[News] UPD: Geoff Ward officially named the franchise's 20th head coach (2 year deal)

[1qqaaz]

Originally Posted by dino7c

What makes him a great coach? In 14 years as a head coach he has never won a cup...been past the first round 4 times (coached mostly high end talent teams)

Out of 377 coaches, Boudreau is 15th all-time in win percentage.

Washington was not good before Boudreau came.

Anaheim missed the playoffs the year before he came.

Minnesota sucked.

[mrdonkey]

Out come the mental gymnastics to explain why this is actually good and we just have to wait and see what happens.

There are a lot of people here willing to settle for “okay, I guess.” Success is always just over the horizon, and all we have to do to get there is wait for the other shoe to drop. But it never does.

It’s what binds us together as a fan base.

[zamler]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Who is your guy? Who should the Flames hire as a coach?

Currently? Not sure. Recently there have been some excellent coaches available, whether they would have signed with Calgary we don't know. I do know our current GM never tried.

[klikitiklik]

Sorry to be so negative but its how i feel. I've been following the Flames since the day they arrived in Calgary.

This is such a Flame thing to do and I expected no less honestly. That tells you all you need to know about the upcoming season. Mgmnt is scared to commit to anyone based on the Covid uncertainty.

He is just a caretaker coach until things settle. Expect mediocrity and "let's see what happens in the playoffs" mentality. No Flames owner wants to commit to winning right now or scorching the team in order to rebuild. Let's just be good enough to keep the fans coming back.

I bet we see basically the same team next year with minor peripheral changes.

Our owners and Mngmt lack the intestinal fortitude to win to be honest. GMBT is just towing the company line and following the directions given to him. He will only make conservative moves.

Not unexpected. I would put Geoff Ward in the same category as a Don Hay or Gulutzan. In other words do not expect a cup any time soon.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

Out of 377 coaches, Boudreau is 15th all-time in win percentage.

Washington was not good before Boudreau came.

Anaheim missed the playoffs the year before he came.

Minnesota sucked.

And him and I have the same number of cups

dude look at the Capitals roster...regular season success with that team was nothing amazing. BB teams have a history of choking in the playoffs

[ComixZone]

The only way this turns out well is if we bring in elite goaltending - an average/below-average coach’s saviour. Unfortunately we’re about as far away from that as you can be at this stage, so that puts the pressure on Tree to hit his player moves out of the park this off-season, and the last 2+ years would show that he himself is well below average as well...making this hiring all the more predictable.

Tree just hasn’t been very good at his job for an extended period of time, and hiring Ward would make his first move this off-season a solid “average/below-average” move.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by klikitiklik

Sorry to be so negative but its how i feel. I've been following the Flames since the day they arrived in Calgary.

This is such a Flame thing to do and I expected no less honestly. That tells you all you need to know about the upcoming season. Mgmnt is scared to commit to anyone based on the Covid uncertainty.

He is just a caretaker coach until things settle. Expect mediocrity and "let's see what happens in the playoffs" mentality. No Flames owner wants to commit to winning right now or scorching the team in order to rebuild. Let's just be good enough to keep the fans coming back.

I bet we see basically the same team next year with minor peripheral changes.

Our owners and Mngmt lack the intestinal fortitude to win to be honest. GMBT is just towing the company line and following the directions given to him. He will only make conservative moves.

Not unexpected. I would put Geoff Ward in the same category as a Don Hay or Gulutzan. In other words do not expect a cup any time soon.

Ward has a better pedigree and record than either Hay or GG. With a shortened season it’s probably a good time to gauge his record from training camp to season’s end. Ward came in under difficult circumstances so, barring a homerun signing being available, I’m not yanking my hair out.

And WTF does intestinal fortitude have to do with it.

And it’s “toeing the line”.

[GioforPM]

When Hartley was going to be let go, there were a lot more “no retread” voices on CP than those pushing for Boudreau or Carlyle, who were the vets available. Then Boudreau went to Minnie and got booted in round one every year. And Carlyle went to Anaheim, which was already a successful team, which became less successful.

