[PGT] Flames lose 3-2 to San Jose

[colbym72]

Originally Posted by Bingo

You're listing hockey 101 mistakes but saying Gulutzan isn't focusing on the right things?

"Hey guys, I have an idea ... lets not back check, please don't cover anyone, oh and don't tie up sticks, ... and one more thing, don't finish your checks"

As usual players aren't executing basic hockey plays, and some are focusing on the coach.

People are too tied to blaming the coach because no one generally gets emotionally attached to them. No one is buying coach pictures for their wall. No one is wearing a jersey with Gulutzan on their back. Its way easier to blame the coach instead of holding the hockey players accountable for clear hockey mistakes. I am not saying Gulutzan doesn't have some warts, but the players have to be held accountable for their actions more than they are

[madmike]

This team should by all rights be better than it is.

Gulutzan has a good system in place. I'm not sure he's good at managing within games - line matching or the PP for example.

But he's not the one missing open nets like Ferland and Monahan in the Minny game.

At some point it's up to the players to execute and I'm beginning to think this team just doesn't have enough talent.

[Tinordi]

Originally Posted by madmike

This team should by all rights be better than it is.

Gulutzan has a good system in place. I'm not sure he's good at managing within games - line matching or the PP for example.

But he's not the one missing open nets like Ferland and Monahan in the Minny game.

At some point it's up to the players to execute and I'm beginning to think this team just doesn't have enough talent.

Maybe this team shouldn't be better. Maybe that's the issue. Maybe the roster just flat out isn't good enough?

[Flames Fan, Ph.D.]

I think the mistakes by Ferland and Gaudreau yesterday were typical of a lack of maturity. These guys are still young by NHL standards, and they've not yet developed the maturity to know when to push and when to cut losses. Effectively our 1st and 3rd lines are young players, and these are mistakes young players make. It ends up adding pressure on the defensemen.

Not much a coach can do anything about those mistakes other than to say "be smarter" and "have more experience."

[Karl]

The PP is poopoo. That is the biggest problem.

Another huge problem is all the team's bottom liners are just not good enough at all, and there's not much being done about that.

Freddie & Lazar just don't look like they'll ever amount to anything at all other than a total waste of roster space, Stajan is done as an NHLer and Brouwer looks like he might be pretty close to being done as well at an NHL level.

So that's 3 prettty much completely unserviceable players and one sharply declining player all as severe problems.

Hard decisions need to be made, and in the meantime there is absolutely no reason as to why Freddie & Lazar should still be here at all at even at this very moment.

[zamler]

Originally Posted by VANFLAMESFAN

I wanna know what coach doesn't want his team to play safe in the same situation.

Big division game, tied on point with the team you're playing, tie game very late. What coach tells his players to take chances and go for the win?

He wanted his team to play it safe late in the third because that's the right thing to do. It's not as if they were tied going into the third and he told his guys to trap to get to OT. He wanted safe plays from his guy late in the third period of a tie game and is getting grilled for that? Really?

Did it at any point occur to you that the play it safe approach is the reason GG was hoping his team could hang on and get into OT? Gulutzan has proven he can't coach this team to even be .500 in regulation. So we get to OT and suddenly the likes of Gaudreau shine because the shackles are off there is no "play it safe" in OT.

Also if it wasn't for Johnny, Gulutzan would likely be out of a job so for GG to toss Gaudreau under the bus like that was pathetic. Yes he made a mistake, it happens. Just like Smith letting in the 3rd goal was questionable. These things get greatly amplified when you coach a team to try and squeak out 1 goal wins or just get it to OT. In my view this roster is much better than the results we're seeing under Gulutzan.

[djsFlames]

We've got to score more goals on fewer opportunities. Killer instinct, being opportunistic. If these guys could put pucks in when they needed to, without this needing to put 20 shots on for each goal, then we wouldn't be looking at the same guys needing to play completely mistake free hockey defensively to win.

We need another pure sniper other than Sean Monahan.

