The trials and tribulations of Glen Gulutzan

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by Saqe

Sure but at this point calling it luck is an excuse. In my opinion of course.

Let's put some responsibility on the players for not scoring on those chances.

Exactly. Luck is just a crutch for fans that cannot come to terms with the lack of finish on this team. If a player hits a crossbar it could have just as easily missed the net entirely as it could have ended up in the net - it's hockey not luck. Good players/teams don't hit the crossbar or fail to score more than 2 goals on most occasions against some weak, second and third string goalies to boot.

Too many shots into chests, passes instead of shooting, shooting instead of passing instances all season. This is just a blah team playing a blah system that garners blah results.

[kukkudo]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

I think GG is a decent coach, in fact, an NHL coach. I just don’t see him as a fit for this team though.

After this I think he either coaches in the AHL or goes back to being an assistant coach for another NHL team.

[Otto-matic]

Originally Posted by Yoho

I find they hold onto the puck too long till they are out of position or the play is no longer dangerous and the other team has gotten back.

Also I find out top line gets way to fancy and cute with the passes. They make 2-4 extra passes instead of getting off a quick shot. Sure they look awesome when they connect and score but most of the time it's a turnover.

[Toonage]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

Too many shots into chests, passes instead of shooting, shooting instead of passing instances all season. This is just a blah team playing a blah system that garners blah results.

A great example of this last night was Ferland passing it at the last second to Monahan when he had a great shot at the net. Monahan was both out of position and covered by that point so he couldn't get his stick on it. Those extra passes, trying to finesse something that's already as good as its going to get. We've seen this a lot at home so it begs the question. Execution or coaching? The coach isn't shooting the puck or making that decision, of course not. But he's seen it a lot this year. With a lot of players. I'm not seeing a correction in this behavior. Chicken or the egg?

[Locke]

Heres the thing, and this is just an opinion:

I find Gulutzan to be a poor coach when it comes to the 'human' side of it.

Gamesmanship, manipulating players to play to or above their abilities and overall his ability to motivate his players seems terrible.

On the road the players are always together. On the plane, on the bus, at the hotel at the restaurant, they're a team. They're on this trip to win games and they have no other distractions.

There are no family obligations, or fewer, no domestic chores, no anything. You're on the road with your team to play and win games and that is your sole focus.

When you come home the distractions reappear.

Its at this point where extra effort is required to get your players concentrating and focused on the task at hand and I think this is an area where GG fails quite spectacularly.

Lets be honest, we as a group of laymen and enthusiastic fans have repeatedly noticed that this team is consistently (<-theres that dirty word) been unprepared to play and completely lacked focus.

Almost exclusively at home.

I want to make the crack that we need to hire Jim Playfair as 'Home Coach' and GG can be the 'Road Coach.' Perfect!

This team just went out and played a hell of a solid roadtrip and then lost their first game back before most people could get their coats off or buy a beer.

[Saqe]

Originally Posted by Otto-matic

If it was game 1-3, sure I would call it luck but at this point of the season and we're still seeing the same problems game after game. It's not luck. It's bad coaching.

I agree, I think the coach has to go. I don't know if he has lost the room but at the very least it seems like the players don't trust him.

But some responsibility has to go to the players. Bad coach or not, he can't score on the behalf of the players on those wide open chances.

[Flames_F.T.W]

Based on positive possession numbers and regularly outshooting the opposition, it seems GG is using a good system but doesn't have the right players (skilled) implementing it. I think there's a chance Treliving sees this as well and will give GG more time and ideally with some offense infused into the lineup.

I'm not a GG apologist, but I get the feeling the past few home games (50+ shots) that if we had a Hoffman etc we'd be scoring on a few more of those chances.

GG's inability to adjust his game plan to the current roster and make in-game decisions (shortening the bench, juggling lines, etc) after 2 seasons are more than enough reason in my books to move on from him and the coaching staff.

