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

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Locke

Teachers are everywhere, Generals are much rarer.

Maybe? Who's to say?

The point stands that the Flames need both, and they early returns leave me cautiously optimistic that that is what they now have with the new coaching staff.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

This is akin to a number of patently ridiculous comments on this board about how "the system" quashed all creativity and skill, and how much better the players looked when they "abandoned the game plan." In other words, everything that went right was a result of players independent of the coaches, and everything that went wrong was a product of coaching.

Such assessments are overwhelmingly biased at the outset, stemming from a dislike of the coach. Moreover, the captain would seem to agree entirely with Bingo's take:

Right. I disagree that the game plan sucked. They won more than they lost with the game plan. The problem was that instead of sticking with what was working, only with more intensity and drive, they'd implode.

Motivation and keeping the guys focused on the right things is a coaching (and team leadership function) so this isn't a non-criticism of GG.

[united]

Originally Posted by Nelson

-reads The Athletic, the article about NJ and defensive zone faceoffs

Thanks for the summary. After reading this part specifically I had to go listen to the entire interview.

That part stuck out as The Athletic, for those who don't read it, identified a cool tactic the Devils started employing where after a defensive zone faceoff loss, the duties of the winger in the slot changed depending on the opponent's defensive personnel:
- If the defenceman in the middle of the ice is on his proper side (e.g., right-shooting right defenceman), the slot winger stays sagged in the zone as opposed to the norm of rushing to his pointman.
- If the defenceman in the middle of the ice is on his off-side (e.g., left-shooting right defenceman), the winger rushed the point while being sure to do so at an angle to block the shooting lane.

This, to me, is innovative and effective because off a faceoff win when the middle defenceman is on his proper side, there is no option of a one-timer and no defenceman is going to waste a weak snapshot on net as there will not have been enough time for forwards to crash the net and create traffic. In other words, there is no threat of that defenceman doing anything productive so why rush the point? Instead let him pass off or dump the puck around the boards while the winger covers adds an additional body in the most dangerous area of the ice, which is especially important if the puck ends up in the corner or behind the net right off the draw. If the defenceman is on his off-side, begin rushing the point because a one-timer is a high probability and dangerous option (peel back to the slot if the puck ends up down low).


Two other pieces I heard during the interview which I liked:
- Peters, when mentioning the article above, said that moments after he sent the article to the assistant coaches via email, he received an email back from one of the assistants with the exact same article. Following that, they disseminated some video of the tactic in question for study. This shows me the coaching staff is not only actively seeking out innovative tactics and studying them, but also that they are willing to adapt and change and share that knowledge with each other.
- Another piece mentioned was studying the tactic of controlling the puck behind the opposition's net on the powerplay. It's an uncomfortable spot for not only the goalie with reduced vision, but also creates an awkward situation for the defencemen and forwards on the other team when they are down a man and trying not to be puck-focused - it opens up so much off-puck movement and gaps in coverage. This has started creeping into the league much more in recent times and I suspect it will become quite popular.

[Drunk Uncle]

Originally Posted by 868904

I don't think "abandon the game plan" was a bad thing, as the game plan sucked under GG, but I think what you are getting at was the mental toughness to deal with adversity, which the team had none.

I don't think that's on the players. The mental toughness and will to overcome adversity was there in 2015 with pretty much the same core and an arguably weaker team. What happened? Mental toughness and character don't just disappear, it's part of someones make up and DNA.

To me, the problem was a lack of leadership at the coach level. GG did not make adjustments or settle the team down when things started to go off the rail. He would just tell the players to "stick to the game plan". Everyone mocks the GG haters about the time out thing, but it is a common tool that successful coaches use to disrupt the oppositions momentum. Keenan use to change goalies all the time just for the sake of disrupting the oppositions momentum and giving his team a chance to refocus.

Every time the Flames had a big lead under GG, it never felt safe. You just knew the opposition would get one, and then they would get another, and you would just sit there at home watching on tv screaming at GG to do something to stem the tide, and he does nothing. Next thing you know, the game is tied or the Flames are losing.

