The trials and tribulations of Glen Gulutzan

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

Lots, probably all coaches do stuff like that, and when the team isn't winning, fans complain that the coach is playing a no talent plug on the first line instead of player X.

See two games ago, Hathaway. Or people all year saying Ferland isn't good enough.

[Red]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

He started out with Dougie on PP number one last season, and people complained (Brodie was being stifled). I think he never should have changed that. He played Bennett on the wing and people complained (Bennett needed to play centre in order to be in a position to succeed).

Look, I get that people think he sticks with status quo too long. Maybe he does. But believe me, I see the same exact complaint about almost every coach. "Why doesn't he try X?" "Same old coach X, never change". "He plays X too much/on the power play/on line X". I've seen these same complaints about Quenneville and Babcock.

Yes fans complain about a lot, but really, can anyone justify playing Brouwer on the PP? You tried, we all heard, but really, it is beyond ridiculous to play him there. 0 friggen goals....how does someone with 0 goals get PP time? And it took how long to remove him? Same for Hamilton and Gio. They should have been on the first unit. The PP struggled all season but we kept throwing Brouwer and Brodie on the first unit. Many points were lost because both failed that task miserably.
He overplayed the 4th line. The Flames 4th line is one of if not the worst league wide, but somehow gets more ice than other team's 4th lines. Why?

He has been shortening the bench lately, I will give him that. But its desperation at this point. We are probably not making the playoffs. Why wasn't he trying to win more earlier? He seems to be too methodological in how to play in a long season and now we are short a few points because of it. It's like resting your players in game 7. Why not play your hot players more, regardless of what game of the season? The points count the same. Is he outthinking himself? Almost seems like it. Sure i get the benefit, we are not injured a lot, but again, matters not when you are not winning anyways.

So yes, there is a good case why this fan base is all over GG. He has done jack to instil confidence or trust and the results are simply not there.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Red

Yes fans complain about a lot, but really, can anyone justify playing Brouwer on the PP? You tried, we all heard, but really, it is beyond ridiculous to play him there. 0 friggen goals....how does someone with 0 goals get PP time? And it took how long to remove him? Same for Hamilton and Gio. They should have been on the first unit. The PP struggled all season but we kept throwing Brouwer and Brodie on the first unit. Many points were lost because both failed that task miserably.
He overplayed the 4th line. The Flames 4th line is one of if not the worst league wide, but somehow gets more ice than other team's 4th lines. Why?

He has been shortening the bench lately, I will give him that. But its desperation at this point. We are probably not making the playoffs. Why wasn't he trying to win more earlier? He seems to be too methodological in how to play in a long season and now we are short a few points because of it. It's like resting your players in game 7. Why not play your hot players more, regardless of what game of the season? The points count the same. Is he outthinking himself? Almost seems like it. Sure i get the benefit, we are not injured a lot, but again, matters not when you are not winning anyways.

So yes, there is a good case why this fan base is all over GG. He has done jack to instil confidence or trust and the results are simply not there.

A. The powerplay didn't struggle all year long. It sucked after Versteeg went down (though IMO it had issues before then, that had more to do with puck movement than Brouwer).
B. Brouwer was supposed to be a powerplay guy. And he was taken off of the power play about 1/4 though the season. He got back on briefly when Frolik went down.
C. The fourth line plays less than 10 minutes per game. And Stajan and Lazar have been playing well. They also defend better than Bennett and Jankowski, so they got more D zone starts as a result.

[Red]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

A. The powerplay didn't struggle all year long. It sucked after Versteeg went down (though IMO it had issues before then, that had more to do with puck movement than Brouwer).
B. Brouwer was supposed to be a powerplay guy. And he was taken off of the power play about 1/4 though the season. He got back on briefly when Frolik went down.
C. The fourth line plays less than 10 minutes per game. And Stajan and Lazar have been playing well. They also defend better than Bennett and Jankowski, so they got more D zone starts as a result.

