Dallas Finally Scores But Not Enough; Fall To San Jose 4-1

Yea the guy hasn’t been great , but in all 4 games hes been in, the team hasn’t scored more then 2 goals.

Before muttering a loud “WTF?” to yourself seeing this comment, if you haven’t already go watch the video of coach Gulutzan’s comments after last night’s game.

I have to say, I absolutely love his zeal and his determination, and he seems like an extremely intelligent coach, with the potential to be one of the best in the league (at least tactically, systems, and all of that).

But for a rookie NHL coach to talk about his players like he did, to call them whiney in the media (that’s something you do behind closed doors if at all), no NHL player likes to be called whiney, and especially the whiney ones! These are athletes with huge egos, if a rookie NHL coach who looks like their little brother comes in and starts calling them whiney, and acting like the tough boss, they are going to tune him out. It’s like yelling at a teenager telling him he can’t go out one night, it’s just going to want to make him sneak out even more.

And it’s not just the whiney comment. It’s his demeanor and attitude in that whole press conference. If the team is whiney, if they take too many penalties, he’s absolutely right, that has to change. But if you’re going to mention that in the media at all, you do it something like this. “That has to change, and you know what, we have great people in that locker room, and they understand that. Theyre not bad people or bad leaders, they just get frustrated, and its completely natural. But we’re going to work on that, and with the help of every single person in that room, we are going to change it because thats what its going to take to become a better team. And they know that. We have great leaders in that room, a great locker room, and together we’re going to work through the problems and come out better at the other end.”

That’s how you do it. What he basically did was say, these kids are whiney, and I’m going to ground them and it’s going to change. And that just does not work when you’re a rookie coach. If that’s any indication of how he’s talked in the locker room, and I’m sure it is, I’d guess the players tuned him out a couple games ago, when the bad times started.

I love the coach otherwise, and I’m only basing my opinion on the one press conference and the way the team has played recently, so my opinion here is anything but iron clad. And it’s just that, my opinion, and not even a steadfast one, more of an “I’m starting to believe this is possibility what’s happening without being sure” opinion. But I am definitely wondering if it’s true, just from how great the team looked early, and then all of a sudden falling off a cliff… the talent hasn’t disappeared, the systems haven’t changed… I was starting to wonder what was going on in the room, and then I watched coach’s press conference, and it just didn’t feel like an NHL press conference, there was no restraint, it felt like he was saying things just because he felt them and wanted to vent without considering how his words would affect the team, it almost felt immature in a way. And that was so surprising because he had his team playing such a mature and smart game to start the year.

Anyway just the combination of steep decline in play and seeing how the coach talks to (or about) his players made me wonder if he’s lost the room already. The way he talked strikes me as the way an adult very confident in his job security would talk to junior players, or even minor leaguers, who he knows have to obey him because they’re still trying to make the NHL. But sometimes you can’t talk to the same way to NHL stars.

What do you guys think?

Positives: It was nice to see the Stars coming out shooting the puck. They played with a lot more energy and drive than we’ve seen of late, and hit everything that moved. I don’t know that I can think of a game where the two teams combined for as many hits as the Stars had alone. They showed they aren’t going to just roll over and take it.

BUT—as nice as it was to see guys like Barch and Nystrom take one for the team to try to get them, and the crowd, back in it, all hell broke loose from there. They were taking stupid penalties (including some rather iffy calls, but that held true on both sides), and they didn’t react well to them. Just like above I couldn’t think of a game where I saw so many hits, I also can’t think of a game where I saw so many of the Stars players yapping at the refs constantly after calls. That’s got to stop. I’ve seen a lot of it all season, but last night it went above and beyond.

Oh, and after that diving call on Ott, I’m really looking forward to playing the Kings. /sarcasm

Has to stop. The D cannot break down against the forecheck. We need to slow opposition on the entry and stop the panic.

Slow the game down a bit.

I can’t help but feel that the team may have some behind the scenes problems that are manifesting on the ice.

benn is being keyed on and they’re taking him away. the guy that im really having a problem with now is morrow. it seems that as he’s gotten older he’s less and less of a factor if he isn’t scoring. sure once he goes on a streak he’s their william wallace, but if he’s not doing that i don’t really notice him. he’s the captain of the team and its time for him to step it up, he looks disinterested out there and its infuriating me. he needs to go out there and hit someone, drop the gloves, hell take his skate off and try to stab someone with it. i dont care what he has to do, he has to do something other than collect a paycheck. i want ribs and morrow broken up for awhile, how bout ribs with loui and ryder. a line of benn with morrow and ott should be physical and get him going that way. ive never been a raycroft fan, he just seems to blow it everytime out. but with as many shots as the other team is getting its not all on him. i dont understand how this team has lost its head without gogo, sure he does alot for the team, but they look flat out lost. i just dont understand whats going on right now. thank god for netflix…