Who should the Flames hire as the new head coach?

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

He was actually the first one that came to my mind given the Coyotes connection.

I would be willing to give him another chance. I think he got a bit of a raw deal the first time around.

Seems really risky... I mean, this is a BIG hire - this is supposed to be the guy that finishes our rebuild and takes us to Cup contender status. So, if this hire comes up snake-eyes, it means our rebuild failed and Treliving loses his job. Because of that I think he is either going to go with a "sure" thing (like Boudreau, Sutter or even Carlyle) or some "hot new" thing (like Greene), hoping to emulate Cooper's success in TB.

[JJ1532]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

GM's that seek out "their guy" to coach the team which he runs typically don't have a long shelf life. It's all about finding the best coach not "his guy". Take a look at the coaches in the playoffs this year and the common theme is that the majority of the teams have proven winners as head coach as you have Sutter, AV, Boudreau, Trotz, Hitchcock, Quenneville, Laviolette, Ruff, Yeo (kind of a stretch here but they do make the playoffs). A GM can try to find the next great young coach but the landscape is littered with failures and maybe going out on a limb to hire a guy like Travis Green that is getting rave reviews is one thing but the GM better know what he's doing as letting a proven winner like Boudreau slip through his fingers to hire some obscure guy like Huska for example is a surefire way to stall a rebuild and put a GM on the firing line.

As a Raiders fan I still recall rookie GM Reggie McKenzie hiring his first head coach and he hired a first time head coach Dennis Allen kind of out of the blue and all through his press conferences referred to him as "his guy". Guess what his guy wasn't ready to be an NFL head coach and after 2.5 losing seasons Reggie had to can him to hire a proven head coach that in his first season took the team back to respectability. I really, really, really hate the "my guy" or "his guy" talk as that reeks of a GM that is intimidated by coaches that have more experience then he does and is seeking more of a malleable coach that's not going to question him.

But when you say proven winners, do you mean at any level, or specifically the NHL level?

[kukkudo]

I hope the management team knows if the coach they hire comes in and totally sh*ts the bed that they are most likely out of jobs next season.

[saillias]

No offense to Duha but he's been completely out to lunch on this. Every name he's suggested has been utter

Crawford, Carlyle, Wilson, Kruger, and now Playfair. All he's missing is the Keenan suggestion to complete the circle of garbage

[Weitz]

I wonder with the economic climate what the owners are willing to pay for a coach (ie. make Boudreua the second highest paid coach).

[Toonage]

I know Flames ownership rarely, if ever, meddles (so far as I can tell). That being said I wonder if they do or would when a former Flames player or in this case coach is being considered.

[t0rrent98]

Any thoughts about Gelina possibly being promoted to HC if he wanted to try out for it since he's still part of the coaching staff? just a food for thought..

[SuperMatt18]

It will be interesting to see what way the Flames go here.

It's funny because when Burke hired a new GM the media was doing the same thing - naming a bunch of re-treads that had connections to Burke in the past.

Then they went out and named Treliving who was a younger first time GM, and who had not been named in a rumor at all.

[JJ1532]

Originally Posted by saillias

No offense to Duha but he's been completely out to lunch on this. Every name he's suggested has been utter

Crawford, Carlyle, Wilson, Kruger, and now Playfair. All he's missing is the Keenan suggestion to complete the circle of garbage

Out of interest(because I wasn't following the team back then), what went wrong with Playfair? Because on the face of it, his record with the team wasn't bad.

[Bingo]

Yost from TSN chimes in on Hartley dismissal and Boudreau option

http://www.tsn.ca/flames-had-no-choi...rtley-1.484006

[1qqaaz]

Originally Posted by saillias

No offense to Duha but he's been completely out to lunch on this. Every name he's suggested has been utter

Crawford, Carlyle, Wilson, Kruger, and now Playfair. All he's missing is the Keenan suggestion to complete the circle of garbage

He seems to think that almost everyone with NHL experience is an option. Who knows, maybe the Flames are going to interview 30 people. But yes, it's hard to put a lot of weight on his opinions in this regard.

