I haven't messed with failing to meet guaranteed minutes much, but I am confident that guaranteed starts only require 21 of 26 in the regular season AND that at no point does he drop below 80% start-to-RS game ratio. EVERY time I've followed that rule, the start promise has been met.
Houck did not start in game 5...no problem (that's 80%), but then he didn't start game 6...problem! After that, he also failed to start game 11 (8 of 11 is below 80% also!)...and game 12 (8 of 12 is only 66%...WAY UNDER!!!). That gives him every opportunity to quit. I haven't followed the minutes promise. If it was 15, then 14.8 should have been plenty. If it was 20, then he definitely should have quit!
Full disclosure...I like being contrarian, especially when I'm right. I think CS is full of ****. I think 3 games non-started in a row is not an issue (so long as you've complied with the 80% rule throughout the season). I think oldwarrior is also wrong....unless his comment is only limited to minutes promises. The only caveat I will make is that I have not done as much minutes missing as others. Maybe there's a combination effect to be considered, but I doubt it.