Ice-cold to red-hot since last clash with Habs
Coach denies his rant was a turning point, but stats don’t lie, writes Kristen Odland
The last time the Calgary Flames played the Montreal Canadiens, the situation was, putting it mildly, much different. Need a reminder? Rewind back to Jan. 24 at the Bell Centre and recall what Glen Gulutzan had to say about his team.
“We were pathetic,” the Flames head coach said after his club’s 5-1 loss to the Habs during a stretch which saw the Flames lose four straight and get outscored 20-7. Need more? “It was a pathetic display,” he continued. “No bite-back. No kick-back. Just accept it, right down. Our top guys didn’t do anything.
“We need somebody to step up.”
The next game — Calgary’s last before the NHL All-Star break — Johnny Gaudreau stepped up in the biggest way possible with 30.2 seconds left in overtime to seal a 3-2 win for the Flames. It didn’t stop there. Since that game in Montreal, the Flames have been rolling with a 12-2-1 record and are now looking to extend a sevengame winning streak. Instead of crumbling after Gulutzan’s fiery address to the media, they’ve responded and now have a 36-26-4 record, which is more than good enough for the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Playoffs are a reality. And, heck, they might actually win a round or two.
Was Jan. 24 a definitive turning point in Calgary’s season?
“It could be,” Flames defender Dougie Hamilton said. “There’s not really one time where you snap your fingers and everything changes. But we’ve put a lot of different things together and we’re executing our game plan.
“Everyone’s contributing, our goalies are playing great — that’s the biggest thing.”
Downplaying his reaction that day — and trying not to focus on using that game as a turning point to their season although the statistics do not lie — Gulutzan recalled the situation, particularly the uncomfortable train ride to Ottawa.
“I don’t even know if all of our guys heard the message,” Gulutzan said on Wednesday. “I think most guys weren’t reading or doing anything after that.
“It was maybe more of the train ride, if you ask our players — the train ride from Montreal to Ottawa. Then, the meeting we had in the morning in Ottawa. Those are probably the two things the players remember the most. What I had to say after the game, the players probably didn’t even know what I said.
“We had a couple defining moments on that trip. When I was emotional after the game … that wasn’t one of them.”
Regardless, the team responded.
And heading into Thursday’s rematch against the Canadiens — Montreal is also red-hot, chasing its seventh straight victory — it’s hard to believe the Flames ever struggled this 2016-17 campaign.
During this seven-game win streak, they’ve found scoring depth, their top line of Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Micheal Ferland are rolling, their defence is solid (the addition of top-four blueliner Michael Stone has helped), and Brian Elliott is already playing playoff hockey.
Meanwhile, Gulutzan has cultivated a sense of belief in the Flames locker-room. The players have done the rest. “I thought we were trending in the right direction, even though we were losing games,” he said.
“You’re judged by wins and losses but if you look at things deeper, we weren’t playing terrible hockey. We were having good starts, we just weren’t getting the first goal … to be honest with you, I knew it would change.
“We just had to have a little tweak in our mentality.”
We had a couple defining moments on that trip. When I was emotional after the game … that wasn’t one of them.