Right now - who is out there? Gallant, who outside of a phenomenal year with Vegas, has had a bad record? Boudreau, Laviolette - maybe, but they may also be looking at Seattle and Washington.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by mrdonkey

Out come the mental gymnastics to explain why this is actually good and we just have to wait and see what happens.

There are a lot of people here willing to settle for “okay, I guess.” Success is always just over the horizon, and all we have to do to get there is wait for the other shoe to drop. But it never does.

It’s what binds us together as a fan base.

It’s not mental gymnastics. Most fans rightly realise we have zero say in management decisions. Our choices are one of:
1. Accept whatever decisions are made and continue hoping for the best while enjoying the Flames
2. Hate whatever decisions are made and, I guess, fail to enjoy the Flames
3. Stop watching the Flames

I don’t think it’s any secret why people choose number 1. Whatever they do, I hope it works out. Is it what I would do? Not usually, but nobody is paying me to run the team (yet).

[GullFoss]

I thought Ward did a decent job. Am excited to see what he can do over a full season. I thought the Gully hire was joke. And the Peters hire was a joke. I'm fine with Ward. I think he's a got a lot of potential.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by GullFoss

I thought Ward did a decent job. Am excited to see what he can do over a full season. I thought the Gully hire was joke. And the Peters hire was a joke. I'm fine with Ward. I think he's a got a lot of potential.

Its all the same thing though.

[GullFoss]

Originally Posted by Locke

Its all the same thing though.

Gully was an awful hire from day one - it was apparent in the first 15 games. He never had the respect of the players, was consistently out coached. Nice guy though.

Peters was not genuine; all hat, no cattle - it was apparent from his first press conference and from his time in Carolina. His ex-players had nothing good to say about him from Carolina, but lot of bad whispers. No one on the flames seemed upset to see him gone.

In contrast, the flames look engaged with Ward. They also look structured. So he was getting buy-in. They had a solid playoffs, adjusting for the fact their highest paid player was injured and their second highest paid player didn't play well. I honestly believe Ward is the most complete coach the flames have had since Sutter and a full season with him behind the bench will be good for the franchise. He also seems like a genuinely caring person, which leads to buy-in. He's the kind of coach players want to play hard for.

[Saqe]

Ward did a decent job with a decent result. I think that's the most you can expect with him- not bad not great but decent.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by GullFoss

Gully was an awful hire from day one - it was apparent in the first 15 games. He never had the respect of the players, was consistently out coached. Nice guy though.

Peters was not genuine; all hat, no cattle - it was apparent from his first press conference and from his time in Carolina. His ex-players had nothing good to say about him from Carolina, but lot of bad whispers. No one on the flames seemed upset to see him gone.

In contrast, the flames look engaged with Ward. They also look structured. So he was getting buy-in. They had a solid playoffs, adjusting for the fact their highest paid player was injured and their second highest paid player didn't play well. I honestly believe Ward is the most complete coach the flames have had since Sutter and a full season with him behind the bench will be good for the franchise. He also seems like a genuinely caring person, which leads to buy-in. He's the kind of coach players want to play hard for.

I see the plus side of Ward including how he was able to bring the team together. The overall record was decent.

On the decision making side, I have had questions.

The goaltending switch was, well, nuts. It was only frigging tied, he had hitched his wagon to Talbot, all playoffs long, and when the series is actually on the line, he throws in Rittich, who was beyond ice cold.

As far as I can tell, he only put Bennett with Dube and Lucic due to available players, and it when it was only brutally obvious that it clicked, he stuck with the situation into which he stumbled

He hasn’t put somebody physical with Johnny to create space. I still see guys dumping it in to the corner for Johnny to retrieve. Wtf?

And Rinaldo? Geez. He dressed too much.

And I generally like Ward. Because of the first point. The team generally responded to him.

Maybe he needs a guy up top feeding him the strategy related decisions.

[Barnet Flame]

Originally Posted by Dion

How many coaches do we have to go through before we realise the problem lies with the core.

It isn't as binary as that.

If you keep cheaping out on coaches, you will keep getting the same results. We have had a stream of mediocre coaches and a stream of mediocre seasons and playoff performances that are far short of even being classed as mediocre.

