Glen Gulutzan-16th Flames Coach

[cross16]

2 hours ago, rickross said:

It would be interesting as well if Willie doesn't get hired anywhere as a HC if he'd consider rejoining with GG as an associate coach with the Flames. Think if prefer him over Camero tbh. 

 

I think the only way the Flames lose an assistant coach this off-season is if one of them decided to leave. The coaching staff as a whole has done an excellent job this year so I see no reason you would want to make a change. Obviously out of your control if one of them moves on but I also can't see one of them getting a head coaching job in the NHL so it would be in A/Junior or overseas. 

 

It also sounds like Desjardins will get NHL looks/opportunities as the head coach though. 

[rickross]

There are too many open HC vacancies for Willie not to get signed. This upcoming series with the Ducks is a major measuring stick for GG and his staff. We'll have to see how effective his scouting is and ability to get the Flames prepared. We lost 4 out 5 to the Ducks, the final 2 we were a much improved team but we still lost both games. If we lose this series to the Ducks it's a huge blow to the confidence of the Flames ability to beat them. The Honda curse is one thing but being ousted by them in both playoff berths would be crushing. 

[travel_dude]

48 minutes ago, rickross said:

There are too many open HC vacancies for Willie not to get signed. This upcoming series with the Ducks is a major measuring stick for GG and his staff. We'll have to see how effective his scouting is and ability to get the Flames prepared. We lost 4 out 5 to the Ducks, the final 2 we were a much improved team but we still lost both games. If we lose this series to the Ducks it's a huge blow to the confidence of the Flames ability to beat them. The Honda curse is one thing but being ousted by them in both playoff berths would be crushing. 

 

I think it's a bigger measuring stick to the makeup of the team.  Yes, I am frustrated with the deployment of Brodie as the lone D on the PP.  Sometimes frustrated with Bouma in the lineup when he doesn't always show up.  But this is the team we have.  They make the mental mistakes that cost a goal.  They hold onto the puck or pass instead of shooting it.

 

To put it another way, we will lose at least three players currently in the starting lineup, most of those are defense.  Whether we beat them or not this year means nothing about confidence.  It means we lost a series to a possibly better team. 

[rickross]

19 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

 

I think it's a bigger measuring stick to the makeup of the team.  Yes, I am frustrated with the deployment of Brodie as the lone D on the PP.  Sometimes frustrated with Bouma in the lineup when he doesn't always show up.  But this is the team we have.  They make the mental mistakes that cost a goal.  They hold onto the puck or pass instead of shooting it.

 

To put it another way, we will lose at least three players currently in the starting lineup, most of those are defense.  Whether we beat them or not this year means nothing about confidence.  It means we lost a series to a possibly better team. 

My worry is if they lose the series is the negative stigma it will leave on the team regarding the Ducks, especially if they fail to get a W on the road. It wouldn't  be as impactful with any other team we were to play but losing to the Ducks again would only magnify the challenge this team has vs the Ducks. I don't want to give the Ducks anymore competitive ammo that they hold dominance over the Flames so this series can alter that perception...should it go our way. 

[MAC331]

18 minutes ago, rickross said:

My worry is if they lose the series is the negative stigma it will leave on the team regarding the Ducks, especially if they fail to get a W on the road. It wouldn't  be as impactful with any other team we were to play but losing to the Ducks again would only magnify the challenge this team has vs the Ducks. I don't want to give the Ducks anymore competitive ammo that they hold dominance over the Flames so this series can alter that perception...should it go our way. 

One game at a time my friend

[travel_dude]

31 minutes ago, rickross said:

My worry is if they lose the series is the negative stigma it will leave on the team regarding the Ducks, especially if they fail to get a W on the road. It wouldn't  be as impactful with any other team we were to play but losing to the Ducks again would only magnify the challenge this team has vs the Ducks. I don't want to give the Ducks anymore competitive ammo that they hold dominance over the Flames so this series can alter that perception...should it go our way. 

 

It means nothing.  It's a great story for TSN to talk about, since that's the only way they can come up with facts and figures.  If their fans want to talk about it and chant it, all it does is poke the bear.  Or tease the tiger.

[DirtyDeeds]

I am surprised that I am the only one to post this critique. GG got badly out coached this series. It was not nearly as close as the team made it seem.

