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

[Johnny Makarov]

The Leafs must be totally shocked. We are their only competition in this division.

[DiracSpike]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Since the Flames took the leap to spend the money to put Sutter on the books with two other coaches still on them, when attendance is allowed again at the dome I will attend and spend my money there to show my gratitude.

The difficulty of that decision from a business standpoint in covid times is not lost on us.

Ownership really came through for us, as always. Hopefully the complainers keep this in mind next time they feel like bitching and wishing for some other non-existent Calgary based billionaire to buy the team.

[JohnnyB]

Having Sutter behind the bench makes me feel better about the individual prospects of pretty much every player on the team. I trust Sutter to be able to get the most out of each individual. If players like Bennett can't prove themselves under Sutter, then there should be confidence in moving on from them. For any player who has been performing below their capacity, this change should be seen as an opportunity to show their true capabilities.

[cannon7]

With all the talk from the players during the last postseason that they were behind Ward 100%, they sure haven't played like it this season. Ward certainly made mistakes, but the team on the ice did him no favors.

The true battle of wills has begun, shape up or ship out.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

The Oilers roster was better than the Flames 2004 roster. Look at that roster and those stats! hahaha Those are numbers for a team bounced in the 2nd round!

Oilers should have won it if that idiot Oiler didn't injure his own goalie. He deserves a statue in Calgary.

1 Jarome Iginla* 26 RW 26 13 9 22
2 Craig Conroy 32 C 26 6 11 17
3 Martin Gelinas 33 LW 26 8 7 15
4 Marcus Nilson 25 LW 26 4 7 11
5 Shean Donovan 29 RW 24 5 5 10
6 Jordan Leopold 23 D 26 0 10 10
7 Robyn Regehr 23 D 26 2 7 9
8 Ville Nieminen 26 RW 24 4 4 8
9 Chris Simon 32 LW 16 5 2 7
10 Chris Clark 27 RW 26 3 3 6
11 Oleg Saprykin 22 LW 26 3 3 6
12 Stephane Yelle 29 C 23 3 3 6
13 Matthew Lombardi 21 C 13 1 5
14 Steve Montador 24 D 20 1 2 3
15 Andrew Ference 24 D 26 0 3 3
16 Krzysztof Oliwa 30 LW 20 2 0 2
17 Mike Commodore 24 D 20 0 2
18 Denis Gauthier 27 D 6 0 1 1
19 Miikka Kiprusoff 27 G 26 0 1 1
20 Chuck Kobasew 21 RW 26 0 1 1
21 Toni Lydman 26 D 6 0 1 1
22 Rhett Warrener 28 D 24 0 1 1

The Oilers returned with the same lineup sans Pronger and some bit pieces up front and missed the playoffs the next year. That lineup was complete trash and was dragged kicking and screaming to the Finals by Chris Pronger.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Now that he has a capable coach, Treliving needs to work on the roster. This is an incredibly weak division and a semi-finals berth is right there for the taking.

Give Darryl some talent to work with and this team can make some noise. Please no more depth additions on defense. This team badly needs some more talent up front.

No kidding. You're talking about potentially needing to beat the Habs/Oilers and the Leafs to see the third round.

The division leading team has been as much first round fodder as the Flames in recent years.

In any other year that would be considered an (exceedingly) easy route.

[Boreal]

Originally Posted by krynski

https://twitter.com/user/status/1367671828198477826

Beautiful. Time for some sexual healing.

Every time I see Sarich with that beard he looks like a young Fred Penner.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1192139587834937344

[Save Us Sutter]

Appears my username is valid once more.

The more things change.....

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Infinit47

Worst team in cup finals history? I think you forget who lost in the next cup final. For shame.

Seriously, the 1995-96 Florida Panthers made the finals in their third year after being a non PO team before, and then they just kept on being terrible. Look at that bag of poop. Or the 98 Caps, who were a non PO team the year before and the year after.

Both of those teams sucked big time. At least the 05 Oilers had Pronger.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

The Oilers returned with the same lineup sans Pronger and some bit pieces up front and missed the playoffs the next year. That lineup was complete trash and was dragged kicking and screaming to the Finals by Chris Pronger.

And, as I said elsewhere, the Panthers and Caps had worse finals teams. Look at the records in previous and subsequent years.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

The Oilers returned with the same lineup sans Pronger and some bit pieces up front and missed the playoffs the next year. That lineup was complete trash and was dragged kicking and screaming to the Finals by Chris Pronger.

Still better than that Flames group. Pronger played 31 mins a game! Insane. Also we need a statue of Pronger's wife in Calgary. Statues for everyone!

