[News] UPD: Geoff Ward officially named the franchise's 20th head coach (2 year deal)

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Players not liking him had a big impact on their unwillingness to play hard for him.

Absolutely. Yet the guy didn’t have a hard time getting two NHL head coaching jobs. And some people say he was very much in demand when the Flames hired him.

Do you believe the GM that hired him last now sees the world entirely differently because I’m not so sure. Maybe the players slowly weed guys like this out because such coaches don’t have long term success anymore. But that’s not what happened with Peters. Maybe it would have eventually but we don’t know.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

You know what? I agree with Cassie Campbell’s take on this that she shared tonight.

She put the blame on Rittich for not being ready and even said he wasn’t practicing hard enough.

Yeah, Ward should have taken a time out - but Rittich has to do a better job of coming off the bench as well. He was terrible.

It was painfully obvious Rittich wasn’t ready and I’m confident the organization has taken a dim view of that. It is a shame Ward didn’t have the foresight to realize the guy who wasn’t practicing hard wasn’t worthy of his trust at that pivotal moment.

I’m very intrigued to see if Rittich is back.

[dino7c]

Backup goalie is in the Finals...there is really no excuse for Rittich to be that bad

the Zamboni driver played better, not even a joke

[Crown Royal]

I'm not defending Rittich's play, but once that goaltending change was made, it completely deflated the Flames sails. Up until that point, even though they had scored 3 goals, the play was actually still fairly even.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Absolutely. Yet the guy didn’t have a hard time getting two NHL head coaching jobs. And some people say he was very much in demand when the Flames hired him.

Do you believe the GM that hired him last now sees the world entirely differently because I’m not so sure. Maybe the players slowly weed guys like this out because such coaches don’t have long term success anymore. But that’s not what happened with Peters. Maybe it would have eventually but we don’t know.

If the season had gone for peters exactly how it went for Ward including the post season I'd bet you Peters would've been fired and Ward would've gotten the job this summer anyway.

If Treliving is any kind of manager at all, his world view better be freakin' changed after that embarrassing spectacle around Peters. He'd better freakin' be checking with former players of coaches he's considering hiring going forward if he wants to avoid hiring another extremely problematic coaching hire.

That's the culture changing. Tre is part of the old culture of hockey and if he wants to remain relevant he's going to need to hop on board the new culture.

Maybe you don't remember but Peters was already on the hotseat last season before the racism and physical abuse allegations. Treliving had already come out to defend Peters to quash any 'fire peters' rumours or speculation that was already emerging.

The players hating bill peters would've ended his job at some point and if management had acted to respond to that earlier, they may have avoided a lot of embarrassment.

That should be a lesson for Flames management.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

You know what? I agree with Cassie Campbell’s take on this that she shared tonight.

She put the blame on Rittich for not being ready and even said he wasn’t practicing hard enough.

And Ward didn't know this but Cassie did?

Just more Ward being Ward.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

And Ward didn't know this but Cassie did?

Just more Ward being Ward.

He was only putting Rittich in for a shift or two. That should have been OK.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

And Ward didn't know this but Cassie did?

Just more Ward being Ward.

Ward panicked in the moment, and he should have taken his timeout - but at the same point, Talbot was clearly shook - maybe a timeout wouldn't have helped.

I'm not hanging anything on Ward outside of the goalie swap/miscommunication with Talbot as he exited the ice in a heated moment. It's a mistake, but Talbot fell apart on the ice and Rittich was hot garbage. We weren't going to win anything with that quality of goaltending.

A definite mistake by Ward, but it's a non-factor if we had competent goaltending in that game - which is why we're hearing we're in on Kuemper and Murray, because we need a significant upgrade on at minimum Talbot, but possibly both if the team is soured on Rittich.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

He was only putting Rittich in for a shift or two. That should have been OK.

he was? why would Rittich being scored on change this?

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

Ward panicked in the moment, and he should have taken his timeout - but at the same point, Talbot was clearly shook - maybe a timeout wouldn't have helped.

I'm not hanging anything on Ward outside of the goalie swap/miscommunication with Talbot as he exited the ice in a heated moment. It's a mistake, but Talbot fell apart on the ice and Rittich was hot garbage. We weren't going to win anything with that quality of goaltending.

A definite mistake by Ward, but it's a non-factor if we had competent goaltending in that game - which is why we're hearing we're in on Kuemper and Murray, because we need a significant upgrade on at minimum Talbot, but possibly both if the team is soured on Rittich.

How does a coach not see that a goalie isn't practicing hard enough and puts him into a tied elimination game?

this is peewee stuff

[Calgary4LIfe]

Ward is signed, and I am trying to look at the positives - and there are positives. It wasn't the choice that I wanted, but it is also far from the worst choice as well. I am willing to see how this team plays whenever the new season starts.


However, with the Game 6 fiasco, there is no defending Ward on it.


Why? Flames had Khudobin shaken-up early that game too. Dallas took a time out and it worked.


Why didn't Ward do the same thing? Take the time-out, rally your troops and get them re-oriented.