 

Sure it might have been different with better goaltending but our coach made few adjustments when probably should have. It cost us dearly. He clearly did not want to change the lineup but finally felt something had to change for the last one... Our goalie coach should take some blame here too.

 

Add to the poor performance in the playoffs GG kept insisting our D pairings to start the year, had to be RH and LH playing on the natural side. He insisted that his "even up all pairings" should work so he could just rotate. It did not work, it put us in a deep hole until CJ started to steal games for us.

 

GG admitted he did not know what to do to stop our big losing streak. CJ bailed him out there. Elliott carried us into the playoffs and lost then his confidence... Where was our goalie coach then. Doesn't the coach and goalie coach need to take a bit of the blame for our goaltenders not being ready?

[AlbertaBoy12]

1 hour ago, DirtyDeeds said:

I am surprised that I am the only one to post this critique. GG got badly out coached this series. It was not nearly as close as the team made it seem.

 

Sure it might have been different with better goaltending but our coach made few adjustments when probably should have. It cost us dearly. He clearly did not want to change the lineup but finally felt something had to change for the last one... Our goalie coach should take some blame here too.

 

Add to the poor performance in the playoffs GG kept insisting our D pairings to start the year, had to be RH and LH playing on the natural side. He insisted that his "even up all pairings" should work so he could just rotate. It did not work, it put us in a deep hole until CJ started to steal games for us.

 

GG admitted he did not know what to do to stop our big losing streak. CJ bailed him out there. Elliott carried us into the playoffs and lost then his confidence... Where was our goalie coach then. Doesn't the coach and goalie coach need to take a bit of the blame for our goaltenders not being ready?

While I agree with you on the lack of changes, im not quite sure there was many options for him in terms of D pairings. I know some people are all upset about the brodie lefty righty thing, but im not quite sure who exactly he was putting on the left side with brodie. Alot of people wanted him back with gio but then who do you play hamilton with? I think he could have made some more lineup changes, but for a head coach who is pretty new at it, I think he did a good job.

 

He might not have known how to get us out of the losing streak, but the streak in january I think its the sign of a good coach that he sat down with his leaders and figured it out with them. 

 

I do agree that the goalie coach should be taking more heat, it is kind of odd that this is not the first time we have had goalies just implode during the time here. But at the same time elliott went from having a really rough time to start the year to really turning it around in the second half, so do you give the coach props for that? or is it just the case of the team playing better in front of him?

 

I dont necessarily disagree that the coach should be getting some attention, but there is lots to look at here so its not necessarily the whole picture.

[cross16]

I think there are definetly things Gulutzan should and will learn from this season. I do agree he insisted on certain lineups and players in certain positions too much, and sometimes stuck with it too long. i don't agree he was outcoached in the playoffs either but I do think he should have switched up the lines for game 4. Could maybe say the team wasn't fully ready to play game 1 especially in terms of discipline, but I also think that's a bit unfair to GG because there is only so much a coach can do when it comes to bad penalties. 

At the end of the day though I thought GG did an exellent job this year. This was a top 10 defensive team in almost all metrics, they saw a huge improvement in possession, and their special teams were very good. Not only that I thought it was very interesting. That multiple players mentioned that they found a love for the game again or had so much fun this season. I think that's a big credit to the coaching staff and I do really admire that GG was able to help pull his team out of 2 big slumps. 

 

Way more positives than negatives with GG, but certainly some things he can and I think will learn from. 

[MAC331]

13 hours ago, AlbertaBoy12 said:

While I agree with you on the lack of changes, im not quite sure there was many options for him in terms of D pairings. I know some people are all upset about the brodie lefty righty thing, but im not quite sure who exactly he was putting on the left side with brodie. Alot of people wanted him back with gio but then who do you play hamilton with? I think he could have made some more lineup changes, but for a head coach who is pretty new at it, I think he did a good job.

 

He might not have known how to get us out of the losing streak, but the streak in january I think its the sign of a good coach that he sat down with his leaders and figured it out with them. 

 

I do agree that the goalie coach should be taking more heat, it is kind of odd that this is not the first time we have had goalies just implode during the time here. But at the same time elliott went from having a really rough time to start the year to really turning it around in the second half, so do you give the coach props for that? or is it just the case of the team playing better in front of him?