Someone has to be a leader. This isn't about Giordano. Giordano can't call timeouts or make goalie changes or have long talks with the officials. This is about GG with his hands in his pockets staring down at the ipad while the world burns around him.

Not every player is going to agree with a teams system or team play. This would be true of every single team IMO. However, as a player if I decide I don't like the system and decide to play a different way on my own, I am selfishly putting my line mates/team mates in conflict with what the coach wants and I could be directly impacting the amount of ice time our line and team mates gets.

If you don't like the way the system works or your role as a player you talk to your coaches and try to address it that way and if that doesn't go your way you play whatever way the coach wants to even if it doesn't benefit you individually because that is what your job is. I think the best coaches are able to show each and every player why their role is important and work to put them in places they can succeed which leads to buy in of as many guys as possible. You can argue that GGs staff did not do that however, abandoning the system is only thinking of yourself and this is IMO opinion is not just bad but a big problem with the player.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by united

- Another piece mentioned was studying the tactic of controlling the puck behind the opposition's net on the powerplay. It's an uncomfortable spot for not only the goalie with reduced vision, but also creates an awkward situation for the defencemen and forwards on the other team when they are down a man and trying not to be puck-focused - it opens up so much off-puck movement and gaps in coverage. This has started creeping into the league much more in recent times and I suspect it will become quite popular.

Yeah that is interesting as I can imagine Gaudreau behind the net on the power play being one of the better players at executing from there. His passing abilities are top notch but also his speed at attempting wrap arounds when he thinks the goalie can’t cover in time is elite.

[Badgers Nose]

Originally Posted by dammage79

I mean why stop at Peters with the distain right? May as well just pile on the other guys too.

I don't get the Huska hate though. He's a bonafide D man whiperer. Just what the team needs. And if all Huska has to do is focus on the D-men, all the better.

I'm super happy with the disdain. For once I feel part of the community here. For every Gallant there are tons of bargain basement hires that have shat the bed.

This team is shooting for average. Nothing about what they are doing says building a contender. BT plugs one hole and open others.

I'm not too concerned about the assistants. They won't make or break the next two-three seasons the way Peters might.

They can't live up to the reasonable expectations of being a consistent playoff team and an emerging contender.

They are always an injury away from disaster.

I'm looking forward to the next rebuild. That was way more fun than the last two years.

#### on this post all you want, most of you know it's true.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by SebC

With sufficient sample size, inputs regress to the mean.

Single digits are never a sufficient sample size for that. And inputs do NOT regress to the mean if they are being selected for some specific criterion.

[Dan403]

Originally Posted by Badgers Nose

I'm super happy with the disdain. For once I feel part of the community here. For every Gallant there are tons of bargain basement hires that have shat the bed.

This team is shooting for average. Nothing about what they are doing says building a contender. BT plugs one hole and open others.

I'm not too concerned about the assistants. They won't make or break the next two-three seasons the way Peters might.

They can't live up to the reasonable expectations of being a consistent playoff team and an emerging contender.

They are always an injury away from disaster.

I'm looking forward to the next rebuild. That was way more fun than the last two years.

#### on this post all you want, most of you know it's true.

Man I love being able to block idiots.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by Badgers Nose

#### on this post all you want, most of you know it's true.

Your post #### on itself. One of the most mindlessly negative posters on here. Your takes are consistently terrible.

[the2bears]

Originally Posted by Badgers Nose

I'm super happy with the disdain. For once I feel part of the community here. For every Gallant there are tons of bargain basement hires that have shat the bed.

This team is shooting for average. Nothing about what they are doing says building a contender. BT plugs one hole and open others.

I'm not too concerned about the assistants. They won't make or break the next two-three seasons the way Peters might.

They can't live up to the reasonable expectations of being a consistent playoff team and an emerging contender.

They are always an injury away from disaster.

