After being confirmed earlier this week that Glen Gulutzan would be hired as the Calgary Flames head coach, the team held a press conference Friday to officially announce him. Gulutzan will try to take the Flames back to the playoffs after an underwhelming season in which they 35-40-7 and were surrounded by controversy all season, from Dennis Wideman’s collision with an official and eventual suspension and appeal, to the benching of star players Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan for “disciplinary reasons”. He’ll come in as a much different voice than outgoing coach Bob Hartley, and will try to instill a different tone in the locker room.
Here are more coaching notes from around the league:
- The Ottawa Senators have hired Pierre Groulx as their next goalie coach, replacing the outgoing Rick Wamsley who was jettisoned along with head coach Dave Cameron and the rest of the staff in April. Groulx, formerly the goalie coach in Florida and Montreal, will lead a group that allowed the third most goals in the NHL last season, and had poor performances throughout the season. Number 1 goaltender Craig Anderson should appreciate the familiar face; Groulx was his coach for three years in Florida.
- Former St. Louis Blues’ assistant Brad Shaw has been brought into Columbus to work with head coach John Tortorella according to Aaron Portzline with the Columbus Dispatch. Shaw spent nine seasons with the Blues, and actually was the New York Islanders’ head coach for half a season in 2005-06, after the firing of Steve Stirling midway through a disappointing year.
- According to Gary Lawless of TSN, while not as a coach, Richard Pollock has been hired by the Florida Panthers as a pro scout. This comes after the organization has changed direction in scouting, firing long time director Scott Luce and hiring the more analytics-based Cam Lawrence and Josh Weissbock. Former Panther and veteran-NHLer Bryan McCabe, currently the team’s manager of player development, has also taken a larger role.