[News] Ryan Huska named HC. 12:30 PM MT presser

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

Woodycroft

You mean woodcock

[traptor]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

What do you think is Lindholm’s motivation to extend?

He’s coming off a bit of a down year, so it’s not like he’s cashing in at a peak (unlike Huberdeau last year).

He’s one year from hitting free agency which would also coincide with the salary cap “unlocking” and jumping a good deal.

The Flames aren’t an organization with a winning history nor a high end prospect pool that would sell the player on winning in the future.

…so that leaves one thing. Overpayment. Is that something we should be doing?

Yeah, I agree. If I'm Lindholm's agent I'm advising him to wait until next off-season to sign.
His leverage will only increase unless he has an absolutely terrible season.
The only way Lindy re-signs now is if we overpay him (especially considering his down season) or he absolutely loves it here.


Which leads to...

This team cannot go into the season without Lindy re-signed. They need to trade him if he isn't willing to put pen to paper by the end of the summer.


Which leads to...

If Lindy is out the team seriously needs to consider a major overhaul. Reset, retool, rebuild, or whatever you want to call it.

We have no one even close to replacing Lindy in the pipeline, and this team won't win #### with 33-year-old Kadri and 34-year-old Backs as your 1/2 centers.

Although Backs will probably want out too in that case. Sounds like he want's to compete.


Unfortunate path the flames appear to be walking down.
What happens with Lindy will be fascinating and change the path of this team. Although I also thought that about Gaudreau/Chucky yet they still plowed forward on trying to stay competitive after losing both of them.

[Hemi-Cuda]

The Flames don't exactly have a stellar record with head coaches who were promoted from assistants. Playfair, Gulutzan, Ward, not even 5 full seasons between them. Would be nice to see Huska break that trend

[Infinit47]

I was really hoping to see some fresh blood. Conroy/Huska is as far from that as you could get. Really hoping I'm wrong but I don't see any reason this won't simply be more of the same.

[musth]

Originally Posted by Flames1217

Why do so many people think that Huska is going to be an offensive black hole.

Huska ran the Defense when Gio had his 74 point season, Huska has put a system in place that has allowed Anderson to become a very effective offensive d-man. Zadarov had his best offensive season under Huska, Gudbranson had his best offensive year under Huska, Gio had his best year under Huska and the liat goes on.

Sometimes you can't judge someone solely based on the position they have been in. I am all for hiring someone to run the PP and help with the offense but some people need to calm down a bit before painting into a defensive minded coach.

In his tenure as head Coach in the Dub his clubs didn't appear to have trouble scoring. With the Heat he had some pretty horrible teams and was able to squeeze quite a bit out of them.

Trust the process, this could be a good thing. Give the guy a chance before you run him out of the city.

This is a great post

[stang]

Sigh, wish I would have just kept it to myself.

My cousin really likes the hire. I know eff all about him, but I think you guys will be ok.

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by stang

Sigh, wish I would have just kept it to myself.

My cousin really likes the hire. I know eff all about him, but I think you guys will be ok.

I appreciate it! I'm glad your cousin is excited! I am optimistic that though Ryan and Craig have been around they're still fresh eyes that know the challenges and have a plan.

thank you for sharing!

[taxbuster]

Beats me what he'll be like. No idea.

So...like the vast majority of peeps, I'll just wait and see and judge based on performance. Usually that seems to be best.

[DropIt]

Pumped. Huska will do great. Has a good winningnhistory and player development

[jlh2640]

I’ve always really likes listening to Huska speak post games on the Fan960. I am optimistic that this is the right choice. Love, Gelinas and others as assistants will make this even better. But let’s see what happens.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

The Flames don't exactly have a stellar record with head coaches who were promoted from assistants. Playfair, Gulutzan, Ward, not even 5 full seasons between them. Would be nice to see Huska break that trend

Gulutzan wasn't an AC. Well, he was in Vancouver, but not here.

[Redlan]

Originally Posted by Alex.ua

female goose

So a goose…Canadian geese the female is a goose and the male is a gander.

[Ferarri]

I was/am a big Darryl fan so I guess this decision is underwhelming from my perspective. You go from a 2 time Stanley cup champion to an unknown rookie who isn’t necessarily a “hot commodity” outside of this market (yes, I realize he interviewed in Chicago but was unsuccessful).

No sense in complaining now and I’m going to support the decision as I’m a fan of the team but a few points leave me feeling negative about the hire.

1) Huberdeau - the biggest complaint last year was that Darryl implemented a system that impeded Huberdeau’s offensive creativity. Why then hire a guy with a defence first approach if the goal was to appease his style of play? Sure they can hire assistants with a more offensive approach but ultimately the head coach has the final say

2) Internal Reward - personally I feel like nobody on the coaching staff should have survived the offseason after the disastrous campaign we just witnessed. I get that Conroy was rewarded internally and paid his dues but I don’t get why a guy like Huska deserves a promotion. The team was awful last year and in years prior they didn’t accomplish much of anything. The stellar campaign we had with Johnny and Tkachuk I would attribute to Darryl more than anything else. He got that team firing and I believe he was the sole reason as Huska had been around prior to that campaign and saw limited success.