Fine, he thought pulling Talbot was better - but it was only going to be for a shift or two? I don't know about you guys, but you often see the pulled goalie walking down the tunnel after getting pulled and taking stuff off and trying to bust his stick, etc. Happens all the time. Maybe Ward should have stopped Talbot - or even had one of his assistants stop Talbot, and inform him that this was a temporary pull. So either way - whether it was a 'full pull the goaltender moment', or just 'for a few shifts', there is no defending that decision in my opinion.


Now, as far as the Cassie Campbell comment - this is also on Ward. Rittich isn't practicing hard enough? Find a way to MAKE him practice hard enough. If Ward notices that Rittich isn't, then why put him in? Why not take the time-out instead, as having Rittich not practicing hard enough means Rittich is going to be even more rusty, and Ward should have taken that into consideration.


The whole thing was a blunder. Ward basically saw the other coach, the other team and the other goalie in the exact same situation, saw what they did and how it worked, and then decided to do something else. It is indefensible in my opinion.


I anticipate that Ward learned from this and it was one of the 'growing pains' for him as a first time head coach in the NHL. I bet he doesn't repeat that mistake given the same situation. However, I think that is exactly that - a mistake. You just learn from it and move forward.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

he was? why would Rittich being scored on change this?

Because Talbot disappeared for 10 minutes.

[Flash Walken]

Blaming a goalie who hadn't seen so much as an exhibition period in 3 months to hop back in to a TIE ELIMINATION GAME where the team in front of him was completely deflated from a massive momentum swing is weak, weak, sauce.

I don't care if Rittich came to the restart 40lbs overweight, there's no level of preparation possible to come into that situation and perform even a little bit.

Considering Cassie's husband happens to be an AGM (weird) of the team, that practice info tidbit is probably a pretty strong reflection on how the organization feels and tells me when the Flames move 19th overall for Kuemper they are going to be finding a new home for Big Save Dave before next season. Probably in the transaction that lands Kuemper or Murray in Calgary.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Blaming a goalie who hadn't seen so much as an exhibition period in 3 months to hop back in to a TIE ELIMINATION GAME where the team in front of him was completely deflated from a massive momentum swing is weak, weak, sauce.

I don't care if Rittich came to the restart 40lbs overweight, there's no level of preparation possible to come into that situation and perform even a little bit.

Considering Cassie's husband happens to be an AGM (weird) of the team, that practice info tidbit is probably a pretty strong reflection on how the organization feels and tells me when the Flames move 19th overall for Kuemper they are going to be finding a new home for Big Save Dave before next season. Probably in the transaction that lands Kuemper or Murray in Calgary.

So outside of injury, you never us a backup I guess.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Blaming a goalie who hadn't seen so much as an exhibition period in 3 months to hop back in to a TIE ELIMINATION GAME where the team in front of him was completely deflated from a massive momentum swing is weak, weak, sauce.

I don't care if Rittich came to the restart 40lbs overweight, there's no level of preparation possible to come into that situation and perform even a little bit.

Considering Cassie's husband happens to be an AGM (weird) of the team, that practice info tidbit is probably a pretty strong reflection on how the organization feels and tells me when the Flames move 19th overall for Kuemper they are going to be finding a new home for Big Save Dave before next season. Probably in the transaction that lands Kuemper or Murray in Calgary.

Its obviously not all on him but his job is to be ready...and not to play like he had never played the sport before. Most teams use 2 goalies in the playoffs

[zamler]

Was there anything more predictable? The answer is the most solid no in the history of no.

[Britflamesfan]

Sadly after 21 years following this team, I think that’s it for me.

I don’t get how some of you are happy to support yet another mediocre coach being put in place. The only times this team has performed in the playoffs has been when they had decent coaches in place. D Sutter and Hartley. It’s such a key position that it is quite frankly more important than any of the current crop of Calgary players. It’s where I put my money first, regardless of if you are rebuilding or a contender that position is the driving force of the whole team.

Year after year Calgary has put poor coaches in position and people wonder why they have such a god awful history. A really good coach will get even a poor team playing to best potential and if nothing else out working the opposition and can make a real difference. A poor coach, well I don’t need to say anything as we have seen them in action far to often.

This GM with his process has quite often failed to even look at some of the better coaches that have been available. This past season he has done it again, there have been some very good coaches available but he has not gone there. As he has stuck with his coach then he must be going to make some big moves this off season, if not then he needs to go because this team is nowhere close to getting it done. To soft and not enough players prepared to do what is needed. I would take that 2004 team over this one every day. They fought, punched, hit, wound up and did just about anything they could to win and they damn well nearly pulled it off. Compare them to this current bunch who wilt at even the thought of it getting rough.

Anyhow yet another opportunity wasted. Might be fun to watch Seattle for a while until this team decides it wants to win the cup again and starts to rebuild from the top down.

[AC]

^Who did you want to coach instead?

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by AC

^Who did you want to coach instead?

anyone who acts like the Flames hired some guy off the street should name their guy...Most people are naming a winning coach that have never won

[Manhattanboy]

Flames: Mediocre organization rewards their fans with more mediocrity.