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

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by CanucksWorstNightmare

All you guys bashing the idea of Willie being one of the assistant coaches have no idea what this guy is all about.The Calgary Flames would be darn lucky to have a guy like him behind the bench.Look at the team he had to work with in Vancouver you cant judge him based off of that.Even with Babcock or Quenneville behind the bench that team would have missed the playoffs.Willie is a legend in Med Hat where he coached the Tigers for many years.He made the Tigers a contender year after year and ever since he left the team has been in a downward spiral.He took the Tigers to the memorial cup and then won a Calder Cup with the Texas Stars.Ask any Medicine Hat Tiger fan and they will have nothing but good to say about him.If the Flames hired him as an assistant coach I would be absolutely over the moon and will just about guarantee the Flames will be back in the playoffs next year. Treliving will be an absolute genus if he brings Willie to Calgary,PLEASE MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!!!

Willie is awesome, but the Tigers haven't been in a downward spiral since he left. They've made the playoffs 7 out of 8 seasons since Clouston took over, and just won the division for the second straight year despite losing 7 of their top 9 scorers from the year before. They've also only lost in the first round once out of the 7 years they've made the playoffs. Willie won the whole enchilada twice in the 8 years he was running the Tigers, so that's a tough act to follow, but Clouston has done just fine IMO.

But yeah Willie is awesome and if the Flames hire him as an assistant, I am at least willing to see how it plays out before jumping off a bridge like some here are already appear to be doing.

[Toonage]

Originally Posted by dammage79

It was Derek Wills speculating. Hated he just tossed willy d's name out like that all willy nilly.

Did not know Wills said it. I'm relieved!

[Nelson]

Originally Posted by CanucksWorstNightmare

All you guys bashing the idea of Willie being one of the assistant coaches have no idea what this guy is all about.The Calgary Flames would be darn lucky to have a guy like him behind the bench.Look at the team he had to work with in Vancouver you cant judge him based off of that.Even with Babcock or Quenneville behind the bench that team would have missed the playoffs.Willie is a legend in Med Hat where he coached the Tigers for many years.He made the Tigers a contender year after year and ever since he left the team has been in a downward spiral.He took the Tigers to the memorial cup and then won a Calder Cup with the Texas Stars.Ask any Medicine Hat Tiger fan and they will have nothing but good to say about him.If the Flames hired him as an assistant coach I would be absolutely over the moon and will just about guarantee the Flames will be back in the playoffs next year. Treliving will be an absolute genius if he brings Willie to Calgary,PLEASE MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!!!

What is it about Willie that makes him good? Would you be willing to provide some details? I don't know why he would be a good choice so please enlighten me.

[Nelson]

Originally Posted by Buff

Yes, and furthermore, Desjardins name was thrown out as a "what do you think of this guy?" type scenario, not a "I've heard something regarding Willie and the Flames." They thought that Willie is due to return to coaching and that since Willie has turned down a WHL head coaching job recently maybe they'd talk about the merits of Willie D as an assistant coach for a team that is looking for assistant coaches.

Cool. I must have misheard.

[CanucksWorstNightmare]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Willie is awesome, but the Tigers haven't been in a downward spiral since he left. They've made the playoffs 7 out of 8 seasons since Clouston took over, and just won the division for the second straight year despite losing 7 of their top 9 scorers from the year before. They've also only lost in the first round once out of the 7 years they've made the playoffs. Willie won the whole enchilada twice in the 8 years he was running the Tigers, so that's a tough act to follow, but Clouston has done just fine IMO.

But yeah Willie is awesome and if the Flames hire him as an assistant, I am at least willing to see how it plays out before jumping off a bridge like some here are already appear to be doing.

