The Calgary Flames have finally found their replacement for Bob Hartley. According to reports they will hire Glen Gulutzan as their new head coach later today.
JUST IN: As per @DarrenDreger, Flames will name Glen Gulutzan as their new head coach. #TSNHockey pic.twitter.com/OZPWYdlkVO
— SportsCentre (@SportsCentre) June 17, 2016
Flames Hire Glen Gulutzan as Head Coach
The 44-year old Manitoba native has ten years of head coaching experience in the ECHL, NHL, and AHL. In the ECHL, Gulutzan presided behind the bench for the Las Vegas Wranglers from 2003-2009, posting 254 wins and a .651 winning percentage in 433 regular season games. In the playoffs, he guided the team from out of the playoffs in his second year to the conference finals four straight seasons, including a Kelly Cup Finals appearance and loss to the ECHL MVP David Desharnais and the Cincinnati Cyclones.
Coaching the Stars
He then got his shot to coach professionally in the Dallas Stars organization for the AHL affiliate Texas Stars. He posted 87 wins over two seasons, guiding the team to the Calder Cup Finals in his first season behind the bench in 2009-10. After Marc Crawford was fired prior to the start of the 2011-12 season, Gulutzan got his first taste of the NHL level. He coached the Stars for two seasons. He posted 64 wins over two campaigns (130 total games, as 2013 was lockout-shortened), missing the playoffs in both seasons.
Since his time with Dallas, Gulutzan has been an assistant for the Vancouver Canucks the past three years. He worked under John Tortorella for one year and Willie Desjardins for two.
Gulutzan takes over a Flames team that missed the playoffs in 2015-16. They finished fifth in the Pacific division with a record of 35-40-7. Despite the poor record, the Flames have some strong young pieces in Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, Dougie Hamilton, T.J. Brodie and Sam Bennett. Finding a number one netminder will be the next job on Jim Benning‘s agenda. Poor goaltending was often the cause of many Flames losses last season.
Main Photo:
