Have just been able to get my head up from under tax returns....now finally have time to do something fun - like speculate on Flames' next moves!
Surprised? Yes and no. Not surprised that Bob is gone, but somewhat at the timing. I get it though -- try to get a new guy before the draft and free agency, so you know the style of player the coach can work best with.
Sad? Yes - thought Hartley got the most out of young guys - and helped them be a team. So much respect for the fact that the guys - to a person - in interviews always praised the team for successes, and took it on themselves for failures. That is a true "team culture" and it is not easily built.
Happy? Yup - that too...got tired of seeing Wideman on the PP or in the last minutes of a losing game. Got tired of the stretch pass being intercepted time and again with no meaningful rejoinder by the team. Tired of the slack PP/PK at times. As I don't know anyone on the team it's just speculation, but it seemed they were just grumpy that they weren't further ahead and just didn't want to work as hard as they needed to (or were being asked to?).
Thoughts about the candidates mentioned so far:
Please - preferably just "no": Crawford, Wilson, Carlyle (not unless they have change a LOT), Eakins (read somewhere that Burke/BT really like him....yikes!)
Boudreau? Maybe - but strikes me as a bit of a Todd McLellan - couldn't win with an A-list roster. Still, you learn by losing. (Maybe only true in Edmonton though.)
Darryl? Wouldn't that be interesting? Brings a sharp edge to teams, doesn't settle for players taking shifts off - and I think he'd bench a guy like Wideman for being lazy in a heartbeat.
Beats me who else they might look at. I read the comments about timing it to BB's firing, but find it hard to imagine that if they hadn't already talked with him. And it sounds like BB is talking to at least two other teams, both of whom may be better suited to his style.
Lots to look forward to!
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