Sorry, but I believe you are incorrect on all accounts. The PP was only hot for a few games. Same last year btw.
Brouwer played a lot more than 15 games on the PP. Way more,probably double that. Should have been 0 games.
There was an article about the Flames 4th line. It was the most used 4th line in the nhl at the time. It was also the least producing one. And yes, Stajan and Lazar have been better recently, but overall, they both have contributed sweet nothing to this team. The very definition of non contributors.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Red

Sorry, but I believe you are incorrect on all accounts. The PP was only hot for a few games. Same last year btw.
Brouwer played a lot more than 15 games on the PP. Way more,probably double that. Should have been 0 games.
There was an article about the Flames 4th line. It was the most used 4th line in the nhl at the time. It was also the least producing one. And yes, Stajan and Lazar have been better recently, but overall, they both have contributed sweet nothing to this team. The very definition of non contributors.

So who should have gg played instead? Guys like Hrivik didn’t do anything either?

[Red]

Originally Posted by Wild GM

So who should have gg played instead? Guys like Hrivik didn’t do anything either?

My point wasn't about who he played, but how much he played them. He should have played them less because they were and still are for most part bad players. Guys that do not help win games.

Warrener made a good comment this morning. Basically this line does nothing, no speed, no skill, no muscle. The biggest event of that line last night was Stajan getting rocked. Useless line, but somehow getting regular shifts.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Red

My point wasn't about who he played, but how much he played them. He should have played them less because they were and still are for most part bad players. Guys that do not help win games.

Warrener made a good comment this morning. Basically this line does nothing, no speed, no skill, no muscle. The biggest event of that line last night was Stajan getting rocked. Useless line, but somehow getting regular shifts.

Regular as in twice a period. Plus, Lazar was great last night.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by Red

Sorry, but I believe you are incorrect on all accounts. The PP was only hot for a few games. Same last year btw.
Brouwer played a lot more than 15 games on the PP. Way more,probably double that. Should have been 0 games.
There was an article about the Flames 4th line. It was the most used 4th line in the nhl at the time. It was also the least producing one. And yes, Stajan and Lazar have been better recently, but overall, they both have contributed sweet nothing to this team. The very definition of non contributors.

You’re actually the one who’s wrong about the PP. The Flames were a top 10 PP overall last season and before Versteeg went down were also a top 10 team. So that’s roughly 1/3 of the season that they were very proficient. The second third was not good, but the final third looks pretty promising. So based on their overall performance, I would say you should let the pros figure it out instead. Of Brouwer doesn’t work, you at least give him time to try so that you know for sure it doesn’t work.

I do agree with you about the 4th line though. Definitely one of the least if not the least productive in the entire NHL. But they play roughly 10 minutes a night just like every other team. You have to play your 4th line, nobody plays just 3 lines in today’s NHL. I’d put the blame on Treliving for not finding a better 4th line. Of all the lines that are easy to fix, the 4th line should be the easiest.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Red

Sorry, but I believe you are incorrect on all accounts. The PP was only hot for a few games. Same last year btw.
Brouwer played a lot more than 15 games on the PP. Way more,probably double that. Should have been 0 games.
There was an article about the Flames 4th line. It was the most used 4th line in the nhl at the time. It was also the least producing one. And yes, Stajan and Lazar have been better recently, but overall, they both have contributed sweet nothing to this team. The very definition of non contributors.

Brouwer was taken off the powerplay on November 4. He got back on at the very end of November for 8 games and then was taken off again. From then on he was on for more than a minute in a total of 6 games. He has, judging by the time in each game, been on unit one for about 10 games, and the second for about the same. (Going by over or under 2:00 per game).

Brouwer averaged 1:01 pp time per game this year. That's less than half of any previous year, except for 2015-16, which was 1:48.

https://www.rotowire.com/hockey/player.htm?id=2715

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Brouwer was taken off the powerplay on November 4. He got back on at the very end of November for 8 games and then was taken off again. From then on he was on for more than a minute in a total of 6 games. He has, judging by the time in each game, been on unit one for about 10 games, and the second for about the same. (Going by over or under 2:00 per game).

Brouwer averaged 1:01 pp time per game this year. That's less than half of any previous year, except for 2015-16, which was 1:48.

https://www.rotowire.com/hockey/player.htm?id=2715

square pegs! round holes!

hairgel! a difficult to mock last name!

Grr, I just hate that guy so much!