Commodity - outside of the local media on the fan I haven’t really seen any other teams showing a ton of interest in wanting to have this guy. He’s never been touted as the next one outside of this market and speaks volumes when assessing talent. Maybe they see something we don’t but concerning.

Just a few thoughts I had that don’t sit well with me. But I guess it is what it is at this point and I fully acknowledge I have limited information to make a truly informed decision on him. I’ll buy in and give him a fair shot but still disappointing to go from a hall of fame coach to someone with a weak resume.

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by Ferarri

I was/am a big Darryl fan so I guess this decision is underwhelming from my perspective. You go from a 2 time Stanley cup champion to an unknown rookie who isn’t necessarily a “hot commodity” outside of this market (yes, I realize he interviewed in Chicago but was unsuccessful).

No sense in complaining now and I’m going to support the decision as I’m a fan of the team but a few points leave me feeling negative about the hire.

1) Huberdeau - the biggest complaint last year was that Darryl implemented a system that impeded Huberdeau’s offensive creativity. Why then hire a guy with a defence first approach if the goal was to appease his style of play? Sure they can hire assistants with a more offensive approach but ultimately the head coach has the final say

2) Internal Reward - personally I feel like nobody on the coaching staff should have survived the offseason after the disastrous campaign we just witnessed. I get that Conroy was rewarded internally and paid his dues but I don’t get why a guy like Huska deserves a promotion. The team was awful last year and in years prior they didn’t accomplish much of anything. The stellar campaign we had with Johnny and Tkachuk I would attribute to Darryl more than anything else. He got that team firing and I believe he was the sole reason as Huska had been around prior to that campaign and saw limited success.

Commodity - outside of the local media on the fan I haven’t really seen any other teams showing a ton of interest in wanting to have this guy. He’s never been touted as the next one outside of this market and speaks volumes when assessing talent. Maybe they see something we don’t but concerning.

he was allegedly the runner up to the Detroit Job, similar to how Connie was a runner up for the Buffalo job. Which is interesting but he wasn't the successful candidate so maybe it means nothing.

[Macindoc]

Originally Posted by Ferarri

I was/am a big Darryl fan so I guess this decision is underwhelming from my perspective. You go from a 2 time Stanley cup champion to an unknown rookie who isn’t necessarily a “hot commodity” outside of this market (yes, I realize he interviewed in Chicago but was unsuccessful).

No sense in complaining now and I’m going to support the decision as I’m a fan of the team but a few points leave me feeling negative about the hire.

1) Huberdeau - the biggest complaint last year was that Darryl implemented a system that impeded Huberdeau’s offensive creativity. Why then hire a guy with a defence first approach if the goal was to appease his style of play? Sure they can hire assistants with a more offensive approach but ultimately the head coach has the final say

2) Internal Reward - personally I feel like nobody on the coaching staff should have survived the offseason after the disastrous campaign we just witnessed. I get that Conroy was rewarded internally and paid his dues but I don’t get why a guy like Huska deserves a promotion. The team was awful last year and in years prior they didn’t accomplish much of anything. The stellar campaign we had with Johnny and Tkachuk I would attribute to Darryl more than anything else. He got that team firing and I believe he was the sole reason as Huska had been around prior to that campaign and saw limited success.

Commodity - outside of the local media on the fan I haven’t really seen any other teams showing a ton of interest in wanting to have this guy. He’s never been touted as the next one outside of this market and speaks volumes when assessing talent. Maybe they see something we don’t but concerning.

Just a few thoughts I had that don’t sit well with me. But I guess it is what it is at this point and I fully acknowledge I have limited information to make a truly informed decision on him. I’ll buy in and give him a fair shot but still disappointing to go from a hall of fame coach to someone with a weak resume.

Sutter might be a Hall of Fame coach for what he did with the Kings, but he certainly won't get any votes for his performance last season. Frankly, some of his decisions, especially toward the end of the season, made me question whether he was even in a right state of mind. And he clearly showed that he lacked the intent, and possibly the ability, to change and make adjustments. Continuing with him would have only guaranteed equal or worse results next season.

For an up-and-coming coaching candidate, Huska has a reasonable resume. Experienced NHL coaches have more impressive resumes, but their past history does not guarantee future success, particularly with very rigid coaches whose past success only serves to further reinforce their insistence on sticking with systems and methods that have previously been successful for them. But the league is not static, and what worked in the past doesn't work now, and won't work in the future.

Huska's not the current sexy choice because Love was AHL Coach of the Year twice, but Love has zero NHL experience. I just hope that Love and the Flames can find a role for him on the Flames' coaching staff next year.

[Max Cow Disease]

Huska was my choice in the poll a few weeks back as I think he's a pretty logical choice (though I foresaw Love getting promoted to an assistant position so will be bummed if he isn't around any longer). I get some of the consternation people may have but I think it's important to guard against some of the biases that can tend to creep in here. Dude's always seemed to be well-regarded and sounds like a great hockey mind, and was our prior "up and comer" in the days when the farm team was pretty Wolf-less and weak.

