Young sniper vows to learn from his demotion
When the line of questioning opened up on Tuesday, Glen Gulutzan braced himself — fully knowing what was coming — and chuckled.
“Are we in a Canadian market?” the head coach quipped.
Because a National Hockey League city like this one — a knowledgeable fan base that cares so deeply about its Calgary Flames — wants players kept accountable.
So yes, the fact that Gulutzan demoted Johnny Gaudreau to the fourth line in Monday’s 5-0 loss to the Arizona Coyotes, was the top story of the day. For the second consecutive day, actually.
“We’re a family in that room,” he continued, explaining his decision, which lasted through the second and third period of the embarrassing setback at the Scotiabank Saddledome. “We really are. Like I’ve said to my guys at least once or twice, if my bad kid has a bad report card or makes a mistake — and I’ve got four (kids) — I tell them all at once, that way I don’t have to tell the other three.
“We like to be a family in there and we like to be honest with each other and that’s how we’re going to get places.”
On Monday, however, the team stayed put; mired in the ninth spot in the Western Conference with a 28-26-3 record.
No one played particularly well on this night, but Gaudreau — one of the biggest stars on the team — was used as an example.
After turning over the puck at the Coyotes’ blue line to Oliver EkmanLarsson, the shifty left winger beelined to the bench for a change and left Brett Kulak and Deryk Engelland to fend for themselves.
Christian Dvorak scored 2:38 into the second period and, at that point, the score was only 2-0. It spiralled downward from there.
Gulutzan immediately put Micheal Ferland up with Sean Monahan and Troy Brouwer while Gaudreau was with Matt Stajan and Garnet Hathaway.
“It wasn’t really the turnover itself,” Gulutzan said when asked what upset him the most about the play. “If you watched the game, it was the shift length and the change. We just have to learn from that … just watch the play.” He continued. “It’s awareness,” Gulutzan explained. “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.”
Gaudreau was not available to media for post-game comment on Monday.
But, giving his side of the story on Tuesday, he owned up to the mistake, which was discussed with Gulutzan prior to practice.
To summarize: message received. And both sides are moving forward.
“It’s a turnover I can’t make,” admitted Gaudreau. “It’s a 1-0 game, a tight game. The next thing you know, it’s 2-0. I’ve gotta learn from it.” He gave his explanation. “It was kind of a broken play, I pulled up along the wall. I was trying to look for a (Flames) ‘D’ coming in and they were changing,” Gaudreau said. “I kind of got stuck out there. I tried to get it in deep and lost the puck and got tangled with Ekman-Larsson … they ended up scoring.
“I was trying to make a play and it wasn’t the right play.”
It’s the latest incident in a tough season for Gaudreau, who is minus-18, the second-worst rating in front of T.J. Brodie’s minus-25, while leading Calgary’s forwards in ice-time (an average of 19:03 per game). With a price tag like his — and notoriety he has built with the Flames — the undersized flank is supposed to be a difference-maker. He has only scored 11 goals and 24 assists in 47 games.
Gulutzan said he wasn’t worried about Gaudreau’s response to the brief demotion and added that he still believes in the young rising star.
“Johnny’s a really special player,” he said. “He wants to be treated like everyone else. And that’s what we do. We try and treat everyone fairly. But there are different rules for different guys. Some guys get more leash than others. “But just watch the play.” The 23-year-old, well into his third season in the NHL, pledged to learn from Monday’s events.
“People make mistakes,” Gaudreau said. “Me and Gully talked about it (Tuesday) morning a little bit. And it’s something I have to be better at.”