[News] Flames name Geoff Ward and Ryan Huska as assistant coaches

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Gaskal

I was thinking Todd Nelson, like some have suggested in the Assistant Coaches thread.

Does Todd Nelson have a "proven track record" on the powerplay? A glance at his results on previous NHL benches would suggest not. I am guessing the veteran coach would be MacLean.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

So does Francis know who the assistants are? Seems oddly phrased

Do you think the "oddly phrased" part is his statements that one is a veteran with pp experience and the other will oversee defence?

I would suggest one of two things:

1) Treliving told Francis who the Flames have hired off the record.
2) Treliving told Francis that one of the hires was a veteran coach, and the other would oversee defence, but without naming names.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Do you think the "oddly phrased" part is his statements that one is a veteran with pp experience and the other will oversee defence?

I would suggest one of two things:

1) Treliving told Francis who the Flames have hired off the record.
2) Treliving told Francis that one of the hires was a veteran coach, and the other would oversee defence, but without naming names.

Why would Treliving do either such thing? Seems completely contrary to how he goes about his business.

[Aarongavey]

Could it be Rich Preston to run the PP, Rich is a veteran coach, he has been around a long time. And he is well spoken.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Why would Treliving do either such thing? Seems completely contrary to how he goes about his business.

Why not? What do you think is behind Francis's report, if neither of these?

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by jayswin

I love how tight lipped this organization is under Treliving. The media rarely gets anything on him.

"The job is finished and we will announce it when we're ready" isn't something most teams could say without the hockey world knowing the details through rumour already.

...everyone knew about Peters pretty much the moment Gully was fired, with some even saying watch the Carolina situation in regards to Calgary before Gully was fired...

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

Could it be Rich Preston to run the PP, Rich is a veteran coach, he has been around a long time. And he is well spoken.

Oh God...

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

...everyone knew about Peters pretty much the moment Gully was fired, with some even saying watch the Carolina situation in regards to Calgary before Gully was fired...

I think he was referring to the decisions the franchise is tight lipped about, not the decisions that get leaked a week in advance.

Who the HC is for the team - not tight lipped

Who the lead Midwest Latvia scout is - tight lipped, public will know when the decision is made.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Why not? What do you think is behind Francis's report, if neither of these?

Can you think of other sports media articles that describe the person who was hired or acquired without naming them?

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by activeStick

For those curious, he was in charge of the ANA PP for 2 seasons.

2015 - PP was 1st in the league
2016 - PP was 17th in the league

Edit: Maclean left the Ducks organization at the end of the 2016 season.

Even if McLean came in and ran the Flames to a very middle of the road 17th best PP, it'd be a massive improvement over the (I honestly don't know how there were two worse teams) 16% PP ranked 29th in the league.

[direwolf]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

Could it be Rich Preston to run the PP, Rich is a veteran coach, he has been around a long time. And he is well spoken.

[Jeff Lebowski]

My guess is Huska is the guy to handle the D - I highly doubt Keefe is coming here. For the veteran coach I just want someone who is not so resistant to changing and adapting.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Can you think of other sports media articles that describe the person who was hired or acquired without naming them?

Off hand, no. So what do you think Francis is doing?

[jayswin]

I think what happened is this is not a big deal if it leaks out, unlike trade proposals/potential hires.

Brad's probably finished the process, spoke with Eric and figured it was a good time to give a tidbit of inside info to local media with no possible repercussions. Francis likely knows the hires and is playing nice because he wants to be trusted in the future.

[oldschoolcalgary]

with Peters, there was plenty of dots to connect outside of calgary.

1) new ownership group in Carolina who never said Peters was their guy
2) the looming bonus and opening of a window for Peters to extend, not the organization
3) Peters is from Three Hills AB
4) Peters and BT worked together to win a world championship

none of these things were a result of leaks from the Flames organization...All were things lots of people connected

[handgroen]

what does this mean for gelinas? continuing his off the bench AC role?

[Calgary4LIfe]

A couple of things I took away from this article - though I may be reading too much into it.


1) Veteran PP coach - could also be a guy that would be next in line if Peters stumbles. Probably not something that Treliving is really concerned with, but it is a nice cushion to have IF things go off the rails at some point during Peters' tenure here.


2) Treliving's thoughts on speed. I hope he comes to the realization that the Flames already have players that can play with a lot of speed, and I would say that Vegas is a good model (and I am glad that Treliving is looking at them as such). What makes Vegas a good model is that it isn't just a bunch of fast players on that team - they play a fast system. Hartley's Flames were a fast team because they were relentless much in the way that Vegas is (though, once again, I wish they had played defense in a much more aggressive style as well which was a shortcoming then). Being a fast and relentless team isn't all about just adding fast players. May biggest gripe with Gulutzan is how his system forced the Flames to play slower. Hopefully Peters' mindset is to become a relentless team like Hartley's was that incorporated an incredibly quick transition, but that plays defence like the Wild used to in which they were relentless in the defensive zone as well instead of passive. Gulutzan's Flames were way too passive for me defensively as well for the record.


Another note is how it just makes damn sense to give Backlund an A. There are three players on this team that play relentless - Giordano, Tkachuk and Backlund. Frolik as well I would say, but he is more 'replaceable'. Bennett is the next closest to this group, but I wouldn't give him an A, at least not at this point in his career. Backlund - being the 2nd most tenured Flame - without question deserves that A, and bringing in a new coaching staff is the best time to reward him for his consistent effort on the ice, his community involvement and his loyalty to the Flames.


I really do think that the Flames - given their existing personnel - can be one of the quicker teams in the NHL, especially so given their defensive corps.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Off hand, no. So what do you think Francis is doing?

No clue. Perhaps he hands out more clues tomorrow. Hair color, nationality, turnons and turnoffs.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

Could it be Rich Preston to run the PP, Rich is a veteran coach, he has been around a long time. And he is well spoken.

I see what you did there. I see what you called 'Mumbles.'

Your assertion is simply patently false.

Good day to you sir!

[Reggie Dunlop]

Originally Posted by Jeff Lebowski

I highly doubt Keefe is coming here.

Perhaps not.

But he's won at every level and I'm not sure the Leafs have a NHL spot for him currently.