[DJones]

Originally Posted by t0rrent98

Any thoughts about Gelina possibly being promoted to HC if he wanted to try out for it since he's still part of the coaching staff? just a food for thought..

Think he's lucky to have not been fired if it's true that he had control over the special teams.

Not bashing him, I like him. Maybe more as a person than hockey wise but I don't see how he earned a promotion.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by saillias

No offense to Duha but he's been completely out to lunch on this. Every name he's suggested has been utter

Crawford, Carlyle, Wilson, Kruger, and now Playfair. All he's missing is the Keenan suggestion to complete the circle of garbage

I would welcome Keenan. It would be a movie to rival the one that is going to be made about LFC. Cast out into the wilderness, goes to Siberia and wins a championship (this part of the movie would be fun with the Russian mob/girls/booze shenanigans), returns to a team with a history of choking (this would overemphasized in the movie), finds some cast-off goalie (or MAF in the Denis Lemieux role), and goes on to win the title. I think it would be a fun ride.

[saillias]

Originally Posted by JJ1532

Out of interest(because I wasn't following the team back then), what went wrong with Playfair? Because on the face of it, his record with the team wasn't bad.

Didn't have the respect of the team, from what I've heard it culminated with Hamrlik screaming at him in the dressing room (Citation needed)

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Weitz

I wonder with the economic climate what the owners are willing to pay for a coach (ie. make Boudreua the second highest paid coach).

last time I saw ownership sorted on net worth I think the Flames were 2nd or 3rd league wide.

They didn't get that way spending foolishly, but I don't think there's really a budget beyond where common sense.

[Bingo]

This may have been discussed but I think there was a telling section in the Burke interview on the Fan590 a couple of days ago.

McCowan (spelling?) asked him about what kind of list he'd have. Burke said something like interviews are just a formality, you already know who you want or the two you want. The interview can blow it, but not make it.

Asked about the list he said one or two. Mentioned with Treliving he had one.

Then he said but this is Treliving's hire so his list must be bigger.

Then I think something gets loose on him ...

Asked about timing and he says Treliving's in Russia. We're in no hurry, but maybe he and the assistants could interview the younger guys.

To me that says they are NOT going with a younger coach. If a younger guy gets interviewed it will be done with Treliving in Russia as an exercise.

[TheScorpion]

Playfair will be played in the movie by Ed Norton.

[Da_Chief]

Originally Posted by JJ1532

Out of interest(because I wasn't following the team back then), what went wrong with Playfair? Because on the face of it, his record with the team wasn't bad.

There was the Amonte incident too. He made Amonte a healthy scratch (totally deserved, cuz he played like hot poo) and then had to apologize to Amonte cuz his feelings were hurt. That's the story I remember hearing from back them.

It was totally the inmates running the asylum.

It was worse then Lebron James ignoring his coaches right now and setting up plays himself during timeouts.

[SuperMatt18]

Think right now in order of preference I have it as:

1) Boudreau
2) Paul MacLean (underrated coach who had his team top 5 in possession all 3 seasons in Ottawa, and was singled out as the reason for Anaheim's strong special teams last season
3) Kevin Dineen

If Darryl Sutter becomes available then I add him to the list...but not sure this team is close enough to being a contender yet for a coach like him. Less of a teacher and more of a guy that puts you over the hump.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Yost from TSN chimes in on Hartley dismissal and Boudreau option

http://www.tsn.ca/flames-had-no-choi...rtley-1.484006

It's pretty obvious Boudreau's win % isn't a fluke as the possession numbers point to sustained success. I know Treliving is saying all the right things but you look at those possession numbers and I would have to seriously question any NHL GM with a head coaching vacancy that wouldn't have him at the top of the list. He's as close to a sure thing hire to turn around a team as there has ever been in the NHL.