[Toonage]

This is year 2 of whats been identical structure and results. You can expect year 3 to look the same if Treliving maintains the status quo.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Locke

Heres the thing, and this is just an opinion:

I find Gulutzan to be a poor coach when it comes to the 'human' side of it.

Gamesmanship, manipulating players to play to or above their abilities and overall his ability to motivate his players seems terrible.

On the road the players are always together. On the plane, on the bus, at the hotel at the restaurant, they're a team. They're on this trip to win games and they have no other distractions.

There are no family obligations, or fewer, no domestic chores, no anything. You're on the road with your team to play and win games and that is your sole focus.

When you come home the distractions reappear.

Its at this point where extra effort is required to get your players concentrating and focused on the task at hand and I think this is an area where GG fails quite spectacularly.

Lets be honest, we as a group of laymen and enthusiastic fans have repeatedly noticed that this team is consistently (<-theres that dirty word) been unprepared to play and completely lacked focus.

Almost exclusively at home.

I want to make the crack that we need to hire Jim Playfair as 'Home Coach' and GG can be the 'Road Coach.' Perfect!

This team just went out and played a hell of a solid roadtrip and then lost their first game back before most people could get their coats off or buy a beer.

The core players on this team are rather young. I would think they have more "distractions" on the road.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Fancy stats are bull####. This last game was just more proof of that. The Flames didn't push and generate all those fancy stats until the game was over. Oh, but the fancy stats said the Flames dominated the game and got beat by a hot goaltender! A refrain we hear all too often, which tells me the system doesn't work worth a damn.

This was another game where the team came out unprepared to deal with what the opposition were going to throw at them. Again, a common refrain under Gulutzan. The Flames were not prepared for the game the Islanders were going to play, and the Islanders looked well schooled in what would work against the Flames. That is preparation. That is having a game plan and working it. That is the biggest problem with the Gulutzan lead Flames. They don't appear to have anything but one game plan, and the opposition knows it. Get an early jump on the Flames and show them something different, and you're in for a win.

I get the crowd that likes to say that it is up to the players to be ready to play. I agree, it is. But it is also up to the coaching staff to give the players a game plan and some insight as to what should work against the opposition. All that money the team spends on professional scouting is a waste, because the information is obviously not being put into game plans and shared with the players prior to the games. That is firmly on the heads of the coaches. The players come out and don't look like they have any idea what the other team is going to do or what their tendencies are. That is nothing but preparation work provided by the coaching staff. This is the biggest failing of this team, and it is obvious. The coaching staff needs to go, and because of this blindspot, Treliving may have to go with them.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by New Era

Fancy stats are bull####. This last game was just more proof of that. The Flames didn't push and generate all those fancy stats until the game was over. Oh, but the fancy stats said the Flames dominated the game and got beat by a hot goaltender! A refrain we hear all too often, which tells me the system doesn't work worth a damn.

FWIW most analytics supporters do consider the impacts of score effects during the game.

Yeah I think we can agree that the Flames put on a lot of pressure when they were down by 3 goals - but so would most teams in the league.

The problem for this team, as it has been for 2 years under Gulutzan, is playing like this when the score is close. Or more importantly from my perspective, the team's inability to put teams away when they are up by a goal. They don't create opportunities to put up a dagger and put teams away. They have no killer instinct, and give teams so many opportunities to get back in it.

That's Glen Gulutzan hockey. That's 50/50 hockey.

[4X4]

It seems like the Flames create the hot goalies by throwing so many easy shots at them, the goalie gets absolutely dialed in. Maybe if the Flames didn't stop to make a billboard with flashing lights, indicating that they're about to attack, they might catch a goalie off guard.

So slow. So boring. So predictable. So disappointing.

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by New Era

Fancy stats are bull####. This last game was just more proof of that. The Flames didn't push and generate all those fancy stats until the game was over. Oh, but the fancy stats said the Flames dominated the game and got beat by a hot goaltender! A refrain we hear all too often, which tells me the system doesn't work worth a damn.

