The Calgary Flames announced that they have fired head coach Glen Gulutzan along with his assistants, Dave Cameron and Paul Jerrard.
After leading the Flames to the postseason in 2017, Gulutzan and his assistants were immediately put on the hot seat after a disastrous 2017-18 season. Calgary was expected to be a championship contender with a core that revolved around Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk, Dougie Hamilton and Mark Giordano.
Instead, a rash of injuries and inconsistent play doomed the Flames, who finished with a 37-35-10 record. They missed the postseason by a whopping 11 points, and GM Brad Treliving clearly felt that a change was necessary behind the bench.
Gulutzan's short two-year stint as Flames head coach ends with a 82-68-14 record. The Flames were swept in the opening round of the 2017 playoffs by the Anaheim Ducks, and a longer playoff run could have possibly saved his job this year.
The Flames will now search for their third head coach in four years, as Bob Hartley was fired following the team's failure to make the playoffs in 2016 (they reached it the year before). Alain Vigneault - who was fired by the New York Rangers last week - could be one of the candidates to land the job.
After a slow first half, the Flames found their groove in 2018, winning seven consecutive games to kick off January. But Calgary lost nine of their final 11 games, and a miserable home record all year long also contributed to them missing the playoffs for the second time in three years.
Gulutzan made headlines for a number of rants against his players during the season, which includes smashing a stick against the ice and throwing it into the crowd:
The Flames are now under immediate pressure to find a suitable coaching replacement, and there will be no excuses to miss the playoffs again in 2019. For Treliving, he'll have to get to work immediately in finding the right bench boss to replace Gulutzan - who was otherwise admired by his players.