable strengths. I’d rather see a new coach put them in better roles than see them traded without the right return.

I agree and listening to the fan it seemed like AV could be a definite possibility.

I just want up tempo attacking hockey. If today marks the last day I’ll have to watch a terrible breakout pass back d to d and back again then it’s truly a great day

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by oldschoolcalgary

my concern with Darryl is that he's more of a 'finisher' in terms of a coach... a team with a lot of the pieces in place can benefit with Sutter squeezing every ounce of effort from them...

however, I am not sure if the Flames have that kind of lineup in them...Can Sutter be effective in taking a youngish lineup and building them up into a contender...

not sure if he can...?

I think, and I may be entirely wrong, that while this team has some glaring holes, it had enough talent to win the Pacific with a top coach. Maybe not to beat Nashville/Jets/Pens/Bruins as constituted, but the D in particular could have been much more productive (offensively and defensively). Just my opinion, and therefore I think DS would work, especially if we can add a key piece...

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by zamler

I can't decide if I agree with you or not. On one hand I think, no way Kings had much better players. But they really didn't some developed into better players.

They played better. They weren't better talents, IMO. They had a three really talented guys - Kopitar, Doughty and Quick. They had Carter and Richards who were OK. The first cup Brown played out of his mind. But look at their lineup and tell me it's a team you would have pegged for the cup at the beginning of the year.

I said they didn't have a 30 goal man - in fact Kopitar got only 25. Two others over 20. And only 5 guys with double digit goalscoring. Plus Carter who got 6 in 16 games for 21 on the season.

Kevin Westgarth played 25 games on that team (!).

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/l...000402012.html

[Jetfire]

Originally Posted by Flashpoint

I've advocated for Glen Gulutzan to be fired for some time.

I would like to say that he is a honest, intelligent man, and I think honorable and loyal to his players to a fault. If anything he invested too much into his systems and his guys (players and assistant coaches both) because of his loyalty.

At the end of the day, he's always struck me as classy and smart, and I wish him the best of luck for his future.

This is exactly how I feel about GG. Seems like a fantastic dude, but I think that stopped him from being hard enough on his players, unless he literally forced himself to be tough, like the stick throw incident for example.

[dammage79]

Chris Johnson on the fan says he's been hearing even as early as last night at the Leafs game that Bills Peter's to CGY is a thing. If this is riplng through the league like this, I feel Peter's is the Flames guy.

[btimbit]

I think Peters would be great... as AV's assistant

[atb]

Please don't be Bill Peters. I have hated his press comments over the years. Found this post from a Carolina fan on reddit:

There's a long list... But he's just a pretty mediocre coach. The team's record has improved marginally but positioning in the league hasn't. Various aspects of the team regressed this year, including defense and special teams.

His system is not a high-scoring one. His famous quote is him saying that 3 goals is enough to win almost every game. Statistically, it does work out that the average goals/game for a winning team is around 3, but that's not really the attitude I like and the team shelled a lot after scoring 3 goals and lost.

His deployments are my biggest issue with him TBH. His system can work fine. But all season he was playing Skinner with garbage 4th liners. He would put out some of the worst players on our team in OT and cost us many games. Beyond that, we had struggles with scoring all season. Yet, we have the most offensively talented team in the AHL. When those players got called up, they got shoved on the 4th line. Ok, maybe they weren't ready? Well, Zykov finally got a chance on the 1st line near the end of the season and ended up lighting up the scoresheet. A few games later he is back on the 4th line. Same thing happened with other prospects...

The players seemed happy from an outside perspective but there has seemed to be something off in the locker room all season TBH. Williams made his famous comment about there being something rotten in the room. Peters made perhaps the dumbest decision in the history of the NHL by assigning 2 captains. Rumor is that he intended to allow the players to vote on the captain, they voted Williams, and he overruled and instituted co-captains in Staal and Faulk. Skinner has been unhappy with his treatment under Peters and the expectation is that he will be leaving the team when his contract expires if Peters is still around. Another big thing to mention is that he utterly throw Eddie Lack under the bus last season. Lack wasn't a good goalie, sure, but he decimated Lack in the press and destroyed his confidence. Despite other players playing poorly, he focused on Lack and made him a scapegoat. The rumor there was that Lack was too outgoing and not rigid enough for Peters and he entered the Peters doghouse (Skinner's predecessor). Lack left the team after the season.

Peters is also a massive ****. After one notoriously bad game he made comments about how unacceptable the play was and that he was going to make some big changes for the next game. He rolled out the same line-up the next game. He made a comment about how he was going to play Aho at center next game...Aho was not at center the next game. He never was able to grow the balls to make a big decision and it ended up costing the team down the stretch and, IMO, leaked into the locker room and created a ton of complacency and lethargy that caused the team to collapse when the playoff push happened. He also gets offended easily in press conferences.

I don't like Peters. I think he is an ok coach. If he has a good goalie and some good forwards that fit his system (and I don't think your forwards are his ideal forward, but I may be wrong), he can get you into the playoffs. But you could say that about almost any coach.

[JurassicTunga12]

big pass on peters. seems like another GG.
Just get AV.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by JurassicTunga12

big pass on peters. seems like another GG.
Just get AV.

Just get the best coach for the job. If that is Bill Peters—and it really is impossible to say one way or another from our vantage point—then so be it, and hopefully it works out.

[Frank MetaMusil]

Get a coach who has actually won a playoff game. That's all I ask.

[oldschoolcalgary]

i mean all good points wrt to Sutter.

I am not against the hire, but its not necessarily one i would be elated by either...

it could very well be the fact that the roster needs a swift kick in the butt...in which case Sutter would be well suited at doing just that...

I think Calgary's roster ought to be good enough to make the playoffs though and clearly management agrees with that sentiment.

[dissentowner]

Anyone but Tippett or Peters please. Although I would take Tippett over Peters if it came down to it. I still can't fathom BT on the hot seat bringing in a career loser for a coach so not too worried about BP coming here

[Textcritic]

^
That list of complaints could pretty much be assigned to a fan from just about any fanbase. This looks to me like typical arm-chair criticisms which are usually levied against almost any coach when fans are frustrated.

[CaptainYooh]

Originally Posted by Jetfire

This is exactly how I feel about GG. Seems like a fantastic dude, but I think that stopped him from being hard enough on his players, unless he literally forced himself to be tough, like the stick throw incident for example.

People keep talking about "being tough" thing. All of these guys are tough! Most of them are former high-level hockey players and coaches who grew up in small rural communities; they are tough by definition. Good coaching is not about being tough, but about being able to see and wake up the best in every player, so that the player goes out and play his best and more in a position and role the coach has assigned to him.

I recall Darryl saying that all these guys are grown up men, pro-athletes that had made it this far against all odds. They are all good and talented. They just need proper guidance and discipline.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Just get the best coach for the job. If that is Bill Peters—and it really is impossible to say one way or another from our vantage point—then so be it, and hopefully it works out.

How So? We all saw what an analytical, youngish, coach with a good technical background but a losing record in the Nhl did with this team. It seems abundantly clear to me that we should go with a coach with a proven record, someone who will motivate and inspire our players correctly. If even they can't drag this team to the playoffs (We watched Hartley do it) then we know that it's the players and we have bigger problems.

Peters does not check either of those boxes, and if he comes in and inevitably fails we will still be left scratching our heads wondering if the players are to blame.

We might not know who the best answer is but it sure as hell seems pretty clear it's not Peters.

[gvitaly]

Welcome back coach