Clouston has rode the coattail of Willie for years.Willie came in when the Tigers were absolute crap and he built the franchise back up which obviously would take anyone some time to do. Clouston is an absolute joke of a coach and the reason the team looses more season ticket holders every year.People are so sick of him bringing in his own kids to play on the team when in reality they don't even belong in the league.The Division was absolutely terrible this year so winning it doesn't say much at all.There is a reason no NHL team has come calling for Clouston and why so many high end players have asked to be traded because of him.There was never one player that asked to be traded while Willie ran the team and we are close to a dozen with Clouston behind the bench.How many more first round exits do we have to look forward to with him behind the bench.Anyways glad you agree on Willie but you are out to lunch on thinking Clouston is actually a good coach.Every summer I look forward to the news headline "TIGERS FIRE CLOUSTON" and every summer Iam left disappointed.Tigers wont win the league or make another appearance in the Memorial Cup until this happens.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by CanucksWorstNightmare

...There is a reason no NHL team has come calling for Clouston...

Is it any different from the reason why no NHL organization is banging-down Willie Desjardins's door? I don't have any strong feelings one way or the other, but I will say that I watch a lot of Canucks games, and Desjardins's teams were always incredibly underwhelming. It strikes me as an odd choice.

[tvp2003]

I stumbled across this article of when Dave Cameron was hired; with hindsight, you can tell that he wasn't hired because he had any specific expertise (PP or otherwise) but because he had "experience" (which ultimately didn't do much for Gulutzan after two seasons):

"With Dave, one of the things I was looking for in that box is another head coach that's been through the rigors of the NHL as a head guy in a Canadian market," Flames coach Glen Gulutzan said. "That was a big plus. Just his experience; he's coached for over 20 years. He's coached in Ottawa. There was merit in that. Having another guy that's been through that ...
"I wanted that experience. I wanted a guy who has been in my shoes, a guy who can challenge you on certain things that sometimes as coaches you get bullheaded and you get going in your own way. You want somebody there to say, 'Hey, hey ... this is how it's worked better for me.' That was an important thing to have Dave next to me on that bench. It gives you a lot of experience."
https://www.nhl.com/news/dave-camero...nt/c-281123588

I know it'll be a different dynamic under Peters but I hope they realize that special teams can make or break your season and that they hire accordingly...

[CanucksWorstNightmare]

Originally Posted by Nelson

What is it about Willie that makes him good? Would you be willing to provide some details? I don't know why he would be a good choice so please enlighten me.

Why Willie would be a great assistant for Flames

-Players absolutely love playing for him
-Education in psychology (knows how to get the best out of his players)
- “It’s an aggressive style, but with good discipline,” he said. “I’ve always liked to play fast
-Took Tigers to Memorial Cup
-2 WHL Championships
-Assistant coach of Team Canada's World Junior Gold medal team, under head coach Pat Quinn
-Head coach of Team Canada's 2010 World Junior team (Silver)
-Calder Cup (Coach of Texas Stars)
-Coach of 2018 Olympic Team

I would say that is a darn good resume to be an assistant coach

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by CanucksWorstNightmare

Clouston has rode the coattail of Willie for years.Willie came in when the Tigers were absolute crap and he built the franchise back up which obviously would take anyone some time to do. Clouston is an absolute joke of a coach and the reason the team looses more season ticket holders every year.People are so sick of him bringing in his own kids to play on the team when in reality they don't even belong in the league.The Division was absolutely terrible this year so winning it doesn't say much at all.There is a reason no NHL team has come calling for Clouston and why so many high end players have asked to be traded because of him.There was never one player that asked to be traded while Willie ran the team and we are close to a dozen with Clouston behind the bench.How many more first round exits do we have to look forward to with him behind the bench.Anyways glad you agree on Willie but you are out to lunch on thinking Clouston is actually a good coach.Every summer I look forward to the news headline "TIGERS FIRE CLOUSTON" and every summer Iam left disappointed.Tigers wont win the league or make another appearance in the Memorial Cup until this happens.

Haha. Feels like I accidentally swatted a hornets nest or something.

