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Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe
1) The Transition - Will the Flames return to being a quicker-transitioning team? Can Ward implement a system that allows them to transition quickly while still playing solid defence? Again, I liked Hartley's transition game and how the forwards would come back hard, but I hated the collapsing defence. Peters seemed to have a fairly good transition game for a while, but still with a bit too passive of a defensive system. Ward has really slowed down the transition (which is maddening to me).
4) Ward's learning curve - I don't want to be negative on Ward. I am trying to be optimistic here. This will be his first full season as an NHL head coach. I am curious to see how he does, and what he has learned from last season. Will we see more in-game tweaks and adjustments? I really felt that with Peters in the Colorado series, he just wasn't able to make any adjustments or get that team to 'settle down'. I hope Ward provides both the strategy (systems, adjustments) as well as the leadership (I have always felt that coaches provide the most leadership, and serve as the team's resident shrink). Hopefully he has figured out how he wants this team to play given the changes and relative strengths and weaknesses, and is up for the challenge.
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Ward mentioned in an interview in late November that he wanted a quicker transition and quick-strike offense:
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article...arys-gameplan/
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“We’re not going to be a straight defensive team — when we have the puck, we want to transition quickly to the offensive side and try to score,” said Ward.
“We believe if we do that well, it will allow us to carry the puck more. We want to do an awful lot of things early with our line rush and encourage our defencemen to get going more on the rush and offensively in transition. We’re going to work on our quickness through the neutral zone and what we want to do offensively. We’re still going to review what we do defensively, but now we want to build the offensive foundation on top of it so when we get the puck we can be more dangerous and more quick-strike.”
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Hopefully he can get the buy-in that he's looking for.