Read the room.

The ability to do so and act accordingly is an important leadership trait, and one Glen Gulutzan appears to have benefited from mid-way through his first season as head coach of the Calgary Flames.

Scene: After a rough 5-1 loss in Montreal back in January - their fourth L in a row - the Flames were en route to Ottawa via train, and the attendants had been instructed not to serve the players any adult beverages.

Enter Gultzan, and a few frosty brews.

"Just in my gut, sitting there as we were driving for the first 10-15 minutes, the whole thing didn’t feel right. I wanted to move forward, not backwards," Gulutzan said, per Wes Gilbertson of the Calgary Sun.

"I just said, 'I'm putting the beer back here and you guys are going to sit down with your headphones off and you’re gonna figure this out. We're gonna figure this bleeping thing out. Because we're a good team, you're gonna figure this thing out.' That's exactly what I told them."

The rest is history.

Calgary went on to win its next game against the Senators, and has since clinched a Western Conference playoff spot.

It may have been a small gesture on the part of the head coach, but it went a long way toward easing the tension.

"It was a big part of our season to be able to just forget that game," said defenseman Deryk Engelland. "To be able to just put it aside hours later and come together as a team, it just showed how tight we are and it made us even tighter. I guess that was kind of the turning point of our season. I think all the boys will remember that one."

Especially if their season ends with a little bit of the bubbly.

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