[JJFlash]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

To me, this quote encapsulates everything that is wrong with this coaching staff:

Darren Haynes‏ @DarrenWHaynes
Glen Gulutzan not happy with Gaudreau's turnover on GWG: "You can't turn back with three minutes left, you can't turn back. You have to play forward. You can't turn back. We needed to get points. We needed to take that into overtime and get the points. We're good at 3-on-3."

So, I understand the idea of getting to overtime for the extra point, but instead of actually trying to win the game, the coaches just wanted to eat out the last 5 minutes and simply hope nothing bad happens? Don't go out and try to win the game, because you might lose it for us? I feel like that's the motto of this team: "Let's hope nothing bad happens".

Just a complete lack of killer instinct. The team was dominating the Sharks in the 3rd. Why take your foot off the gas? Gaudreau was trying to create a play and was hooked (and if the officials were calling penalties as they are read in the rulebook, it should have been called a penalty), but of course Gulutzan instead wants him to dump the puck and freely give possession away, go to the bench for a line change, and probably put the 4th line on.

The coaches on this team are absolutely clueless. Special teams are awful (and why should we be surprised when Cameron operated the worst powerplay in the league when he was with Ottawa?) and they completely stifle creative and intelligent hockey.

If the coaching staff was more upset with their continued failures to try and get the powerplay working when they keep putting Brouwer on the top unit, maybe we'd actually start to see some progress.

So it is OK to push for a goal on the final couple of minutes in a game like Bennett did against Vancouver but Johnny has to eat the puck in tha last few minutes....Really. The only thing I will say is that GG singles out Johnnyin public for good defensive plays as well.

[JJFlash]

Originally Posted by kukkudo

It's like watching Brent Sutter hockey all over again. I thought I would never have to see that garbage boring hockey again.

Yup...we are Minnesora Wild of the Pacific.

[browna]

If GG wants to start holding players publicy accountable, I’m fine with that.
Odd place and time to start, as there were just as many mistakes in the other 57 minutes that prevented scoring chances, or lead to the other Sharks goals, but fine.
There just better be consistency to his calling out of players. Hamilton with terrible passes or high shots that go all the way around the boards and out of the zone, or Ferland getting in too tight so not able to get the rebounds that JG and SM create, and any other number of noticesbl more subtle mistakes.
Picking out JG, who was trying to Kane a play, getting somewhat hauled down, and blamed for 3 other players and a goalie not stopping an average 3 on 3 rush for 150 ft away from the turnover, just seems odd given GG’s M.O. up to this point.

[N-E-B]

I'm at the point now where I don't even get excited for a power play. I don't get mad at missed calls. The power play is so bad I just see it as a way for the other team to kill 2 minutes off the clock.

That shouldn't happen. It's absurd how bad they are. They have too much talent to be that bad on the power play, Brouwer or not. He's awful and shouldn't be on there, but even with him they shouldn't be THIS bad.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by browna

If GG wants to start holding players publicy accountable, I’m fine with that.
Odd place and time to start, as there were just as many mistakes in the other 57 minutes that prevented scoring chances, or lead to the other Sharks goals, but fine.
There just better be consistency to his calling out of players. Hamilton with terrible passes or high shots that go all the way around the boards and out of the zone, or Ferland getting in too tight so not able to get the rebounds that JG and SM create, and any other number of noticesbl more subtle mistakes.
Picking out JG, who was trying to Kane a play, getting somewhat hauled down, and blamed for 3 other players and a goalie not stopping an average 3 on 3 rush for 150 ft away from the turnover, just seems odd given GG’s M.O. up to this point.

Yeah I have no problem with him holding players accountable in the media (I wish he would do it more quite frankly) but I just felt it was odd to single out the best player on the roster last night especially on a play that should have never ended up as a goal against.

[stone hands]

put your pitchforks away boys, he was asked specifically about johnny and answered in a way i dont think anyone could disagree with

[Kybb79]

This team is not performing like they should. They have better goaltending this season but they are not playing better as a team. GG is not getting the most out of them, look at Vegas and you can see what a good coach can do with what he has. I have never seen a PP suck the life out of a team.