Some posters are casting him off almost solely due to the fact that he was on the bench this past season and don't want anyone with that "stink" to lead the team going forward. Fair enough, but I don't think that's how it works and don't view it to be a responsible means by which to assess who should receive the job. Darryl was the one manning the rudder last the past couple seasons, not Huska. He will have been assessed on his own merits as an individual as they pertain to giving this team a chance to succeed, nothing more. Learning under the tutelage of a coach like Darryl may end up working in his favour, as he'll be able to incorporate the bits he likes and hopefully discard the outmoded crap that made the environment so toxic.

Also, the fact that he hasn't been poached by another team or made HC here yet doesn't mean squat. For one thing, he's spent his time in this organization under the leadership of Brad Treliving, whose strengths didn't seem to reside in the realm of hiring top notch head coaches. For all we know he has been a decent candidate all this time and was overlooked (and we do know Huska's talked to other teams in the past at some point). People have been making light of the whole notion of tenure and "paying one's dues" but I do think it counts for something, and we shouldn't simply covet options that reside outside the organization because of the tendency to think everything within it is bound to be mediocre.

If people are enthused about Conroy and his vision then they should trust in this hire for the time being. There's a tendency to perceive some unifying thread between the years and decades that causes people to say stuff like "of course this organization would hire this guy" or "just more status quo for the Flames", but it's a new manager, new era. The fact that they haven't demolished the Dome, changed the jerseys, and traded everyone this past month doesn't mean Conroy isn't looking at things differently or preparing to learn from the mistakes he's witnessed over the years.

[Manhattanboy]

I suspect Huberdeau and the rest of the team are about as underwhelmed with the undynamic duo of Huska/Conroy as we are.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by Max Cow Disease

Huska was my choice in the poll a few weeks back as I think he's a pretty logical choice (though I foresaw Love getting promoted to an assistant position so will be bummed if he isn't around any longer). I get some of the consternation people may have but I think it's important to guard against some of the biases that can tend to creep in here. Dude's always seemed to be well-regarded and sounds like a great hockey mind, and was our prior "up and comer" in the days when the farm team was pretty Wolf-less and weak.

Some posters are casting him off almost solely due to the fact that he was on the bench this past season and don't want anyone with that "stink" to lead the team going forward. Fair enough, but I don't think that's how it works and don't view it to be a responsible means by which to assess who should receive the job. Darryl was the one manning the rudder last the past couple seasons, not Huska. He will have been assessed on his own merits as an individual as they pertain to giving this team a chance to succeed, nothing more. Learning under the tutelage of a coach like Darryl may end up working in his favour, as he'll be able to incorporate the bits he likes and hopefully discard the outmoded crap that made the environment so toxic.

Also, the fact that he hasn't been poached by another team or made HC here yet doesn't mean squat. For one thing, he's spent his time in this organization under the leadership of Brad Treliving, whose strengths didn't seem to reside in the realm of hiring top notch head coaches. For all we know he has been a decent candidate all this time and was overlooked (and we do know Huska's talked to other teams in the past at some point). People have been making light of the whole notion of tenure and "paying one's dues" but I do think it counts for something, and we shouldn't simply covet options that reside outside the organization because of the tendency to think everything within it is bound to be mediocre.

If people are enthused about Conroy and his vision then they should trust in this hire for the time being. There's a tendency to perceive some unifying thread between the years and decades that causes people to say stuff like "of course this organization would hire this guy" or "just more status quo for the Flames", but it's a new manager, new era. The fact that they haven't demolished the Dome, changed the jerseys, and traded everyone this past month doesn't mean Conroy isn't looking at things differently or preparing to learn from the mistakes he's witnessed over the years.

It's hard to trust in anything this team does since it's alternated between a slow trainwreck and a series of missed opportunities for many, many years.

We've got one terrible 2nd round appearance against the Ducks and one terrible 2nd round appearance against the Oilers to show for all the efforts, trades, draftings and coaching hires since 2004.

What about hiring Conroy and now Huska is going to be different from everything that's happened in this last 20 year stretch is what I'd like to know?

Not a question that any of the professional yet sheepish media in this town would be bold enough to ask in a press conference, but that's what I'm wondering.

Is the goal to play it safe and have continuity (of a system and product that's only got the team as high as 2nd round fodder), or is the goal to be a consistent threat that teams actually hate facing and that networks will rave about and have highlighted on their dockets?

We need to turn an entirely new page here, organization-wide.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

We basically need to do what New Jersey managed to in the last two seasons and completely revamp their on ice product to one that's exciting and successful after a lengthy period of chronic mediocrity and uninspiring teams.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

We basically need to do what New Jersey managed to in the last two seasons and completely revamp their on ice product to one that's exciting and successful after a lengthy period of chronic mediocrity and uninspiring teams.

2 division titles in 4 seasons lol

Since Vegas entered the league only Calgary and Vegas have won the Pacific