What do you do with the coaching position?

[DazzlinDino]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

I think as soon as Ward rattled off 7 straight wins he cemented his spot as Flames coach for the rest of the season, right or wrong.

He's also a guy Teeliving brought in here from another organization with the carrot on a stick of being Associate coach, which typically means being the interim after a coach is fired (unless they're Hartley/Cloutier or Gulutzan/Jerrard types who are a team).

There's also a personal aspect where Treliving is probably tight with Ward.

Geoff Ward isn't a good head coach. But for better or worse Treliving's not gonna fire Ward, at least not until deep into the offseason when everyone else is already employed.

I know Treliving preaches patience but if he waits too long the list of available coaches will get snapped up somewhere else. The talent is there but the right coach can move them along quickly. Personally I wish we had hired Darryl, he may have been short lived but the young guys would have learned quickly how to be the hardest working team while following a rock solid game plan.

Had Treliving done that a lot of our young guys would have molded with higher expectations. Instead an inexperienced GM at the time, hired Glen Gulutzan, an inexperienced coach. Glen Gulutzan couldn't get the players to follow a system. Constantly experimenting at the time when we needed wins. His usage of players and his dreaded PP, what a waste! Why not just hire a proven coach? Seems pretty simple strategy to hit a home run a lot quicker.

Hoping he gets it right this time so we can get this team moving along.

[Igottago]

Hire a coach with a winning NHL resume. It's that simple. It's been that simple for years, but for reasons unknown it never seems to occur.

[mikephoen]

With only 8 games left in the 1999–2000 season, Lamoriello fired Ftorek and replace him with Larry Robinson and they won the cup. So it's not unheard of to change coaches this late in the season, even if the current guy was doing a good job on paper. Ftorek had the devils with the 4th best record in the league at the time he was fired. Lamoriello didn't like the way they were playing though, so he made the change.

[shadowlord]

Gaskal. 'Nuff said.

[calgaryred]

Get the feeling if the Flames squweek in the playoffs Ward gets a one year contract

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[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by 1_Flames_Fan

Tip to Flames owners... Coaches don't count against the salary cap

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Correct. But paying your racist ex coach two years of salary in one fiscal year sure counts against the operating budget.

[Rejean31]

Originally Posted by zamler

We need a coach with playoff experience and success.

Sounds like Laviolette or Gallant or even Darryl Sutter to me.

[Buff]

As soon as the Flames went on that 7 game winning streak they committed to Geoff Ward for the rest of the season. They couldn't replace him after winning 7 straight, that's just bad optics all around. They had to give him more time and really, with the time needed to prove he isn't a good coach, it was too late to make a 2nd coaching change in the season.

I think Geoff Ward is a very good coach. I just don't think he is a head coach.

I'm content waiting until the off season. It looks like Gallant, Laviolette and Boudreau are also okay with waiting. I'm not sure we could get one of those anyway. I think Gallant is holding out for the likely vacancy in Detroit. Laviolette has nothing but time. He can go wherever he wants to go. Probably Boudreau too. My pick of those three would be Gallant. I was surprised he was fired. They weren't even planning on it, but VGK mgmt saw something they liked in DeBoer and jumped all over it when he was fired in SJ. I would also welcome Darryl Sutter too.

I don't think we'll see Babcock coaching for a couple of years.

[TheScorpion]

What if none of those guys want to come here, Buff?

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Table 5

It doesn’t matter who the GM is if you have the same philosophy and interference at the ownership level.

But what kind of GM keeps signing on to that kind of situation?

Surely not one who thinks he's got opportunities elsewhere.

Is Treliving just a yes-man extension of jay feaster?

[mikephoen]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Correct. But paying your racist ex coach two years of salary in one fiscal year sure counts against the operating budget.

Did Murray Edwards get to be a billionaire by pure dumb luck? Did he just make a bunch of short term decisions and have them continuously go right and stumble into long term success? Or have one go so perfectly he never needed to look at the long term again?

I ask because that's how his hockey team has been run for at least the last decade since Harley passed away. Always making moves to squeak into the playoffs where 'anything can happen!'. Rushing the rebuild with things like the Hamonic trade and the horrible free agent signings like Brouwer and Neal.

It doesn't even make sense financially for this year.

Option 1: Ride out the year with Ward. Maybe make the playoffs and get a couple home playoff games, or maybe miss altogether.

Option 2: Spend the money, get one of the 4! elite coaches that aren't doing anything right now and make a charge while the Pacific division is as weak as it's been in the cap era. The path to the conference finals is wide open!

But for Murray Edwards, it's better to slip into the playoffs with a coach that gets outcoached at every opportunity, because if you get in, 'Anything can happen!'.

[btimbit]

I like Ward but you if have a chance to upgrade to a Laviolette, Gallant or Boudreau, you absolutely take it

[N-E-B]

I’ve defended Ward all season but I think today was my tipping point. I don’t think he’s an idiot, those comments are ridiculous. He’s just not head coach material right now.

[danny darko]

This team seems to excel early and go on winning streaks under new coaches, so I'd say replacing the coach twice between now and the end of the season should guarantee a playoff spot!

In all seriousness, if they have their eye on a candidate, and that coach is willing to come here, I'd say pull the trigger asap. If he's your guy moving forward, then have him assess this group with management for the remainder of the season and include him on your discussions on who to move forward with/without heading into next season (assuming some substantial roster changes will be coming).

[Toonage]

Agreed. 3rd coach in a season be damned. Who cares. Get a permanent replacement in asap.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Correct. But paying your racist ex coach two years of salary in one fiscal year sure counts against the operating budget.

I don’t think they are doing that. They obviously came to a settlement which by definition is less than full payment.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by btimbit

I like Ward but you have a choice to upgrade to a Laviolette, Gallant or Boudreau, you absolutely take it

There’s a flaw in your premise. I don’t think they had the choice - I don’t think any of them are available right now. It would, in fact, be silly for them to do so.

[OldSam]

I agree with those that think Laviolette goes to Detroit. Perfect situation. Great GM. Rebuilding team. I would like Gallant but he seems made for Seattle. Never liked Boudreau.

Darryl is tough but honest. You might not like what he says but in your heart, you know it is true. That's what his former players say.

I feel sick to my stomach we are wasting all these years with "tryout" coaches. It is time to give these players someone who can guide them properly to become the team we have seen they can be at times.

[Vinny01]

Because there are so many long term candidates available at the moment I don’t think making a change would be a bad thing. If this team gets the new coach boost that could be enough to get them through the first round of the playoffs which I think would have been the minimum organizational goal for the year.

[Da_Chief]

Really think the talk of coaches not wanting to come here is ridiculous.

There are 32 NHL head coaching chairs, once the music stops some of these guys might not have a chair. Look at guys like Lindy Ruff, Ron Wilson, Jacque Martin etc. Coaches with success but once the league moved on from them, they've been left as assistants wherever they can get a job. If they want to be a HC still, they will interview for all open positions.

Who would've thought a big personality like Burke would've come to Calgary? For me that was a bigger surprise hire, even though he'd worked in Vancouver and Toronto previously.