Treliving has done many good things with this team, but coaching appointments and goaltending have been have been abject failures on his part.

I don't want to see it come to this, but if it is true and Tre is hiring Ward on a permanent basis, then now is the time when he lives or dies by his decision.

[mile]

Was listening to Eric Francis’ spot on Hockey Central 960 on Friday. Thought it was interesting that he said that he’s talked to people who were close to the situation and they were led to believe something (one way or the other) was going to be announced Friday or Saturday. And that the people he has talked to on both sides have been tight-lipped and are scared to say anything publicly because they didn’t want to jeopardize anything that may be in the works.

Of course this is Francis, so probably can’t read too much into it. Just wondering who his and Friedman’s sources are, and how reliable Friedman’s info is considering how Francis thought something would be announced already from people close to this. Friedman said two weeks ago that it would be announced in the next two weeks and nothing was announced. And earlier this week he said it could be this week or next week, i wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t have a strong handle on this either.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

This logic doesn't really make sense, because it's not like all the teams aren't strapped for cash during the pandemic.

It's not like Boudreau's mindset is "if I don't get 5 million, I don't sign anywhere".

Why would a team without a coach suddenly have more of a coaching budget than Calgary?

It's not like Boudreau is likely to be desperate for a job. He's a 65-year old millionaire and can afford to just say no to everyone if there's not a good enough offer. Especially given how uncertain everything is around the league, it might be years before the Flames or anyone could offer him the kind of salaries he's used to, especially given that he likely wants a multi-year contract.

I think the general level of uncertainty about just about everything in the league might also be a why top coaches might be even less willing than normal to take a paycut. Nobody even knows exactly what the next season is going to be like. If there's going to be a lot of isolation involved, guys who are enjoying their time off might think they'd need be payed extra to get back into it right now.

In general I think in this situation going with Ward makes a lot of sense. Next season is going to be difficult and strange. Salary cuts and budget cuts are going to raise tensions and lower the spirits, I think that's inevitable, and there might be a lot of unusual situations to deal with. Having a head coach who already knows the team and who seems to be well respected and well liked makes sense to me.

It's also very likely that paying top dollar to a top coach would require making deep cuts into something else, and that difference might not be worth it. For Treliving the choice might not be between Ward or a different coach, it might be between Ward+additional scouts or a different coach.


And yeah, as I already said in another thread, I don't think Ward is bad, I actually think he's pretty good. In normal circumstances I would be disappointed with the Flames going with Ward, but these are not normal circumstances.

In the situation the team is in, I think Ward is probably a good choice.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by Dion

How many coaches do we have to go through before we realise the problem lies with the core.

I have heard this asked many times, and absolutely no coaching hire has been spot free

Also, Feaster blew it up. The core just had pieces beginning to emerge as the core, and the core has taken shape under a coaching carousel.

So the challenge is to try to set things in place when you think you have the core and the coach.

[Deegee]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Ward has literally won the stanley cup

Its funny the ones that cry the most say the roster is terrible and the coach is terrible...

If the roster is terrible Ward did pretty good .612 and pushing the probably cup finalists/champs to the brink missing their top forward

I will be with the angry mob if there are no roster changes but FFS its the conference finals its a little early for freaking out about no moves

He won it as an assistant coach, so just stop. I don't want to see this argument ever used again. There's been enough examples in the league of good assistants flopping as coaches.

I think what people are rightfully pissed off about as there has been no indication anyone has interviewed for the job. I like Tre as the GM for the most part, but he has been horrible at picking coaches and how his process goes in doing so.

[Petert]

As usual, the army out in full force prepping everyone for an ultimate wrong direction.
Discrediting the obviously better choices, literally stalk and attack every single legit arguments, just wait and see, blah blah blah.

Ward may not be a terrible coach, and that's beside the point.
It will be simply refreshing, for a change, since Darryl Sutter, to have a general consensuses top-tier coach, whom multiple are available.
As an example, coaches who actually get to head coach again after being fired is a good place to start.

Head coaching IS the biggest problem in Calgary, ever since Darryl Sutter, because this organization somehow simply refuse to consider real proven coaches, since, Darryl Sutter.