It really seems that Ward doesn't have the answers. The team has been playing worse and worse in different ways. From a perceived lack of energy and preparation some nights, to a lack of execution like today, and then the blatant roster decisions, player usages, match-ups - there is nothing about the Flames right now that I can say they are good at - not consistently anyway.
I said it yesterday, and I will say it again today - I will be surprised if Ward lasts the week. This is already 1/3 of the season played. How long do you wait? Flames pt% is .472. The next lowest in front of them is .600. Sure, you can point at 'Ottawa Games' and all, but I will point right back at losing records against every other team in front of them.
I really hate to see people lose their jobs - Ward seems like a good guy for the most part, and I won't be 'celebrating' it when it happens. This is a results-oriented business, and it seems painfully obvious by now that Ward is not getting the results.
Sure, maybe it is on the players instead. I am 100% sure that they are not blameless either. Heck, maybe they deserve MOST of the blame even. Whatever your thoughts are on who shoulders the blame, I find it difficult to defend Ward as being anywhere near a 'part of the solution'. He seems very much a part of the problem here. He seems lost. Maybe he doesn't want to provide any insight at the moment, but maybe he is just being vague and throwing out some cliches because he really doesn't have any answers to what is wrong.
Will be interesting to see how the team responds through the rest of this road trip.
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