[News] Dave Lowry hired as assistant coach. Brad Larsen not returning due to family reasons

[Toonage]

Originally Posted by EVERLAST

Old boys club hire or NOT THATS
Conroy
GELINAS
Pi
Iginla
Stajan
Stone

The one hire that really stands out to me as puzzling is Stajan. I'll get crapped on for it, as he's pretty popular, but even he isn't 100% sure what his job is. Ever heard him describe it?

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Toonage

The one hire that really stands out to me as puzzling is Stajan. I'll get crapped on for it, as he's pretty popular, but even he isn't 100% sure what his job is. Ever heard him describe it?

He works on faceoff drills. He is an excellent face off teacher.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Toonage

The one hire that really stands out to me as puzzling is Stajan. I'll get crapped on for it, as he's pretty popular, but even he isn't 100% sure what his job is. Ever heard him describe it?

Stajan was on Flames Talk on Aug 13th so perhaps give it a listen.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Toonage

The one hire that really stands out to me as puzzling is Stajan. I'll get crapped on for it, as he's pretty popular, but even he isn't 100% sure what his job is. Ever heard him describe it?

[Toonage]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

Stajan was on Flames Talk on Aug 13th so perhaps give it a listen.

I did. Left with the same impression.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

I never said it was a bad hire, just that it seems like Conroy likes to hire those friends he made in the game.

As do most NHL GMs, really.

[Sylvanfan]

I know our roster has a lot of bottom 6 types in place already..but I wouldn't hate if Adam ended up as a Flame. Although even he's already pretty old to the point where it would make even less sense to bring him into the fold for a team that's building. Maybe in a few years to help be a policeman for some smaller young guys breaking into the league.

[Reggie Dunlop]

Solid add.

Loved the Pieman when he played for the Flames.

He has a round face, like a Pie. That's why his nickname was "Pie." He got called that when he was a rookie with the Canucks.

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by Buff

As do most NHL GMs, really.

And most humans in general if they can.

[bettercallbettman]

Recycled and mid. Weird hire.
Old boys club at it's finest.

[browna]

Originally Posted by bettercallbettman

Recycled and mid. Weird hire.
Old boys club at it's finest.

So a downgrade in your opinion from Larsen? Come on. Guys need to trust others around them. This isn’t like the Oilers where they bring in a guy like Coffey who never coached before and told him to coach.

Lowry had probably his career highlight here. Former captain, rose through coaching ranks.

Very close to a primary assist in the Stanley Cup winning goal in game 6 Or, and this after a brutal injury in January 2004.

And the greatest puck flip in Flames history in the Anaheim brawl game, to stop the play with 9 seconds left so Bérubé could get out of the box to lay down the law.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Old boys club this isn't.


Old boys club - at least to me - implies you are hiring a friend while passing up on someone better. Who is better than Lowry? As a player, and as a coach, Lowry has a tonne of experience.


The Oilers are not a comp. The Oilers hire former players out of nowhere and put them into high places, and have them making decisions. Heck, it even worked the last time with Coffey as I think he really did a great job with that atrocious defence (much to my surprise). That's what I would call a one-off - so I hope they keep doing exactly that.


Flames do it differently. Conroy spent an entire decade learning every job in the organization. When he took over, he was as experienced as you can ever hope for without ever having done the job before. Gelinas was heralded as a really good development coach in Nashville when Calgary brought him in. Then they made him an assistant coach, and seemed to do wel. He is back in player development, with a tonne of experience. If Ray Edwards one day decides to retire, Gelinas could be his successor.



Heck, I love the Brett Sutter hire for the Wranglers. Who knows what could be in 10 years? What we do know is that he was a high-character guy and a great captain, and maybe he ends up being just as good (or even better!) than his old man one day. Wouldn't that be something?


Lowry comes with an extensive resume in coaching already. There is nothing to defend here with this hiring - this was a good hire. I echo the poster above somewhere that said that he wished they would have done something like this sooner with the previous generation that won the cup. There are notable names on there. In hindsight, it couldn't have resulted in less success, right? I still would love it if the Flames brought Hunter in as an assistant. Maybe they should have held onto Roberts and brought him into the fold?



Either way, no point in looking back at missed opportunities. What we can do is look forward. Hire the thinkers of the game, bring them in and provide them with training and the experience necessary to one day help this team win a cup down the road. Heck, maybe it is Backlund one day as a GM or a coach lifting up the cup here in Calgary.

[Reggie Dunlop]

It's different when the Flames do it.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

Old boys club this isn't.


Old boys club - at least to me - implies you are hiring a friend while passing up on someone better. Who is better than Lowry? As a player, and as a coach, Lowry has a tonne of experience.

It's basically impossible for most fans to properly evaluate who would be better qualified or who they should have hired. Or whether a better trade should have been made.

It does seem like we are building quite a stable of former Flames. FIOr a while we were employing all the Sutter family.

It's all about the results.

[Bingo]

I'm more at ease with former players that have cut their teeth around the league.

Coffey in Edmonton was odd ... "hey want to coach our D?" out of nowhere.

Lowry has been a head coach in three CHL cities, and an assistant coach in 4 NHL cities so it's not like he's just being handed a job.

[Knut]

https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/...y.php?pid=3217

Look at the coaching resume. If his name was John Smith we would think it was a great hire

[CroFlames]

Can we get Dave's boy too?

[SuperMatt18]

It didn't feel like it had been that long since he was in the Flames organization... but that's 13 seasons ago.

It's also kind of funny...that very dominant Hitmen team in 08-09 where Lowry was head coach and had a 59-9-3 record, and a 12-0 playoff record but ended up being upset and lost in the finals to Kelowna...who were coached by Ryan Huska.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Can we get Dave's boy too?

Pass. We already have a logjam at forward.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

It didn't feel like it had been that long since he was in the Flames organization... but that's 13 seasons ago.

It's also kind of funny...that very dominant Hitmen team in 08-09 where Lowry was head coach and had a 59-9-3 record, and a 12-0 playoff record but ended up being upset and lost in the finals to Kelowna...who were coached by Ryan Huska.

Backlund was on that Rockets team too.