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Calgary4LIfe · 01-29-2021, 10:54 AM

I am not demanding that Ward be fired. I can't say that I am happy with him, and I will say that I was disappointed when he was chosen to be the head coach 'officially' this past off-season. When the Flames first brought Ward into the organization, I was actually fairly excited about him, and even thought he might be the real 'gem' behind the bench that accounted for a lot of what was positive for that team's success that season.

Now I know differently. I don't like his lineup choices, I don't like how he manages the game and his in-game changes (which aren't much it seems), and I don't like how inconsistent this team plays under him.

I think he will ride-out this season anyway. 14 day quarantine periods are tough to absorb for any team. The assistant coaching staff would need to be retained for sure unless Conroy wants to come down and try his hand at coaching for 2 weeks.

On one hand, I don't think that Ward is bad enough to merit a 14 day quarantine period without a proper head coach.

On the other hand, I will concede the argument that Ward is not a proper head coach anyway, so what's the difference?

This coach is difficult to dislike personally. I like the air around him. He seems like an actual good guy, and I will genuinely feel sorry for him when he is let go. I didn't feel that way with Gulutzan, and of course I didn't feel that way with Peters (obviously!). Ward just seems like a 'good guy'.

As for who to replace him, that's a good question. My preference is Darryl Sutter. Proven to fix teams like Calgary where motivation and team cohesion is an issue. He gets his teams to work hard every night, and he gets his teams to commit to all 3 zones. However, does he even want to coach? I still think he does, and he was interested in the Flames' gig up until they hired Peters. With Covid, the world is a different place now, and perhaps he has just decided to call it a career at this point, but I would look at him as the best option available.

Boudreau never screams 'championship' guy to me. Teams under him never seem to exceed any sort of expectations. I am not fooled by his record, and I think he has had the benefit of coaching really good teams for some reason. However, I am willing to try him.

Gallant seems like a great coach too, but how he gets fired seemingly out of nowhere even though he had his teams experiencing success frightens me a bit. Why?? He seems like a great coach otherwise, though his track record is a little small comparatively.

So the candidates are one guy who is probably really good, but may not even be interested in coaching any longer, one guy who doesn't have a single season of 'exceeding expectations' (and therefore IMO, may not be an upgrade), and another who exceeds expectations but gets fired quickly for some reason. Kind of tough to pick the right apple when they all seem really bruised from this bunch. Tougher still when you need to wait 14 days of quarantine with this tight schedule. My hope is that Sutter is already secretly quarantining.

If Ward is not the right coach, then IMO he should just be let go period, quarantine or not.

If Ward is not the problem, then the Flames are better served by starting to take a look at which pieces that they can start selling so that they can enter a rebuild, and allow pieces like Kylington, Mackey, Gawdin, Phillips, etc., to get some NHL experience.

I don't think it has come to that. This is only 6 games in, so a bit premature to start these discussions, but only winning against the lowly Vancouver Canucks isn't a good metric for this team, and the glaring inconsistencies with regards to effort or even just readiness is damning.

I loved Jay Feaster as GM in Calgary for exactly two days - his speech about the Flames not using the rebuild as an excuse to lose and that playoffs are the mandate (everyone knows what he means by that), and I also really loved what he said back then about the team itself - that there is a poison that permeates this team and they just don't do what it takes to win. The rebuild was supposed to fix that, but it didn't.

Also, someone pointed out in this thread that leadership from the players is what's important and missing. I think Giordano works hard. I think he is a great captain. In fact, I think he is a better captain than RoR AINEC, and he won a cup and the Conn Smythe. People forget that for years losing was attached to him. He was specifically in that 'Vegas trip' planning on the bench that Giguere publicly complained about as the losing culture in Colorado. He then goes on to get traded and does a hit and run while intoxicated. His tenure on the Sabres went exactly as predicted, no? It wasn't until he went to the Blues that suddenly he became a winner. Well, I will argue that Giordano is a great enough Captain for this team, and just because he hasn't won doesn't make him less of a captain.

Now watch the Flames go 9-1 in the next ten games and have us all excited and happy again! I don't doubt that they could - this is a good team that isn't playing well, but when they are 'on', they are a joy to watch.

