Talking about those red-hot Flames
U.S. sports radio host delves into the angry antics of Calgary’s coach — and team’s scorching play since
As the Calgary Flames return from their mid-season getaway on Friday, hitting the ice at 4 p.m. after a five-day NHL-mandated break, the question everyone wanted an answer to was posed to Glen Gulutzan on Thursday.
The storyline is so obvious that not even an American-based sports radio program like The Jim Rome Show could miss it.
The Calgary Flames head coach made a rare appearance on the show, which also airs on sports stations across Canada, and fulfilled his lone media request of the team’s bye week.
Rome asked the question about the team’s newsworthy seven-game win streak and the perhaps unfortunate timing of the team’s week off.
“You want to keep it going, but one thing in this league is that these guys get used to playing every second night. And when you get on a roll and you’re playing every second night, you want to keep going with it,” Gulutzan said.
“We weren’t that tired of a group so, sure, we’d like to keep it going.
“But what the league is doing is pairing teams up that are coming off these mandatory bye weeks. So at the end of the day, the playing field is all square for us. We just have to get back on it quick.”
The Flames host the Winnipeg Jets for a rare matinee on Saturday (noon PT on CBC), a team that’s also coming off a bye week after dropping a pair of back-to-back games against the Chicago Blackhawks and the Minnesota Wild.
Heading into Thursday’s action, the Flames (25-16-4) were sitting third in the NHL’s Pacific Division and are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. The mission is, obviously, to continue to climb up the Western Conference standings as the playoffs approach.
Given the timing of their break and their impressive play of late, the question was predictable. And so was Rome’s next question. “You tossed a stick?” Gulutzan chuckled. The material was too easy. Giving the ol’ heave-ho to his composite on Jan. 5, following a comefrom-behind victory over the visiting Los Angeles Kings, Gulutzan’s outburst went viral and made headlines across the nation and, apparently, in the U.S. too.
“We win one (bleeping) game … One (bleeping) game,” screamed Gulutzan, irked by signs of complacency. “We’re so (bleeping) good? You check the (bleeping) standings? Let’s (bleeping) go — (bleeping) practice.”
The censored video footage is all over the web.
Not one to shy away from controversial subjects, Rome was interested in getting to the bottom of the story.
“In any good program, in any sport, you talk about the culture,” Gulutzan said, explaining the chain of events leading to the javelin toss. “We wanted to be sharp. We wanted to be good. We wanted the veterans to lead it. We didn’t get that early. And so, that’s a little bit of what set me off ... I didn’t want to let it go on longer than about seven or eight minutes … I had some strong words for the guys, obviously. I threw the stick — not one of my finest moments. But I wanted to deliver the message.” No kidding. Fast forward to the Flames’ fourgame road trip, which produced wins in Minnesota, Tampa Bay, Florida and Carolina.
The Flames are getting good goaltending from Mike Smith, who has played 38 games, going 20-13-3. He’s among the most heavily utilized netminders in the NHL. His 2.46 goalsagainst average was fifth in the NHL among goalies who have played 35 games or more, while his .924 save percentage had him in a three-way tie for second in the league along with Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings and New Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers.
“He’s been such a good acquisition for us, and his goaltending has been fantastic,” Gulutzan told Rome. “He’s one of the top guys in the league. But we acquired a great leader — this guy has a lot of passion and a lot of fire. He’s very positive, and he’s given us some great leadership in the locker-room.”
With 37 games to go, the Flames are in a much better position than they were a few weeks ago.
And, Gulutzan pointed out, they’ve set the framework for the team. Now it’s up to the veteran players to go get it.
“In any high functioning team, at the end of the year, basically the coach is a facilitator,” Gulutzan said. “The veteran guys can grab a hold of everything, and the coach is just the facilitator. Maybe he’s looking at the gauges and making sure nothing overheats.
“If the veterans are running it, then you’ve got something.”