FLAMES’ STAR IN SHAKEUP
Gaudreau demoted to fourth line
Try as they might, Johnny Gaudreau and Glen Gulutzan weren’t convincing in their insistence they’re now on the same page.
One day after Gulutzan very publicly demoted Gaudreau to the fourth line in the midst of a 5-0 humiliation, the two sat for an early morning meeting they say cleared the air.
However, in their attempt to sing Kumbaya for the media Tuesday the two offered up different tunes.
After the game an understandably frustrated Gulutzan said the early second-period demotion to Matt Stajan’s line came following a neutral zone giveaway of Gaudreau’s that led to the Coyotes’ second goal.
On Tuesday he changed his answer.
“It wasn’t really the turnover itself. If you watched the game, it was the shift length and the change,” said Gulutzan. “It’s awareness. And we talk about it all the time. Where you are in the shift, where you are in the game? It all comes into play.”
Minutes earlier, Gaudreau spoke for the first time since the blowout and said the coach made it clear to him the turnover was the real crime early in a game that shouldn’t have included such a costly turnover.
“We spoke a little this morning — that’s a turnover I can’t make in a tight, 1-0 game. Next thing you know it’s 2-0,” said Gaudreau, who pulled up at the Coyotes blue-line, was stripped of the puck while searching for trailers and headed to the bench as the play turned up ice for an eventual goal.
“I was trying to make a play and it wasn’t the right play — I should have just got to the puck in deep. We make mistakes. I’m a young guy and I’ve got to learn from this. I’ve got to be better.”
That last line is perhaps the key to understanding the coach’s risky exercise: Gaudreau has got to be better.
If this team is going to make the playoffs he has to find a way to contribute offensively the way he has the last two years and the way he’s being paid to chip in for the next six.
If not, he can’t be a detriment to the team defensively as his minus-18 rating suggests. He’s trying to do too much. This isn’t to suggest there is a personality clash or a rift of any sort between the coach and his star player.
What it does make clear is that Gulutzan’s public shaming of the 23-year-old demonstrates he’s had an ongoing battle with Gaudreau in an effort to get his game back in order.
It’s one thing to go from the league’s sixth-leading scorer to the third-leading scorer on your team, but it’s another to be part of the problem by deviating from the system and costing your club goals in the process.
Understandably, there’s plenty of frustration around town and at the rink concerning Gaudreau’s sub-par play this year. In the end, it could cost his team a playoff spot.
For Gulutzan to resort to an embarrassing in-game demotion suggests he’s run out of ways to get through to Gaudreau privately.
Like the couple that fights about the dishes, is this really about the dishes?
Do we really believe one of the most creative players in the league was sent to the fourth unit because his fertile mind made one costly decision? This goes deeper than that. After all, plenty of other forwards have made worse reads and maintained their position in the lineup. Or are his shifts routinely too long, which is a sign of selfishness and a player trying to do too much?
To Gaudreau’s credit, he owned the mistake and didn’t think the coach’s reaction was out of line.
“Not unfair(ly) — it’s something me and him talked about before,” said the former 30-goal scorer who has 11 goals and 35 points in 47 games.
“You’ve got to be smart about it. Listen, he gives me a lot of leeway to try to create plays and at that time of the game it wasn’t a time to do that. So he put me down on the fourth line and I still got some chances on the fourth line.”
It wouldn’t have been such a big deal if it was any other Flame.
“Johnny’s a really special player and he knows and he wants to be treated like everyone else,” said Gulutzan.
“And that’s what we do. We try to treat everyone fairly. But there are different rules for different guys. Some guys get more leash than others.”
Obviously, in the midst of a playoff race, the goal Tuesday was for everyone involved to downplay everything and focus on a bounce back Wednesday when Gaudreau will return to the top unit with Sean Monahan and Troy Brouwer against Philadelphia.
“(There’s no rift) at all — we have a good relationship, me and Gully,” said Gaudreau. “We talk a lot and we talked for half an hour this morning when I got to the rink. Not even all about hockey — we talked a little about our families and that’s the kind of relationship you need to have with your coach.
“It was a good lesson. It was a demotion, not a benching — I still got to go out and play. I’ve said before I don’t care who I play with — I just want to go out there and try to make plays and try to help this team win. I’m fine with it.”