 

I dont necessarily disagree that the coach should be getting some attention, but there is lots to look at here so its not necessarily the whole picture.

Never any winners in the Blame Game.

[MAC331]

1 hour ago, cross16 said:

I think there are definetly things Gulutzan should and will learn from this season. I do agree he insisted on certain lineups and players in certain positions too much, and sometimes stuck with it too long. i don't agree he was outcoached in the playoffs either but I do think he should have switched up the lines for game 4. Could maybe say the team wasn't fully ready to play game 1 especially in terms of discipline, but I also think that's a bit unfair to GG because there is only so much a coach can do when it comes to bad penalties. 

At the end of the day though I thought GG did an exellent job this year. This was a top 10 defensive team in almost all metrics, they saw a huge improvement in possession, and their special teams were very good. Not only that I thought it was very interesting. That multiple players mentioned that they found a love for the game again or had so much fun this season. I think that's a big credit to the coaching staff and I do really admire that GG was able to help pull his team out of 2 big slumps. 

 

Way more positives than negatives with GG, but certainly some things he can and I think will learn from. 

Any way you look at this season it was a massive undertaking to bring in all new coaches with new systems and end up where we did in the playoffs. Any team has to grow and go through adjustments to each other and a slow start and some stumbles should have been expected. All in all a good progressive season.

[JTech780]

 

[cross16]

Think 6th is actual a little low to be honest 

[JTech780]

4 minutes ago, cross16 said:

Think 6th is actual a little low to be honest 

 

I agree, but hard to argue with coach Q and Trotz being ahead of him.

[MAC331]

12 hours ago, JTech780 said:

 

I agree, but hard to argue with coach Q and Trotz being ahead of him.

I will say the right Coach won this award last night.

[AlbertaBoy12]

5 minutes ago, MAC331 said:

I will say the right Coach won this award last night.

I agree. But I dont really think Todd McLellan deserved that many votes, he had the mvp of the league and #4 goalie in vezina voting. Im not saying that having those players makes it so you dont deserve it, but I dont really think todd did anything magical with the oilers, he relied on one line to produce and rode talbot. As opposed to say guy boucher leading ottawa to the eastern conference final or maybe peter laviolette leading nashville to the stanley cup final. Those two guys did way more with less talented teams, more balanced but less talented.

[MAC331]

25 minutes ago, AlbertaBoy12 said:

I agree. But I dont really think Todd McLellan deserved that many votes, he had the mvp of the league and #4 goalie in vezina voting. Im not saying that having those players makes it so you dont deserve it, but I dont really think todd did anything magical with the oilers, he relied on one line to produce and rode talbot. As opposed to say guy boucher leading ottawa to the eastern conference final or maybe peter laviolette leading nashville to the stanley cup final. Those two guys did way more with less talented teams, more balanced but less talented.

I would agree with what you have here. The NHL has a love affair with the Oilers.

[travel_dude]

2 hours ago, AlbertaBoy12 said:

I agree. But I dont really think Todd McLellan deserved that many votes, he had the mvp of the league and #4 goalie in vezina voting. Im not saying that having those players makes it so you dont deserve it, but I dont really think todd did anything magical with the oilers, he relied on one line to produce and rode talbot. As opposed to say guy boucher leading ottawa to the eastern conference final or maybe peter laviolette leading nashville to the stanley cup final. Those two guys did way more with less talented teams, more balanced but less talented.

 

The PHWA is a joke really.  Very few of them stay up to watch western games on a regular basis.  They look at highlight packages and player of the week/month pieces.  Even with that, they are paying attention to the Oilers standings, points, SV% etc.  And plays of the week.

Pretty hard to ignore 30 multi-point games by McD.  New face of the NHL.  

[cross16]

7 hours ago, AlbertaBoy12 said:

I agree. But I dont really think Todd McLellan deserved that many votes, he had the mvp of the league and #4 goalie in vezina voting. Im not saying that having those players makes it so you dont deserve it, but I dont really think todd did anything magical with the oilers, he relied on one line to produce and rode talbot. As opposed to say guy boucher leading ottawa to the eastern conference final or maybe peter laviolette leading nashville to the stanley cup final. Those two guys did way more with less talented teams, more balanced but less talented.