I'm looking forward to the next rebuild. That was way more fun than the last two years.

#### on this post all you want, most of you know it's true.

I suggest you try Dayquil.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Badgers Nose

#### on this post all you want, most of you know it's true.

Why is it that people who are negative feel that their opinions are somehow the voice of truth?

I have always found this fascinating (as well as annoying).

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Why is it that people who are negative feel that their opinions are somehow the voice of truth?

I have always found this fascinating (as well as annoying).

It would be hard to live with your own negativity otherwise.

[CF84]

Originally Posted by Badgers Nose

I'm super happy with the disdain. For once I feel part of the community here. For every Gallant there are tons of bargain basement hires that have shat the bed.

This team is shooting for average. Nothing about what they are doing says building a contender. BT plugs one hole and open others.

I'm not too concerned about the assistants. They won't make or break the next two-three seasons the way Peters might.

They can't live up to the reasonable expectations of being a consistent playoff team and an emerging contender.

They are always an injury away from disaster.

I'm looking forward to the next rebuild. That was way more fun than the last two years.

#### on this post all you want, most of you know it's true.

Spoken like a true Oilers fan.

[nightfx]

Taylor Hall's career year was in large part due to the powerplay, he surpassed his career high powerplay points by 16! (37 total)

[VilleN]

Originally Posted by SebC

Inputs: goaltender performance before he coached them

Outputs: goaltender performance with him coaching them

We have stronger data for outputs than inputs, so we can also just omit the inputs (assume them to be average) and look at outputs which weakens the analysis but is still better than no analysis at all.

I'm not about to do all this now. The point is that saying that we cannot do it is wrong.

That is not an informed analysis. It isn’t really worth anything IMO. Classic example of garbage in = garbage out. You can analyze anything, but if you’re data is that limited and speculative, the conclusions are worthless.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Nelson]

Originally Posted by nightfx

Taylor Hall's career year was in large part due to the powerplay, he surpassed his career high powerplay points by 16! (37 total)

There's an article on The Athletic about how Ward designs his power plays to fit his players' strengths (it specifically talks about what he did with Hall and Palmieri in New Jersey). It is such a cool article because he clearly already knows about Gaudreau, Monahan and Tkachuk's strengths. But the coolest part to me is his knowledge of Dougie Hamilton from their time together in Boston. I have a feeling there may be some career years this year on the Flames because of the PP.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by VilleN

That is not an informed analysis. It isn’t really worth anything IMO. Classic example of garbage in = garbage out. You can analyze anything, but if you’re data is that limited and speculative, the conclusions are worthless.

If I'm not mistaken SebC is the poster who "analyzed" Kiprusoff's numbers and decided he was a mediocre goalie for us.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

Yeah that is interesting as I can imagine Gaudreau behind the net on the power play being one of the better players at executing from there. His passing abilities are top notch but also his speed at attempting wrap arounds when he thinks the goalie can’t cover in time is elite.

You read my mind.

[Bingo]

Finally caught up on reading, and I'm actually starting to think they got it right. I liked Peters from the start, but they basically got another head coach as an associate with a particular skillset that they need (powerplay and adjustments).

I liked Gulutzan, I wonder if he's better suited for the associate role going forward, so I think Edmonton likely made a good hire there, but I'm glad that Calgary didn't end up missing the dance in bringing in assistants.

I was certainly underwhelmed like everyone when Cameron was the veteran choice.

[Nelson]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Finally caught up on reading, and I'm actually starting to think they got it right. I liked Peters from the start, but they basically got another head coach as an associate with a particular skillset that they need (powerplay and adjustments).

I liked Gulutzan, I wonder if he's better suited for the associate role going forward, so I think Edmonton likely made a good hire there, but I'm glad that Calgary didn't end up missing the dance in bringing in assistants.

I was certainly underwhelmed like everyone when Cameron was the veteran choice.

Yeah, I really like the Geoff Ward hire and Huska should be good too because of his talent for developing young defencemen. We have a lot of those.