[cannon7]

Originally Posted by Bingo

You're listing hockey 101 mistakes but saying Gulutzan isn't focusing on the right things?

"Hey guys, I have an idea ... lets not back check, please don't cover anyone, oh and don't tie up sticks, ... and one more thing, don't finish your checks"

As usual players aren't executing basic hockey plays, and some are focusing on the coach.

Yes, it's hockey 101. Gulutzan is focusing on a dumb play by Gaudreau late in the third, but the entire team has been a disgrace when it comes to the details of hockey for far too long now.

What should Gulutzan be saying? I don't know...

"My team thinks they're too good to play a complete game. They cut corners, they take periods off, they only show up when it's already too late. I can only crack the whip so many times before they're numb to it. the brain trust of this organization really needs to reexamine the on-ice personnel."

Sure that might damage player relations. But as long as this team keeps falling back into their usual bad habits I don't think Gulutzan has much to lose.

[SeanCharles]

Forget about everything else. THIS TEAM NEEDS IT'S SPECIAL TEAMS TO PERFORM.

If you lose the special teams battle in a game the chances are extremely high you will lose the game.

We got scored on the PK last night and we couldn't score on the PP = loss.

It's not an exact science but it's not that difficult to figure out. Pointing the finger elsewhere is silly. We are rolling 5v5 and 3v3, our defensive game has come along and even though Smith has come back down to earth he has kept us in most games.

I'll admit Ferland can't have that neutral zone give away but Johnny shouldn't get too much heat for the result of his play. It's a game of mistakes and these things happen but if you don't have special teams that can at least generate momentum instead of destroying it then you are in trouble most nights.

[Infinit47]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

Maybe this team shouldn't be better. Maybe that's the issue. Maybe the roster just flat out isn't good enough?

But how is putting Troy Brouwer in the 1st unit PP a strategy to get the most out of your team? How about overlaying the 4th line. I don't think this is an elite team, but I do believe it's better than it shows under Gulutzan.

I don't get why people keep saying he's such a brilliant hockey mind. To date he has done nothing at the NHL level other than being mediocre. And to me "brilliant" means you shine at the highest levels.

[VANFLAMESFAN]

Originally Posted by zamler

Did it at any point occur to you that the play it safe approach is the reason GG was hoping his team could hang on and get into OT? Gulutzan has proven he can't coach this team to even be .500 in regulation. So we get to OT and suddenly the likes of Gaudreau shine because the shackles are off there is no "play it safe" in OT.

Also if it wasn't for Johnny, Gulutzan would likely be out of a job so for GG to toss Gaudreau under the bus like that was pathetic. Yes he made a mistake, it happens. Just like Smith letting in the 3rd goal was questionable. These things get greatly amplified when you coach a team to try and squeak out 1 goal wins or just get it to OT. In my view this roster is much better than the results we're seeing under Gulutzan.

I wasn't debating anything about GG ripping JG after the game. That's a separate issue.

I was wondering why people are ripping him for wanting a safe approach late in a tie game against a divisional rival with the same amount of points in a conference where the standings are so tight. I just don't get the outrage for wanting or expressing how he wanted the game to get to OT. That's the SMART thing to do. The Flames didn't HAVE to have the game in regulation last night(nice to have isn't the same as HAVE to have), so there was no reason for chances/risks in their game. Johnny's mistake lead to the goal, but there's obviously more blame to go around on that goal as well.

Tell me a coach who would have told his guys to take chances/risks in the same situation as last night? I don't think you can. So if you can't, why is GG getting ripped last night and today for talking about wanting to get the game into OT.

[madmike]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

Maybe this team shouldn't be better. Maybe that's the issue. Maybe the roster just flat out isn't good enough?

I think that’s the bottom line. The players just aren’t good enough. We can complain about coaching all we want but this is a mediocre team.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by madmike

I think that’s the bottom line. The players just aren’t good enough. We can complain about coaching all we want but this is a mediocre team.

We have a player on pace for 100+ points, another on pace for 40+ goals, one of the most dominant possession lines in the league, and the largest defence budget in the league.

There's no question this team should be better than this.