First Coach Fired will be Gulutzan

[Canuck16]

The Coyotes loss was painful and now losing to the Ducks at home should spark a coaching change. There are only a handful of games left but it appears the Calgary Flames Gulutzan will get the axe first. Brian Burke and GM won't stay idle. There is no source, this is just common sense and a gut feeling.

The stick throwing incident miraculously bought Gulutzan time because the team started to win. No coach has been fired this season but that will change.

Click to read more...

 

[Josepho]

I honestly liked him more than any other Coach/ACoach we've had since 2014.

I guess a Head Coaching role is just too much for the guy.

 

[Ginormousthumbs]

I like the guy. Maybe he’ll get a miracle save and get another shot next season.

 

[DCDM]

Dude sucks.

 

[vanarchy]

He should have never been hired.

 

[Del Preston]

Why not just wait seven games?

 

[Langdon Alger]

Who replaces him?

 

[Bounces R Way]

You know it's kinda funny. Everyone wanted Hartley fired for someone who could coach the team to have a defensive possession based system. They get exactly that in Gulutzan and now the team can't score.

I bet he gets another year, but with the way the Flames are concluding the season I wouldn't be surprised to see him gone either. Arguably did less with more than Bob ever did.

 

[Snakepit]

Should have happened in December.

 

[HugginThePost]

He really does need to go.

I don’t think it’s all on him. This is a mentally fragile team, which to me doesn’t fall att he coaches feet. That is squarely on the players.

His system just doesn’t seem to play to the Flames strength. Does it need to be an extreme like the system Hartley ran, no.

But somewhere in between.

Everyone will be clamoring to get Coach Q if he gets the turf, but I wouldn’t think that a good idea.

I’d take Torts or Sutter, knowing this group needs tough love on a daily basis to get past this level of soft play.

Of course both come with a limited shelf life, but that’s okay, this iteration of the Flames hasn’t got a long time to realize it’s potential.

 

[Howie Hodge]

First season of no in season coaching changes in years.

Assuredly there will be several in the off season...

 

[Scott Stevens]

Does anyone else miss the Crawford/av Canucks vs Keenan flames era?

 

[Scott Stevens]

I loved to hate those Keenan flames

 

[Bleedred]

Why not just wait seven games?

They probably will. I don't think anybody's getting fired, until April 7th or 8th.

When was the last time a coach was fired with 6 or 7 games (or even under 10?) left in the season? And I mean for teams that weren't in a playoff spot. I'm not even counting when Lou fired Julien with 3 games to go when the team was in first place or Ftorek late in the year in 2000 when they were in a playoff spot. Or Ftorek in Boston when they were in a playoff spot.

I can't remember the last time it happened for a non-playoff team with so little time left in the season. It seems to happen in the NFL with just a few games left to go (which is more significant amount of time left in the season) more than here in the NHL.

 

[CanuckGame39]

That's the one thing I hate about pro sports. Guys get fired way too early. Give them some time to make a difference. Rome wasn't built over night.

For years the preds sucked but stuck with their GM. Look at what they get to enjoy now. The Rangers are also pretty loyal to Sather.

I respect that. What I don't respect is people being fired before they have really had a chance to put their stamp on things. It may take a few years.

 

[Bleedred]

What other head coach goes? I predict AV, Bill Peters (definitely he's gone with a new GM and owner coming in) Todd McLellan (he might be safe for part of next year though?), Quenneville (they might let him ''resign'' or ''mutually'' part ways and even offer him another job in the organization if he chooses not to coach), are probably all gone in 2.5 weeks, along with Gulutzan. I'm also thinking Yeo is getting sacked if St. Louis misses the playoffs, maybe even if they make the playoffs and go out early. Blashill is probably gone with Holland and the new GM hires his own guy. Boucher is possible.

I really thought Tocchet was going, but their late ''Push'' might save him. Hakstol is probably gone in the slight chance the Flyers miss out. Hitch 2.0 era is probably over if Nill is canned. He might get brought back if Nill is not canned.

Trotz is gone after they go out in the playoffs.

How could I forget Dead Weight? He's probably gone too, along with Garth if the owners have the gonads to can him and just eat the rest of his remaining years.

 

[Bleedred]

That's the one thing I hate about pro sports. Guys get fired way too early. Give them some time to make a difference. Rome wasn't built over night.

For years the preds sucked but stuck with their GM. Look at what they get to enjoy now. The Rangers are also pretty loyal to Sather.

I respect that. What I don't respect is people being fired before they have really had a chance to put their stamp on things. It may take a few years.

3 years is about the average head coaching stint right now in the NHL. It's probably under 3 years since half the teams in the league have made at least one head coaching change since the Spring of 2016. Gulutzan will have only had 2 years, he was hired that Spring also. I don't follow the Flames close enough to know if he's bad or not, but I did think they'd be better this year than they have been. I thought they'd be a playoff team, if not just a wild card team. Because they made the playoffs last year with a platoon of backups in net. Not that Mike Smith is good, I think he's just okay. Pretty average. And with this current stretch, his numbers have now regressed to the neighborhood of where he was in Arizona. He was in the .920's for quite a while this season and people were like ''Dat Arizona defense tho! His gud on a structured team!'' and combined with the non-Mike Smith backups who have been just whatever, they're on par with last year's goaltending.

Looks like their shooting percentage regressed by over a full percent and a percent below the league average.

 

[Iceman]

You know it's kinda funny. Everyone wanted Hartley fired for someone who could coach the team to have a defensive possession based system. They get exactly that in Gulutzan and now the team can't score.

I bet he gets another year, but with the way the Flames are concluding the season I wouldn't be surprised to see him gone either. Arguably did less with more than Bob ever did.

So either he gets fired or he doesn’t... thanks for info.

 

[Bounces R Way]

So either he gets fired or he doesn’t... thanks for info.

Says right there I bet he gets another year... Is there some third outcome you think is worth exploring?

 

[dkhockey]

Why not quinville in chicago?
angry walrus is worthless

 

[Canuck16]

Why not quinville in chicago?
angry walrus is worthless

"We don't care what that bug-eyed fat walrus has to say" Prust said.

 

[ffh]

"We don't care what that bug-eyed fat walrus has to say" Prust said.

Didn't Maclean say right after i get bug eyed but not the fat part .

 

[tony d]

I think he will let go. I had Calgary winning the division, looks like they won't make the playoffs at all at this point.

 

[HugginThePost]

I think he will let go. I had Calgary winning the division, looks like they won't make the playoffs at all at this point.

Playoffs?? That went out the window about 4 games ago. Nada, zero, zilch, never going to happen.

Huge disappointment.....

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

He was poor for Dallas. I knew, from the very beginning, that he wasn't fit for this team.