Glen Gulutzan

[Supes^ 2]

Hi Flames fans. Don't know how many of us are here on this forum but I'm fairly new and would like to discuss a hot-pressed subject that doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. 

Glen Gulutzan.

 

I'm a lurker on different sites and it seems the general consensus is that Gulutzan is not the right coach for this team. Every time we lose, it seems like most of the blame goes to Gulutzan and even when we win, he doesn't get any credit or he still gets bashed. 

 

That being said and you've probably guessed right, I do like Glen Gulutzan as our head coach. I think he's done a good job with our club this year and last year. I'm well aware of his bone-headed decisions time to time but besides that, I don't see why he gets ragged on so much. The players have and still are buying in to his system and as I write this we are sitting 12-8-0 3rd in the Pacific with some momentum. And not to mention, I believe one of his strengths is team bonding and I think our players (especially our younger players), have bonded and gelled nicely. 

 

So, lets have a good healthy discussion about this subject, curious and looking forward to hearing peoples thoughts.

 

Cheers!

[yave1964 2,695]

@Supes^

 

First off welcome to the forum! This is a subject that I am pretty well up on.

 

  I am/was a big fan of Bob Hartley and felt that he was the right fit with kids like Monahan and Gaudreau when they hit the league. He more or less told Monahan as a teen that he was taking all the offensive zone faceoffs against the likes of Kesler/Getzlaf ect.. that he could handle and IMHO Monahan is the player he is today because of Hartley. I think he is one of the best coaches for young talent in the game. The Flames were in ashes when he took over (pun intended) and Gio, Brodie, Gaudreau and Monahan among others either received their first shot or developed under Hartley. The nature of the game however is a coach wears out his welcome and is moved out and that is what happened to Hartley. It happens. It probably happened at the right time.

  I have never been a fan of Gulutzan, I felt he was over his head in Dallas as a head coach and that he overcoached the team in 2011-12 when they collapsed down the stretch losing 8 of their final 9 including the last five games in a row to miss the playoffs by one point after being the upstart team of the year all year. After muddling along until near the break the following year he was put out of his misery at the All Star Break.

  My thoughts are that he tends to over manage, that he tries to change things up too often for change sake rather than a conceived plan, that his system is hunch based, this works sometimes but I would rather have a coach who builds his system around the talent rather than coaching from the seat of your pants all the time. I think he is reactionary and is outcoached often. I watch quite a lot of Flames games because I love their talent, I am a HUGE fan of their defense, I believe that there is no team in Hockey who can match the Flames Hamilton, Gio, Brodie, Stone, Hamonic combo and throw in the youth and skill at forward the team is situated nicely going forward. I am not a big fan of Smith but hey, that is just me. It is a pet peeve thing, I hate the way he flops and feigns injury when the ice is tilted to get a stoppage and then suddenly miraculously is all better as if dipped in the water of Lourdes, lol, but that is off subject.

  Anyway, the long and short of it is I picked the Flames third in their division and a near mortal lock for a playoff spot this year, if they have another coach I likely would have picked them second. Just not a fan.

[Supes^ 2]

Thanks for the feedback Yave!

I do agree with you about Bob Hartley. He was one of my favorite coaches and it was sad to see him leave. I thought the Flames could of had another good year under him, unfortunately I also do believe his message was getting stale as well and it was time to move on.

 

After we released him, there wasn't really a pool of head coaches to go after. I believe the front runners were Gulutzan and Mike Yao. 

I don't recall much of Gulutzan's head coaching stint with the Stars but I know it was short and underwhelming.

 

This is only his fourth year of coaching so far, and last year he made the post-season. The big question for me at least is if he can take this team to the next level, he definitely has the tools to do so. If he can't make any progress this year then my opinion of him will be undoubtedly change  but for now I think he can take this team to new heights. I guess we'll wait and see. 

[hf101 3,061]

On 11/22/2017 at 1:26 AM, Supes^ said:

Hi Flames fans. Don't know how many of us are here on this forum but I'm fairly new and would like to discuss a hot-pressed subject that doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. 

Glen Gulutzan.

 

I'm a lurker on different sites and it seems the general consensus is that Gulutzan is not the right coach for this team. Every time we lose, it seems like most of the blame goes to Gulutzan and even when we win, he doesn't get any credit or he still gets bashed. 

