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A failure to make the National Hockey League playoffs usually prompts wide-sweeping changes in the off-season.

Changes will not happen on Thursday, however, as the Calgary Flames host the Columbus Blue Jackets (7 p.m., SNWest) at what could be a sparsely-populated Scotiabank Saddledome, given the city’s frustrations with the club.

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Instead, the team is currently operating under a black cloud as they try to play out the remainder of the 2017-18 campaign without their top-three leading scorers and attempt to stop the bleeding from a six-game losing skid.

Fans are angry, demanding moves and firings because, well, someone must be to blame for all of this and that someone in their eyes — unfairly or not — is the guy calling the shots behind the bench.

But John Tortorella urges fans to think differently about Glen Gulutzan.

“He’s a terrific coach,” said the Columbus Blue Jackets head coach on Wednesday, prior to their club’s skate in Calgary. “I watch it very closely. I don’t know what’s going on above him, the pressure that he’s receiving and I don’t stay in touch (in regards to) how the people are treating him. But I know it’s a really hard place to play.