[News] Flames name Geoff Ward and Ryan Huska as assistant coaches

[Reggie Dunlop]

Originally Posted by Nelson

Who would you have hired?

Reggie Dunlop.

[cross16]

the criticism about Ward and a lack of experience on the staff is interesting. 10 years of NHL experience, track record of some very good power plays , 2 cup final appearances and a Stanley cup. Then add in a league title in Germany and an AHL coach of the year award.

if you care about experience that would seem to be a solid resume to me.

[FlamesAddiction]

Ward has been an assistant for 10 years on only 2 teams with no gaps in employment. I don't know anything about him, but it seems like his past employers liked him enough.

[FireGilbert]

Today I have learned that Ambien makes you racist and NyQuil makes you stupid. Good times.

[iloveicedhockey]

Whenever I go for any significant length of time without a beer or two, the next time I do drink I'm a massive lightweight; this is the hockey forum equivalent.

Thank goodness things will start to get interesting as we approach the draft. That fourth rounder will be the most eagerly awaited fourth round pick in flames history. Maybe.

Looking at Twitter it appears as though the devils fans were disappointed with the 9th best PP, which I find bizarre given the reasonably limited talent they have.

[Sutter4Mayor]

Tre’s next act of wizardry: Take a coach from New Jersey and have him succeed in Calgary.

[Nelson]

I think Geoff Ward is a legitimately good coach. I don’t think he is mediocre and I don’t think he was hired because the Flames aren’t willing to spend money. I hope I’m right and the PP is better than last year.

Regardless, the Flames are not going to improve as much as we would all like unless they inject speed, skill and scoring into their bottom 6. The forward depth has to improve.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

I will answer this and then I will bow out because I am high on NyQuil and this flu bug is kicking my butt. I want to be wrong, dead wrong. I have been a Flames fan my whole life and have always been passionate about them, probably too much. Nothing would make me happier than this coaching staff to make me look like an idiot. I am just tired of the mediocrity and losing and these guys don't exactly inspire confidence. I apologize for my ranting.

There are a handful of people here who should be embarrassed at their insulting replies to your posts.

Personally I don’t know enough about these hires to have much of an opinion. I do find it hard to give Treliving and Peters the benefit of the doubt given their track record, but I’m happy to wait and see how things go. I understand where you’re coming from but think you’re being too critical. In general I’m more interested in good assistant coaches than I am people who were thought to be good enough to be head coaches.

I was hoping for atleast one coach who could point to NHL success if some of these players are in fact difficult to coach. I guess Ward has that with Boston.

[dino7c]

I will take with a grain of salt anything said by a guy who thinks the Oilers "hit a home run" by adding GG to their coaching staff

sounds like someone that just wants to #### on anything the Flames do

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

It's cool though, I get that the majority of you are happy with mediocrity, that is what this fan base has had for years. Whatever, I will bow out of the discussion, we shall see

Yeah, you figured the entire board out. You're the only person who wants the team to get better, and if it weren't for the rest of us losers, you yourself would be able to will the Flames all the way to the Stanley Cup. Everyone who disagrees with you is doing it specifically for the purpose of keeping the team mediocre by sending out negative waves to interfere with your divine mission.

[Hockey-and_stuff]

I blocked dissentowner for a reason. Stop quoting the troll and let him stew in his own misery.

[Mr.Coffee]

none of this matters as long as they win. Nobody truly cares about assistant coaches. The buck stops with the head coach.

[kukkudo]

I don't know why this coaching staff reminds me when the flames brought in Brent Sutter, Dave Lowry, Craig Hartsburg. Hopefully they have better success than the names mentioned above.

[DazzlinDino]

Originally Posted by Hockey-and_stuff

I blocked dissentowner for a reason. Stop quoting the troll and let him stew in his own misery.

You may have missed it but he apologized for his rant, mentioned he is on NyQuil because he has the flu. Said he was ranting because he is a passionate fan and just wants things to get better.


I know I tend to be moody when I am sick so I can understand that; I think we all want the best for the Flames. For me it is wait and see, I am cautiously excited to see how things play out. The acknowledgement from
Brad Treliving that we need to be faster with the right mix of players; The fact that Ward has had some success and has been with experienced coaches, teams that have made the playoffs. I felt Cameron being a head coach in the past didn't do GG any favors but these 2 assistant hires are there to complement the program.

[Erick Estrada]

I don't remember such heated discussions revolving around assistant hires. On the surface maybe these aren't big name hires but how many people can name the assistant coaches on every team? Peters and his assistants aren't my dream coaching staff but they deserve the benefit of the doubt as sometimes the hires that aren't sexy turn out to be the best hires. It certainly didn't play out that way with Gulutzan but I'm sure Treliving knows his job may be tied to these hiring's so if he's that confident in these guys we should feel pretty positive until the product proves otherwise.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Da_Chief

Duh, Scotty Bowman, Mike Babcock and Bill Bellichek.

Is there still room on tge bench for Phil Jackson?

[kukkudo]

This place is gonna be really ugly if the Flames start the season off cold.

[Da_Chief]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Is there still room on tge bench for Phil Jackson?

No, Phil is too old and deploys triangular offence, we need someone with pectangular offence pedigree.

[Moneyhands23]

Originally Posted by kukkudo

This place is gonna be really ugly if the Flames start the season off cold.

Even a .500 start through the 1st 10 will make CP toxic

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by kukkudo

I don't know why this coaching staff reminds me when the flames brought in Brent Sutter, Dave Lowry, Craig Hartsburg. Hopefully they have better success than the names mentioned above.

Not me. I was actually excited for that coaching staff when they were first announced. Pretty much the opposite of this group