Geoff Ward - Worst head coach ever

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Ward to me is a slightly better Gulutzan. He's a bit more adaptable, which is why he's a slightly better head coach, but I see many of the same problems in Ward's system as we saw in Gulutzan's. Most especially with the breakout. It's the same plodding exit that involves many passes to the middle and turnovers inside the blue line.

Or, tl;dr: good assistant coach, mediocre head coach. He's definitely stepped up following the Bill Peters mess, but honestly, we need a better coach next year.

There's a reason why Hartley forbade any pass other than a forward pass in the d-zone.

[Kidder]

The timeout after tying it 3-3 is nonsensical. If anything it should be the other team calling one if they feel they’re now reeling and want to survive until overtime.

A timeout after falling down 4-3 soon after on a flukey goal? Absolutely.

As a coach you’d leave it to the response of your players. If your captain or a leader jumped up and spurred on the team, “c’mon boys! We’re getting this back”. You open the gate and let them go. If the team looks deflated and shell shocked. Call the time out. Settle the troops and rile them back up, maybe draw up a quick strategy.

Based on their push back the Flames were feeling the latter, and Ward did nothing.

Time moves incredibly quickly in game. And a timeout is one of the most useful tools you have to refocus and resettle everyone into a similar mindset. Just incredibly strange Ward doesn’t deploy them late, when there’s a very strong likelihood you won’t need a coaches challenge remaining.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by badger89

The problem is the Flames won 7 in a row during Ward's honeymoon phase. They've been a pedestrian 17-14-3 since.

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I posted this before, but there’s no stats supporting some sort of coaching bump - it’s a myth that Peter Maher promoted (he was quickly disproven when he first made that statement that I heard, after Al MacNeil went 4-5-2 right away). The team won seven in a row under Ward, true fact. But there’s no reason to delegitimize those wins (any more than, say, to disregard the little slump that happened right after those wins).

[cannon7]

Ward isn't worse than Greg Gilbert.

[1_Flames_Fan]

I don't think he's the worst head coach ever but the old adage you get what you pay for certainly applies in this situation.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I posted this before, but there’s no stats supporting some sort of coaching bump - it’s a myth that Peter Maher promoted (he was quickly disproven when he first made that statement that I heard, after Al MacNeil went 4-5-2 right away). The team won seven in a row under Ward, true fact. But there’s no reason to delegitimize those wins (any more than, say, to disregard the little slump that happened right after those wins).

Ok, so what more likely represents this team under Ward then? The 7-0-0 start, or the 17-14-3 remainder?

Because the team's play under Ward certainly argues this is more likely barely .500 club than the 100 point team the overall record might suggest.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Ok, so what more likely represents this team under Ward then? The 7-0-0 start, or the 17-14-3 remainder?

Because the team's play under Ward certainly argues this is more likely barely .500 club than the 100 point team the overall record might suggest.

I suppose if you wanted to be fair, you could take out the first streak and the first slump right afterwards.

But as for the present team, I’d say their last 10, which is also 50-50 home and away. He’s 6-3-1.