01-29-2021, 10:54 AM	#159
Calgary4LIfe Franchise Player Join Date: Jun 2010 Exp:	I am not demanding that Ward be fired. I can't say that I am happy with him, and I will say that I was disappointed when he was chosen to be the head coach 'officially' this past off-season. When the Flames first brought Ward into the organization, I was actually fairly excited about him, and even thought he might be the real 'gem' behind the bench that accounted for a lot of what was positive for that team's success that season. Now I know differently. I don't like his lineup choices, I don't like how he manages the game and his in-game changes (which aren't much it seems), and I don't like how inconsistent this team plays under him. I think he will ride-out this season anyway. 14 day quarantine periods are tough to absorb for any team. The assistant coaching staff would need to be retained for sure unless Conroy wants to come down and try his hand at coaching for 2 weeks. On one hand, I don't think that Ward is bad enough to merit a 14 day quarantine period without a proper head coach. On the other hand, I will concede the argument that Ward is not a proper head coach anyway, so what's the difference? This coach is difficult to dislike personally. I like the air around him. He seems like an actual good guy, and I will genuinely feel sorry for him when he is let go. I didn't feel that way with Gulutzan, and of course I didn't feel that way with Peters (obviously!). Ward just seems like a 'good guy'. As for who to replace him, that's a good question. My preference is Darryl Sutter. Proven to fix teams like Calgary where motivation and team cohesion is an issue. He gets his teams to work hard every night, and he gets his teams to commit to all 3 zones. However, does he even want to coach? I still think he does, and he was interested in the Flames' gig up until they hired Peters. With Covid, the world is a different place now, and perhaps he has just decided to call it a career at this point, but I would look at him as the best option available. Boudreau never screams 'championship' guy to me. Teams under him never seem to exceed any sort of expectations. I am not fooled by his record, and I think he has had the benefit of coaching really good teams for some reason. However, I am willing to try him. Gallant seems like a great coach too, but how he gets fired seemingly out of nowhere even though he had his teams experiencing success frightens me a bit. Why?? He seems like a great coach otherwise, though his track record is a little small comparatively. So the candidates are one guy who is probably really good, but may not even be interested in coaching any longer, one guy who doesn't have a single season of 'exceeding expectations' (and therefore IMO, may not be an upgrade), and another who exceeds expectations but gets fired quickly for some reason. Kind of tough to pick the right apple when they all seem really bruised from this bunch. Tougher still when you need to wait 14 days of quarantine with this tight schedule. My hope is that Sutter is already secretly quarantining. If Ward is not the right coach, then IMO he should just be let go period, quarantine or not. If Ward is not the problem, then the Flames are better served by starting to take a look at which pieces that they can start selling so that they can enter a rebuild, and allow pieces like Kylington, Mackey, Gawdin, Phillips, etc., to get some NHL experience. I don't think it has come to that. This is only 6 games in, so a bit premature to start these discussions, but only winning against the lowly Vancouver Canucks isn't a good metric for this team, and the glaring inconsistencies with regards to effort or even just readiness is damning. I loved Jay Feaster as GM in Calgary for exactly two days - his speech about the Flames not using the rebuild as an excuse to lose and that playoffs are the mandate (everyone knows what he means by that), and I also really loved what he said back then about the team itself - that there is a poison that permeates this team and they just don't do what it takes to win. The rebuild was supposed to fix that, but it didn't. Also, someone pointed out in this thread that leadership from the players is what's important and missing. I think Giordano works hard. I think he is a great captain. In fact, I think he is a better captain than RoR AINEC, and he won a cup and the Conn Smythe. People forget that for years losing was attached to him. He was specifically in that 'Vegas trip' planning on the bench that Giguere publicly complained about as the losing culture in Colorado. He then goes on to get traded and does a hit and run while intoxicated. His tenure on the Sabres went exactly as predicted, no? It wasn't until he went to the Blues that suddenly he became a winner. Well, I will argue that Giordano is a great enough Captain for this team, and just because he hasn't won doesn't make him less of a captain. Now watch the Flames go 9-1 in the next ten games and have us all excited and happy again! I don't doubt that they could - this is a good team that isn't playing well, but when they are 'on', they are a joy to watch.