 

That being said and you've probably guessed right, I do like Glen Gulutzan as our head coach. I think he's done a good job with our club this year and last year. I'm well aware of his bone-headed decisions time to time but besides that, I don't see why he gets ragged on so much. The players have and still are buying in to his system and as I write this we are sitting 12-8-0 3rd in the Pacific with some momentum. And not to mention, I believe one of his strengths is team bonding and I think our players (especially our younger players), have bonded and gelled nicely. 

 

So, lets have a good healthy discussion about this subject, curious and looking forward to hearing peoples thoughts.

 

Cheers!

 

It's looking like Gulutzan won't be lasting too long with the Flames.  Have his players tuned out?

 

 

[TropicalFruitGirl26 3,569]

Well, these kinds of tirades will either have a great effect and the team goes on a tear (Mike Yeo pulled that one with the Wild a few seasons back), or the team will regress even further (the more likely scenario here), and the coach, as @hf101 has suggested, won't be around to see how things turn out firsthand.

 

Top of the list for the 'blame game' HAS to be the players for lack of execution and the actual play on the ice.

I completely understand that the coach is responsible for motivating and getting the most out of these guys, but at the end of the day, the PLAYERS simply have to execute.

 

Not like this Flames team is full of a bunch of 19 and 20 yr olds who don't know what it takes to win in the NHL.

There are some solid vets, some star players, and players with past playoff games on this team, and some, like Dougie Hamilton, have played on teams with Stanley Cup veteran players.

 

So, while this coach may not necessarily be the "right" coach for the Flames, at the end of the day, players have to look themselves in the mirror and see the reason WHY their team is struggling.

 

Oh, and hey, Mr. GM of the Flames, Brad Treliving...YOU had control of the composition of this team and the who runs it on the ice right?

Just sayin.....

[yave1964 2,695]

Never a fan of his and starting to wonder about this team, Hartley lost the room last year with his tough love approach, apparently Gulutzan has began to lose it as well.

 

  I love the defense, I am not kidding, I doubt if there is a combined 1-6 in the game that I would trade them for, Gio, Hamilton, Brodie, Stone, Hamonic, Kulak but they haven't quite performed as they are capable. The forwards look soft and unwilling to do the corner battles on a nightly basis, Monahan has become a superstar probably the least known superstar in the game but the rest including Johnny Hockey are getting pushed around way too much. Tkachuk being an exception as well but his skill level hasn't caught up with his compete level.

 

  IMHO Gaudreau is part of the problem, he doesn't hit, he floats waiting for offensive oppurtunities, Jagr coming in was a mitake as that is his game at this point of his career and that only encourages kids t play that way. You gotta want it, if I were a Flame fan (and I am a bit of a closet one) I would have serious concerns. Hamilton was run out of Boston supposedly because Marchand hated his nightly compete level, Gaudreau is soft as soft serve ice cream, they look like a perennial one and done playoff team losing to the grittier sandpaper teams in a quick series. And that is top shelf for them right now.Something is seriously missing.

[hf101 3,061]

On 11/22/2017 at 1:26 AM, Supes^ said:

I'm a lurker on different sites and it seems the general consensus is that Gulutzan is not the right coach for this team. Every time we lose, it seems like most of the blame goes to Gulutzan and even when we win, he doesn't get any credit or he still gets bashed. 

 

That being said and you've probably guessed right, I do like Glen Gulutzan as our head coach. I think he's done a good job with our club this year and last year. I'm well aware of his bone-headed decisions time to time but besides that, I don't see why he gets ragged on so much. The players have and still are buying in to his system and as I write this we are sitting 12-8-0 3rd in the Pacific with some momentum. And not to mention, I believe one of his strengths is team bonding and I think our players (especially our younger players), have bonded and gelled nicely. 

 

Well, the general consensus was right I guess.  Gulutzan was fired yesterday along with his coaching staff.  The PP was one of the worst in the league so I'm not surprised that there were to be some changes.

 

Any thoughts on who the Flames will hire as head coach?

[OccamsRazor 8,556]

On 4/18/2018 at 9:03 AM, hf101 said:

Any thoughts on who the Flames will hire as head coach?

 

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and say Alberta native Bill Peters.

 

Not sure how good a move this is when he didn't really even get a pretty decently skill Canes team in the playoffs in 4 years.

 

But Flames seem desperate......so he is their man.

 

He has a pretty decent team to inherit....i think the need a better goalie than 37 year old Mike Smith. But Smith is only on the books for next year at 4.25mill so they need to find someone to challenge him/steal his job. Will they look to Rittich to be that man?? 

 

I think he could be brought back but he was just ok when Smith went down. So i think they should find another option i think.

 

Their forward group could use some retooling too.