Flames fire Geoff Ward, hire Darryl Sutter, signs 3 year deal

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by heep223

Flames players right now

Naw-

Oilers right now.

[howard_the_duck]

Originally Posted by Jetfire

This is overwhelmingly the happiest thread I've seen in at least a couple seasons. The whole fanbase needed this exciting news, honestly.

Without question. The best PR move the Flames could have made, by a mile.

It placates those who thought coaching was the problem, and those who think the core is rotten. Both will be solved with Darryl.

Cherry on top is he's an Albertan and one of the best coaches and most beloved figures in team history. Whether it came from Treliving or above, it's the right move, one of the first in what feels like a long time.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by Tacoman

Everybody talking about Bennett being a potential Sutter favourite. If Sam floats around and completely dogs it on backchecks like he has been, he’ll find himself even further in the doghouse under Sutter. Hopefully he uses this “change of scenery” to revive his career with more passionate play because no team wants this version of him.

Could go either way - he goes deeper in the doghouse and out the door or Sutter turns him around in a big way. I don’t see a middle ground. As much as Sutter is remembered as an unforgiving hardass there was a method to the madness and he also built players up in his own way. I can’t think of a previous Flames player in a similar position under Sutter though.

[transplant99]

Duha weighs in....

The thing about Sutter is he wins more games than he loses. And when his teams do lose, life can be pretty miserable. The object of hiring Sutter to coach the team was unmistakable – it was to light a fire under a group of reasonably talented hockey players that just eked back to .500 on Thursday night, during an impressive 7-3 win over the Ottawa Senators that also marked Ward’s final appearance behind the bench. Rarely does a fired hockey coach go out on a winning note – but these were desperate times in Calgary, a team that is currently fifth out of seven in the NHL’s North Division and has been spinning its wheels almost from the start of the season, inconsistent in virtually every area of its game.

So, the culture and the working conditions are about to change in a hurry and any of the holdovers from Sutter’s previous years with the Flames, which at the moment is limited to team captain Mark Giordano, can provide a short primer on how life is about to change going forward. There probably won’t be a lot of laughs. There’ll be a level of accountability that most probably haven’t seen before. Behind closed doors, Sutter generally doesn’t mince words. The good news there: Players will know exactly where they stand at any given moment.

https://theathletic.com/2429439/2021...ddling-flames/

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by CalgaryFan1988

I fall asleep just before the 3rd period and wake up to a Flames win and a new coach?

If I wasn't at work, I'd think I was dreaming.

wait, what?

[GirlySports]

Tre really doesn't like to interview candidates.

[Enoch Root]

Went to bed in disbelief.

Woke up just so ####ing happy!!!


It isn't an instant cure-all, but I think we can say two things:

1) goodbye to that horrid hockey they were playing, and

2) at least now there is HOPE!!!

[djsFlames]

Still want to know how it happened. Was this Edwards' directive?


One of the old guard definitely guided BT's hand here.


Basically, I need to know who to thank. Because that person clearly cares as much as we do.

[Sutter for Prime Minister]

Glad I kept this username over these years.

Have been waiting a long time to use this account again!!!

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Cheese

well we will certainly find out now if the issues were coaches or players.

They were both. But now we've solved one, and we can isolate - and then correct - the other.

[Boxman]

I am positive on this if it works and negative if it doesn't. Don't know if there is a single magic bullet here. In the scenario that this works I'm also expecting to unload Monahan.

[Cycling76er]

Originally Posted by Moneyhands23

Hey, So are the pubs open in Calgary?? I have a hankering to head out in April to come watch some games with some Flames fans!!!

God I hate living in Canucks territory

Try Jets country :|

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by monahammer

our players have full permission to tune darryl out after they win two cups as well.

i need more thanks!

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Itse

So many feelings about this.

I don't know if this will work, I don't know if Sutter is the right coach for this team in this situation. Sutter hasn't been coaching for a while, and doesn't know the team, and there isn't much time to straighten the course this season. If there's an initial push back from the players, or Sutters tough approach creates rifts inside the team, this could blow up spectacularly... At least this season.

The media attention and pressure to perform will be insane, and that's not going to make things easy, unless the team immediately starts winning.

All that said, I love it. This isn't arranging deckchairs, this is taking a ramming course towards the iceberg and seeing if this ship/team can take it.

If I was a betting man, I'd go with the crowd that says this isn't a Treliving hire, this just doesn't feel like his style. For one thing, Flames just brought in a guy that's effectively above Treliving. If Darryl says he doesn't like Treliving, the owners won't even listen to his side, Brad will be gone.

Of course that goes both ways. If Darryl gets us a playoff win and Treliving can convince Darryl he knows what he's doing, that probably buys him at least a couple more seasons.

If nothing else, this was an interesting move, and my interest in Flames hockey just got a huge boost.

I haven't been this excited to see what happens with the Flames in a long time

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Is his son Chris coming to work with us too?

I hope he is.

Chris is in his mid-20s. If he’s coming it’s because he’s working for the Flames.

[Puppet Guy]

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I honestly had to check if it was April 1st.

What a sad and desperate move. We’ve become the Oilers, selling nostalgia to a disenchanted fanbase.

Congratulations on the worst take in the thread

[GGG]

This is certainly the last coach for this GM and Players

Either Sutter will drive results or the players will tune out and quit. What it won’t be is the ronde and repeat we have been on the past few years.

This goes well or we blow it up.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by TheKiprusoffResurrection

Out: Worst (2nd worst?) Flames coach of all time.

In: Best Flames coach of all time.

I couldn't be happier! #### YEAH!!

Best living coach. You’ll never convince me that there was a better one than the Badger.

[howard_the_duck]

For the first time in a few seasons, it's a feeling of optimism.

Optimism for no more status quo. Optimism for accountability. Optimism for leadership.

Saturday night is must see TV, now.

[kyuss275]

Has the gm or any players said anything about the hire?