Last Friday, the hockey world caught wind of Calgary Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan losing it at practice and eventually throwing his stick in the crowd.
The profanity laced tantrum even had its own analysis on how high and far the trick traveled from our very own SportsCentre team.
The Anaheim Ducks Twitter account even had a little fun with it when they hit the Saddledome for a practice on Friday with this tweet.
Gulutzan and Flames would get the last laugh (for now), when the team edged the Ducks thanks to Dougie Hamilton’s game winner with just 16 seconds left in the game for a 3-2 victory on Saturday night.
On Sunday, the Flames had a chance to decompress at the team’s annual skills competition. Kris Versteeg, aka “Steeger” was mic’d up during the event, and he was taking no prisoners as he provided some top tier colour commentator chirps.
His first victim? Backup goaltender David Rittich, who Versteeg couldn’t for the life of him understand why he was called up from the Stockton Heat. Marek Hrivik, who was just promoted recently from the AHL went in on a breakaway, and despite not playing in any games for the Flames as noted by Versteeg, the 26-year-old buried his chance for his first unofficial goal in a Flames uniform.
After a few more shootout chances, up came Dougie Hamilton, who ‘Steeger referred to him as “little brother Dougie.” AHL all-star Andrew Mangiapane, as coined by Versteeg, went down on net and pulled an “AHL move” as he failed miserably to even get a shot on net.
Versteeg then put his interview skills to the test when he asked Matthew Tkachuk what it was like being overshadowed growing up by having a younger brother (Brady) that was more skilled, stronger, and bigger.
Matt Barktowski, who has some of the fastest wheels in the league but struggles with puck control, was doing well in the puck control relay competition until he lost control of the puck, as predicted by Versteeg.
In case you’re wondering what Mike Stone’s nickname is, it’s Mike “hands of stone” Stone.
Perhaps the funniest part was when Versteeg went up to Garnet Hathaway’s son and told him to do the “Gulutzan,” which means “throw your stick!”
Then, it was time for Mike Smith’s son Nixon to take over the mic, where he asked his brothers and a few Flames how their game was.
Pretty hilarious stuff. Versteeg might have a career in broadcasting once his hockey career is all said and done, as he provided some of the best chirps and insight on a team that we’ve seen in a while.
Well done, Kris.
(h/t Calgary Flames)