Anyways, this probably isn't the place to have this discussion as I don't think anyone will care about Clouston here except you and me, but his record speaks for itself. You don't consistently ice winning teams in a cyclical league like the CHL without knowing a little bit about what you're doing.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

I stumbled across this article of when Dave Cameron was hired; with hindsight, you can tell that he wasn't hired because he had any specific expertise (PP or otherwise) but because he had "experience" (which ultimately didn't do much for Gulutzan after two seasons):



I know it'll be a different dynamic under Peters but I hope they realize that special teams can make or break your season and that they hire accordingly...

Wait.....Gulutzan hired Cameron? Thats worse...it all makes sense now.

[Hatter]

Willie Dejardins is a hell of a coach and Peters would be lucky to have him as a member of the staff.

[dammage79]

Other than being the guy the Gully worked under before he came to CGY, I have no real idea if Desjardins in good or not. He and gully really didn't do much in Vancouver so on that end I am forming my unfarovorable opinion of a potential Willy D hire.

Say it is indeed he and Huska rounding out the coaching staff, Huska's obviously going to be in charge of the D corps. Willy will have the reigns on the PP or at least be working in tandem with Peters.

Does anyone know who ran the Canucks PP when he was HC there? Was it Gully or Dejardins? Because it certainly didn't help them. And no matter what, even in a great decline the Sedins should make any level of coached PP seem relatively functional.


Gully left a sour taste in my mouth as an incoming coach from Vancouver. Getting the guy that mentored him before he came To CGY is leaving a similar taste.

That and I kind of pinned my wishful thinking on McLean coming in. But then again, he could suck too.

What I do know is, the Flames will need at the very least a top 18-16 ranked PP to sniff some playoffs. Not a paltry 29th like they had this year. So I guess we have nowhere to go but upwards with whoever comes in to run the poop show that is our PP.

[Nelson]

Does anyone have any specific information about what Desjardins has contributed to the PP in the past? I guess that's the number one thing I care about right now if, hypothetically, Desjardins were to be hired as the assistant coach in charge of the PP.

I found this article in the Province: http://theprovince.com/sports/hockey...-and-criticism. It suggests that while Desjardins is a great man worthy of respect, he is not exactly amazing with the power play.

When you look at the power play numbers, there are reasons to believe he is not good with it.
In 16-17 under Desjardins - 14.10% (league average: 19.10%)
In 17-18 under Green - 21.46% (league average: 20.18%)

This comparison needs to be contextualized. The Canucks got Boeser in 17-18. The league got more PP goal happy. Desjardins could learn from his past experiences with the PP. Desjardins wasn't directly responsible for the PP as a head coach.

But I certainly don't look at this stuff and think: "I immediately trust this guy would be awesome as an assistant coach in charge of the PP."

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Nelson

... The league got more PP goal happy...

What does this mean?

[Nelson]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

What does this mean?

Sorry. That was very unclear.

I mean that more power play goals were scored and so that probably accounts for some of the Canucks' PP's improvement under Green compared to Desjardins.

[Reggie Dunlop]

Not sure how I feel about Desjardins. There's still the Canucklehead/Team Halloween stank (see Glen Gulutzan).

Plus, let us remember that Vancouver is No Good as well. Lest we forget V=NG.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Does anyone know who ran the Canucks PP when he was HC there? Was it Gully or Dejardins? Because it certainly didn't help them. And no matter what, even in a great decline the Sedins should make any level of coached PP seem relatively functional.

My Canucks friend claims Gulutzan ran the PP while he was there.

[bigrangy]

Desjardins at least has a track record of winning, could do worse I think.

[savardandjokinen]

Desjardins would be a good hire as an AC, but not sure if he has ran powerplays before

[Flamefan1]

My gut feeling says Huska as defensive coach and Tippett as offensive coach (outside chance of McLean or Sturm as offensive coach (as some have suggested).

Sounds like Peters did some interviewing in Denmark (Sturm?)