This was another game where the team came out unprepared to deal with what the opposition were going to throw at them. Again, a common refrain under Gulutzan. The Flames were not prepared for the game the Islanders were going to play, and the Islanders looked well schooled in what would work against the Flames. That is preparation. That is having a game plan and working it. That is the biggest problem with the Gulutzan lead Flames. They don't appear to have anything but one game plan, and the opposition knows it. Get an early jump on the Flames and show them something different, and you're in for a win.

I get the crowd that likes to say that it is up to the players to be ready to play. I agree, it is. But it is also up to the coaching staff to give the players a game plan and some insight as to what should work against the opposition. All that money the team spends on professional scouting is a waste, because the information is obviously not being put into game plans and shared with the players prior to the games. That is firmly on the heads of the coaches. The players come out and don't look like they have any idea what the other team is going to do or what their tendencies are. That is nothing but preparation work provided by the coaching staff. This is the biggest failing of this team, and it is obvious. The coaching staff needs to go, and because of this blindspot, Treliving may have to go with them.

If I'm reading your post correctly, the coaching staff has game plans , scouting reports , preparation on the road but does not do these things for home games?

Find that very hard to believe.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

I find it interesting whenever the Flames string some wins together this thread disappears but as soon as they lose one game it is at the top of the page.

Also interesting is that it's quite often at the top of the page.

[Stay Golden]

Originally Posted by Toonage

A great example of this last night was Ferland passing it at the last second to Monahan when he had a great shot at the net. Monahan was both out of position and covered by that point so he couldn't get his stick on it. Those extra passes, trying to finesse something that's already as good as its going to get. We've seen this a lot at home so it begs the question. Execution or coaching? The coach isn't shooting the puck or making that decision, of course not. But he's seen it a lot this year. With a lot of players. I'm not seeing a correction in this behavior. Chicken or the egg?

We were 10 rows behind the NYI net and I thought Ferly's going to snipe the goal, he moved the goalie out of position short side and then nothing no shot came. Ferland was 10ft from the goal in the kill zone, a clear path and passes it to a covered Monahan.
Agree with your recap and this happened all season with several forwards, JMO Gulutzan has done little to address this glaring problem that has plagued the team since October.
If my assesment is off & Gulutzan has adressed this & they are not getting the message after 6 months of the season then that is entirely on coaching not making himself heard or understood, ineffective coaching that lacks leadership.
Every line is guilty, and when you see this reoccur again and again, opportunity after opportunity then that must reside on a flawed Gulutzan system that appears to instruct in one on one situations look for a secondary pass. Or are the fans to believe this is a team made up of very dumb NHL players that do not recognize when your in the slot with a good look at the net you shoot.
I choose to believe we do not have a roster full of dumb players but rather a very dumb inattentive coaching staff.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Toonage

This is year 2 of whats been identical structure and results. You can expect year 3 to look the same if Treliving maintains the status quo.

Yeah. GM made a splash improving the goaltending and defense in the offseason and the team ended up starting slow once again, looking and playing the same with similar results in the standings. They could for instance make another big splash or two, sign Kane in free agency but it's not like one or two players are going to change the results as this is simply what the team is under this coach. Nothing more, nothing less.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Yeah. GM made a splash improving the goaltending and defense in the offseason and the team ended up starting slow once again, looking and playing the same with similar results in the standings. They could for instance make another big splash or two, sign Kane in free agency but it's not like one or two players are going to change the results as this is simply what the team is under this coach. Nothing more, nothing less.

Yep, time to ship out Glue Gun and get back to the franchise winning ways under Hartley, Sutter and Keenan, playfair and Sutter.

[Toonage]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Yep, time to ship out Glue Gun and get back to the franchise winning ways under Hartley, Sutter and Keenan, playfair and Sutter.

I get what you're saying here but you've also identified a pattern that can be corrected with the next hire.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Toonage

I get what you're saying here but you've also identified a pattern that can be corrected with the next hire.

Do Keenan or Playfair have brothers?

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Toonage

I get what you're saying here but you've also identified a pattern that can be corrected with the next hire.

What pattern? There is a real mix in that last. What's common about it?