The Deal With Geoff Ward

[Toonage]

Yep. Actually suggested our worst players be out there to shut down a top line.

I can see where circumstances might lead to that for a brief period and you want to have that trust but this shouldn't be the game plan. Especially at home.

Also, I know why they don't or can't do this but it always strikes me as odd when the guys on the radio talk about poor coaching decisions and ask out loud why no one asks about decisions and when they have the coach as a guest they avoid the questions entirely. Its the elephant in the room for listeners.

[Wastedyouth]

I don't consider Ward to be all that good.

His decisions are questionable. And yet, the team is much better at puck possession and controlling the high danger areas than any team in the last 3 years.... so...

I dunno.

I don't think the team's success is on the coach though. It is very clear that the players on the team really only decide themselves when they want to compete. When they do, they are very good.

When they don't, they are mediocre.

Change the coach, this isn't gonna fix that problem.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Toonage

Yep. Actually suggested our worst players be out there to shut down a top line.

I can see where circumstances might lead to that for a brief period and you want to have that trust but this shouldn't be the game plan. Especially at home.

Also, I know why they don't or can't do this but it always strikes me as odd when the guys on the radio talk about poor coaching decisions and ask out loud why no one asks about decisions and when they have the coach as a guest they avoid the questions entirely. Its the elephant in the room for listeners.

Calgary sports media has always been pretty soft.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Manhattanboy

Don't know if anyone heard Ward on the radio this morning but he was going on about how important it is to be able to roll all four lines and throw our fourth line out against the other teams' best. To make his point he talked about how were able to use Frolik-Janko-Reider last year to shut down MacKinnon and Eichel. So strange.

on paper it's not that strange. Cup caliber teams usually have a 4th line that handles shutdown minutes. He's probably looking to the Marcus Kruger line in Chicago. The Matt Cullen line in Pittsburgh.

Ryan as a 4C in that role is a good fit.

The issue is...


when you don't have those guys, you can't just keep forcing guys like Nordstrom in the lineup thinking that he is that guy.

Now I will admit, Nordstrom was on the 2019 Bruins' 4th line in their run to the SCF so maybe I am just wrong about Nordstrom. But I just get the feeling that was a fluke year for the player.

[Enoch Root]

What Ward is saying isn't wrong - if you can have your 4th line get the occasional shift in against the other team's top line, it really helps with game management. And this happens in almost every game for almost every team.

The question is: HOW MUCH can you get away with it? And that is where I challenge his statement. If we're talking one shift per period - great. But when you start talking about rolling 4 lines, and giving the 4th line 13 or 14 minutes, now you are putting your team at a disadvantage. The top 3 lines should be playing more than the 4th line, simply because they are better.

The other problem, as GranteedEV was saying, is that if your 4th line isn't very good, then that makes everything all the worse.

When I look at our roster, my first thought is not: I sure would like to get that 4th line more ice time!

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

What Ward is saying isn't wrong - if you can have your 4th line get the occasional shift in against the other team's top line, it really helps with game management. And this happens in almost every game for almost every team.

Well if the other team's top line is out for 6 minutes straight, everyone will get a shift against them.
Pretty sure our taxi squad even got time against them.

[Manhattanboy]

What I found strange was that Ward was talking about being able to use Frolik-Janko-Reider in that role last year and didn't mention any players from the current roster.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Manhattanboy

What I found strange was that Ward was talking about being able to use Frolik-Janko-Reider in that role last year and didn't mention any players from the current roster.

I don't think it is that strange, since he has also pointed out that they are still tinkering with lineups. The fourth line will continue to be a revolving door until Ryan returns from injury.

[Manhattanboy]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I don't think it is that strange, since he has also pointed out that they are still tinkering with lineups. The fourth line will continue to be a revolving door until Ryan returns from injury.

I thought he implied they were able to do that now, which does not seem to be the case, but I might have misunderstood....

[Itse]

I've never been excited about Ward, but I liked a lot of what I saw against Dallas. We did well against a team that had a very clear material advantage; better star players, better goaltending, better defense.

Sure people may disagree with me on that, but that's how I saw it, and considering that I think we did well and looked good doing it. Good enough that I'm willing to give Ward another shot at it.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Manhattanboy

What I found strange was that Ward was talking about being able to use Frolik-Janko-Reider in that role last year and didn't mention any players from the current roster.