[Red]

The PP has been bad since Hartley left. They have their streaks but they aren't much of a threat most of the time.
Brouwer getting 1:01 PP time is about a minute too much. That is my point. He should be no where near a PP period. But he has been a regular.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Red

The PP has been bad since Hartley left. They have their streaks but they aren't much of a threat most of the time.
Brouwer getting 1:01 PP time is about a minute too much. That is my point. He should be no where near a PP period. But he has been a regular.

He has not been a regular. He has been on the powerplay less than half the time, and off the first unit for only about 10 games.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Red

The PP has been bad since Hartley left. They have their streaks but they aren't much of a threat most of the time.
Brouwer getting 1:01 PP time is about a minute too much. That is my point. He should be no where near a PP period. But he has been a regular.

Flames were 22nd in the league on the PP the last year Hartley was here.

21st in the league in Home PP%

21st in road PP%

19th in total PP goals scored.

6th in the league in PP opportunities

Over the entire tenure of Hartley coaching the flames the team was 23rd in the league in PP percentage. 20th in total power play goals scored over that span. 20th in Home PP%.

The Flames improved from 22nd in the league to 11th in Gulutzan's first year. That 11 spot improvement means 5 extra goals. Last year, the difference between 9th place Calgary and 5th place Buffalo was 5 goals.

Since February 1st, the Flames have the most PP time in the NHL and are tied with Vegas for 3rd in the league in actual PP goals for. Since Jan 1, tied with Tampa for 12th in the league in PP goals for, but way down in 23rd in PP%. They are first in the league in PP TOI in that span as well.

Between the start of the season and december 1st, the team has 12th in the league in PP%, 11th in PP goals.

The Powerplay went cold between December 1st and Jan 31st, the only teams worse were Chicago and Edmonton (LOL). The Flames also happened to take the 2nd most PIMs in the league during that span, so maybe there's a corollary. Another couple of weeks like the last two and they'll likely finish back in the top half of the league again this season.

Anyway, the Flames have had a better than average powerplay since Gulutzan arrived and certainly a better powerplay than what Hartley had.

[Racki]

One of my big complaints with Gulutzan is his how he utilizes utilizes his personnel. Today is a perfect example. We scored 18 seconds into the game and had the avalanche completely on their heels. Instead of throwing the Backlund line right back out there – why not it was an 18 second shift? Or putting out the Gaudreau Monahan Bennett line he goes with the Stajan line instead. They got hemmed in their own end for about 40 seconds and eliminated all the momentum they built up scoring that fast goal.

[rooster]

Brouwer on the power play again! What the ph*^%$ are these coaches watching?

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by rooster

Brouwer on the power play again! What the ph*^%$ are these coaches watching?

Really. The pp was fine.

[AC]

Originally Posted by rooster

Brouwer on the power play again! What the ph*^%$ are these coaches watching?

Did Dougie return after getting injured on the PP earlier?

I think Brouwer was replacing him due to injury. Familiarity, right shot, etc.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by AC

Did Dougie return after getting injured on the PP earlier?

I think Brouwer was replacing him due to injury. Familiarity, right shot, etc.

no no, you don't get it, brouwer was out there because Glen Gulutzan doesn't understand how to coach hockey.

He just does things on impulse. Him and Brouwer are probably friends.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by AC

Did Dougie return after getting injured on the PP earlier?

I think Brouwer was replacing him due to injury. Familiarity, right shot, etc.

Crazy GG - using a guy who actually has been on a power play while a guy is off ice temporarily. Then using him on the second unit, where he assists on a goal.

It just drive some people crazy when a GG move works out.

[Mike F]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

You’re actually the one who’s wrong about the PP. The Flames were a top 10 PP overall last season and before Versteeg went down were also a top 10 team. So that’s roughly 1/3 of the season that they were very proficient.

The Flames started the season (the first 14 games) going 7 for 49 (14.9%). They then had an 9 game stretch where they went 11 for 32 (34.4%). That was followed up by a 34 game stretch where they went 14 for 97 (14.4%).

The team finally went to Gio and Hamilton on the point (instead of the 1D, 4F umbrella) in the last 6 games, and have gone (a completely unsustainable) 9 for 21 (42.9%).

So, no, they were not "very proficient for roughly 1/3 of the season". Prior to the recent change of personnel and tactics, they were extremely hot for 9 games, and terrible for 48.