Scoring Goals Assists Ice Time
Rk Player Age Pos GP G A PTS
1 Chris Pronger* 31 D 24 5 16 21
2 Shawn Horcoff 27 LW 24 7 12 19
3 Fernando Pisani 29 C 24 14 4 18
4 Ales Hemsky 22 RW 24 6 11 17
5 Ryan Smyth 29 LW 24 7 9 16
6 Sergei Samsonov 27 LW 24 4 11
7 Jaroslav Spacek 31 D 24 3 11 14
8 Michael Peca 31 C 24 6 5 11
9 Raffi Torres 24 LW 22 4 7 11
10 Jarret Stoll 23 C 24 4 6 10
11 Steve Staios 32 D 24 1 5 6
12 Jason Smith 32 D 24 1 4 5
13 Rem Murray 33 C 24 0 4 4
14 Marc-Andre Bergeron 25 D 18 2 1 3
15 Ethan Moreau 30 LW 21 2 1 3

[zamler]

Originally Posted by Ryan Coke

Just thought I’d quote this for people who miss it buried in the thread.

OP feel free to put this in the 1st post.

Originally Posted by zamler

NSFW!

Link

ha, I was right

Originally Posted by kyuss275

Not one of those four guys looks at Cp .

Originally Posted by zamler

Of course they do everyone does.

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by cannon7

With all the talk from the players during the last postseason that they were behind Ward 100%, they sure haven't played like it this season. Ward certainly made mistakes, but the team on the ice did him no favors.

The true battle of wills has begun, shape up or ship out.

Agreed. I feel like Lucic was the only guy actually showing support for Ward in the way he was playing.

He seemed to have a very good relationship with Ward, and I wonder a bit how he'll respond with Ward gone. I imagine it will be bittersweet for him, being sad to see a guy he really liked lose his job with the team but also encouraged by the prospect of a competitive, hard working, winning culture being brought to the team.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

Still better than that Flames group. Pronger played 31 mins a game! Insane. Also we need a statue of Pronger's wife in Calgary. Statues for everyone!

Scoring Goals Assists Ice Time
Rk Player Age Pos GP G A PTS
1 Chris Pronger* 31 D 24 5 16 21
2 Shawn Horcoff 27 LW 24 7 12 19
3 Fernando Pisani 29 C 24 14 4 18
4 Ales Hemsky 22 RW 24 6 11 17
5 Ryan Smyth 29 LW 24 7 9 16
6 Sergei Samsonov 27 LW 24 4 11
7 Jaroslav Spacek 31 D 24 3 11 14
8 Michael Peca 31 C 24 6 5 11
9 Raffi Torres 24 LW 22 4 7 11
10 Jarret Stoll 23 C 24 4 6 10
11 Steve Staios 32 D 24 1 5 6
12 Jason Smith 32 D 24 1 4 5
13 Rem Murray 33 C 24 0 4 4
14 Marc-Andre Bergeron 25 D 18 2 1
15 Ethan Moreau 30 LW 21 2 1 3

Any team with Iginla and Kipper (not to mention Reg) is better than one with Pronger and no one.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

Agreed. I feel like Lucic was the only guy actually showing support for Ward in the way he was playing.

He seemed to have a very good relationship with Ward, and I wonder a bit how he'll respond with Ward gone. I imagine it will be bittersweet for him, being sad to see a guy he really liked lose his job with the team but also encouraged by the prospect of a competitive, hard working, winning culture being brought to the team.

Lucic basically said the players weren’t trying hard enough, so he can’t be too unhappy. UNLESS he and Sutter didn’t get along in LA.

[Flame On]

Anyone think Sutter will make a Captaincy change? Not going to weigh-in to whether that's needed etc. just now would be the understandable time, to do that if he wants to.

[Boreal]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Seriously, the 1995-96 Florida Panthers made the finals in their third year after being a non PO team before, and then they just kept on being terrible. Look at that bag of poop. Or the 98 Caps, who were a non PO team the year before and the year after.

Both of those teams sucked big time. At least the 05 Oilers had Pronger.

There were no ‘05 Oilers, or Flames for that matter.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

Still better than that Flames group. Pronger played 31 mins a game! Insane. Also we need a statue of Pronger's wife in Calgary. Statues for everyone!

ScoringGoalsAssistsIce Time
RkPlayerAgePosGPGAPTS
1Chris Pronger*31D2451621
2Shawn Horcoff27LW2471219
3Fernando Pisani29C2414418
4Ales Hemsky22RW2461117
5Ryan Smyth29LW247916
6Sergei Samsonov27LW24411
7Jaroslav Spacek31D2431114
8Michael Peca31C246511
9Raffi Torres24LW224711
10Jarret Stoll23C244610
11Steve Staios32D24156
12Jason Smith32D24145
13Rem Murray33C24044
14Marc-Andre Bergeron25D18213
15Ethan Moreau30LW21213

That roster is dog crap. It is far worse than the Flames 2004 Cup team.

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

[Patek23]

Let’s use the right analogy, none of this UCP comparison. This is the equivalent of us bringing Ralph Klein back. LFG.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by Flame On

Anyone think Sutter will make a Captaincy change? Not going to weigh-in to whether that's needed etc. just now would be the understandable time, to do that if he wants to.

Sutter should just make himself captain. Gio doesn't cut it as his teams don't start playing until the 2nd period.