It makes sense to me if he’s talking about lineup changes and what challenges they bring. “I used to be able to throw out these guys in that situation sometimes”.

[shadowlord]

I'm hoping that Saturday night's win against the Oilers will give Ward some options for combos that have shown a small sample size of success together.

Gotta give him credit for finding ways to make Lucic and Bennett play better (or at least not look terrible), even if it's only for one game. Hopefully they can build on that.

Tkachuk-Lindholm-Dube
Gaudreau-Monahan-Bennett
Lucic-Backlund-Mangiapane

And if a game is going badly, we can revert, in-game, to some tried and tested combos to screw with opposition's deployment plans.

Gaudreau-Monahan-Lindholm
Tkachuk-Backlund-Mangiapane
Lucic-Bennett-Dube

I think it's better than the line blender because I don't want to see Nordstrom on the top line.

[midniteowl]

Originally Posted by shadowlord

I think it's better than the line blender because I don't want to see Nordstrom on the top line.

I don't want to see Nordstrom on any line other than the 4th line.

[SuperMatt18]

Another pet peeve with Geoff Ward...he never takes any responsibility for a bad game or a bad decision. Always blames it on the players.

Started with the Talbot pull in the playoffs. Took no blame for it and tried to pass the buck to Talbot for going into the dressing room after being pulled because he was going to put him back in right away...bull####.

Now again tonight in a game where none of the team showed up, but where they were clearly outcoached as well and where he seemingly made no adjustments game to game.

“The game is fair. We got what we deserved tonight. We got outworked, outskated and outcompeted. Usually when that happens you don’t get the result you want.”

No mention of being outcoached and doesn’t take any responsibility for the team coming out flat. Just puts it all on the players when the systems and coaching staff share the blame.

Honestly it’s not a team of hockey players but I lead a team of people at my job and I try to elevate them and give them the praise when we do well, and try to protect them and take the blame when we fail while coaching them and disciplining them if needed behind the scenes.

That’s what a leader does, and I’ve never seen that once from Geoff Ward. Seems like he’s more worried about protecting his own job than actually building a strong team culture, and that goes back to the playoff loss to Dallas.

[Royle9]

Geoff needs to go.
The guy has been out coached since the WPG series and if it wasn’t for injuries the flames lose it.
He cannot adapt, he cannot shorten the bench, he cannot find a system that works and yet we continually run into the same scenarios over and over again.
This leadership group is soft and can go too, take away the C from Gio and change this up.
Shake the room/team up big time change the coach and restart before this season is lost.

[OldSam]

The part I don't like is saying he knew ten minutes into the game the team wasn't working enough. And he did nothing. I think he wants the team to resolve their issues themselves, which would actually be good. However, he is supposed to be this awesome teacher but I don't know any who would let the entire class struggle on and on and not offer any help. The team is flailing. Throw them a fricking bone.

[dissentowner]

Really if you are mostly a small skilled group of forwards and your coach is telling you to just dump the puck in and then defend while generating no offense at all would you give a crap? Skilled players like to have the puck, when your coach wants you to give possession away every rush you start not caring and who can blame them? I don't.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Really if you are mostly a small skilled group of forwards and your coach is telling you to just dump the puck in and then defend while generating no offense at all would you give a crap? Skilled players like to have the puck, when your coach wants you to give possession away every rush you start not caring and who can blame them? I don't.

Ward is not coaching dump and chase.

[Royle9]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Ward is not coaching dump and chase.

He’s not coaching any real system, at least that’s what the product on the ice would say. He’s not making adjustments during the game, he’s not shortening the bench when behind. He’s not even putting the best forwards on the ice when we need a goal and down with 3 mins left.

He’s not fit to be a head coach plain and simple.
He hasn’t lost the room because he never had it to begin with.

Get a real coach before we rank any further.
Also a fan of changing the core of this team, but with a draft in doubt I don’t see them blowing anything up.

[rooster]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Calgary sports media has always been pretty soft.

Yes they are. Especially Steinburg. The only one who will call out anything is Eric Francis and then all the keyboard wimps attack him incessantly.