 

Coach of the year voting takes place after the regular season before playoffs. 

[AlbertaBoy12]

6 minutes ago, cross16 said:

 

Coach of the year voting takes place after the regular season before playoffs. 

Thats totally fine, I dont think the oilers were that well coached that he deserves that much praise, I find it surprising that laviolette didnt get a vote.

[cross16]

2 minutes ago, AlbertaBoy12 said:

, I find it surprising that laviolette didnt get a vote.

 

Pre season cup pick by more than a few and they almost didn't make the playoffs....

 

tough to quantify who does a good coaching job but Nashville was a mess late in the season. He didn't really deserve a vote if you exclude the playoffs, which the award does. 

[redfire11]

I think BT has done a great job in supplying GG with options. I am convinced GG can get us into the playoffs but not sure how far he can take us. I don't think he adapts to our player strengths but sets the style of play right or wrong. I also feel he lets poor play from players off too easily. Burke and BT have an agenda and GG could be on a short leash.

Offensive zone entry needs work

Power Play needs work

Cycling the puck in the Offensive zone needs work

Defensive zone breakout needs work

 

[MAC331]

14 minutes ago, redfire11 said:

I think BT has done a great job in supplying GG with options. I am convinced GG can get us into the playoffs but not sure how far he can take us. I don't think he adapts to our player strengths but sets the style of play right or wrong. I also feel he lets poor play from players off too easily. Burke and BT have an agenda and GG could be on a short leash.

Offensive zone entry needs work

Power Play needs work

Cycling the puck in the Offensive zone needs work

Defensive zone breakout needs work

 

GG is very much part of the total agenda so I don't think he is going anywhere soon. All of the stuff you mention should improve along with the players here and being added.

[AlbertaBoy12]

19 minutes ago, redfire11 said:

I think BT has done a great job in supplying GG with options. I am convinced GG can get us into the playoffs but not sure how far he can take us. I don't think he adapts to our player strengths but sets the style of play right or wrong. I also feel he lets poor play from players off too easily. Burke and BT have an agenda and GG could be on a short leash.

Offensive zone entry needs work

Power Play needs work

Cycling the puck in the Offensive zone needs work

Defensive zone breakout needs work

 

Obviously the powerplay could get better, but it was pretty dahm good last season, it was in the top 10 after having a horrible start with everyone calling for cameron to be fired. I think the cycling the puck in the offensive zone is fine, it needs work because of certain personnel, but nothing wrong there. Defensive zone breakout was really good when the team was on, unless that player was wideman, or the third pairing, did a good job of getting the puck out of the zone.

 

Who exactly did he let off with poor play last season? He dropped brouwer to the 4th line, and he only has so many players on the roster. Its not like he can just sit bouma, brouwer, johnny and be like hey brad I want all these guys replaced. He put mony on the 4th line to wake him up and put johnny on the 4th line, if anything he was more hard on poor play then his predecessor. 

 

Also while it is his job to help guys by using their strengths, the system didnt limit any of our players. Johnny and mony both started slow for whatever reason you want to use, and the system had nothing to do with that.  

[DirtyDeeds]

On 6/30/2017 at 9:14 AM, AlbertaBoy12 said:

Obviously the powerplay could get better, but it was pretty dahm good last season, it was in the top 10 after having a horrible start with everyone calling for cameron to be fired. I think the cycling the puck in the offensive zone is fine, it needs work because of certain personnel, but nothing wrong there. Defensive zone breakout was really good when the team was on, unless that player was wideman, or the third pairing, did a good job of getting the puck out of the zone.

 

Who exactly did he let off with poor play last season? He dropped brouwer to the 4th line, and he only has so many players on the roster. Its not like he can just sit bouma, brouwer, johnny and be like hey brad I want all these guys replaced. He put mony on the 4th line to wake him up and put johnny on the 4th line, if anything he was more hard on poor play then his predecessor. 

 

Also while it is his job to help guys by using their strengths, the system didnt limit any of our players. Johnny and mony both started slow for whatever reason you want to use, and the system had nothing to do with that.  

He left Chaisson on the first line way too much and way too long last season. He kept trying Brouwer with Bennett far to long when clearly they had no chemistry. There are more example but these are just 2.