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

[zamler]

And when Ward bombs out we'll get a new coach and the exact same things will be said. I'm sick of flaming out in the playoffs.

[AC]

Who were you hoping we'd hire?

[zamler]

I'd take Boudreau over Ward, not my first choice but other availables either didn't want to come here or were never asked.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by zamler

I'd take Boudreau over Ward, not my first choice but other availables either didn't want to come here or were never asked.

Who was your first choice? And how do you know he or she wasn’t asked?

[zamler]

We know Tre hired the coach I shall not name and did not consider anyone else. On my first choice I have a feeling Laviolette would be a really good fit here.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by zamler

We know Tre hired the coach I shall not name and did not consider anyone else. On my first choice I have a feeling Laviolette would be a really good fit here.

No way. He punches Bennett in the head, but Bennett punches back. End scene.

Geoff Ward will be fine. He shall learn from the worst goalie pull in NHL pandemic era history and fluorish.

OnWard and UpWard

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by zamler

We know Tre hired the coach I shall not name and did not consider anyone else. On my first choice I have a feeling Laviolette would be a really good fit here.

No way. He punches Bennett in the head, but Bennett punches back. End scene.

Geoff Ward will be fine. He shall learn from the worst goalie pull in NHL pandemic era history and fluorish.

Ward is the new head coach and the future of the Calgary Flames

OnWard and UpWard

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by zamler

And when Ward bombs out we'll get a new coach and the exact same things will be said. I'm sick of flaming out in the playoffs.

BB has choked in the playoffs about a billion times

[Crown Royal]

Originally Posted by zamler

I'd take Boudreau over Ward, not my first choice but other availables either didn't want to come here or were never asked.

What is so special about Boudreau? The guy has a sub .500 record in the playoffs at 43-47. 10 playoff appearances in his career. 6 first round exits. 3 second round exits. 1 third round exit. That is with teams that consisted of 8 division winners, 4 conference winners, 1 presidents trophy winner.

People like to complain about our lack of playoff success, but we are losing in round 1 with mediocre teams, not ones that are constantly underachieving in the playoffs like Boudreau's teams have.

His time in Anaheim was more successful than his time in Washington, despite the team not being as good, so maybe he has improved as a coach. But his time in Minnesota was a complete and utter disappointment, so it really makes me wonder.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by zamler

We know Tre hired the coach I shall not name and did not consider anyone else. On my first choice I have a feeling Laviolette would be a really good fit here.

There’s zero evidence Treliving didn’t consider anyone else. We know he didn’t interview anyone else. There’s a difference, as has been discussed numerous times in this thread.

As for Laviolette, he publicly said he wasn’t leaving the US.

[Royle9]

Let's take a step back here and be honest for a second.

Most of us figured Ward would be "the guy" shortly after the season ended. Now of course you can agree or disagree with the fact that he may or may not be the best choice because that's fair and typical of a fan base to do.

But lets not for a second ignore the fact that promoting Ward to HC was likely the CHEAPEST option out there in terms of coaches available on the market. Familiarity aside, and all the other reasons some find him to be the best choice the fact remains that he was without a doubt the cheapest option available to the Flames and they continue to choose that "road" if you will. Not since D.Sutter have the flames paid a premium for a coach, its just what it is.

I'm not 100% sold on the choice myself, but what I do feel is this is the last straw for Tre as the GM of the Flames. He's had a plethora of coach decisions and continues to use his "process" and find "his guy" and like it or not we'll see how good this decision plays out next year.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Royle9

Let's take a step back here and be honest for a second.

Most of us figured Ward would be "the guy" shortly after the season ended. Now of course you can agree or disagree with the fact that he may or may not be the best choice because that's fair and typical of a fan base to do.

But lets not for a second ignore the fact that promoting Ward to HC was likely the CHEAPEST option out there in terms of coaches available on the market. Familiarity aside, and all the other reasons some find him to be the best choice the fact remains that he was without a doubt the cheapest option available to the Flames and they continue to choose that "road" if you will. Not since D.Sutter have the flames paid a premium for a coach, its just what it is.

I'm not 100% sold on the choice myself, but what I do feel is this is the last straw for Tre as the GM of the Flames. He's had a plethora of coach decisions and continues to use his "process" and find "his guy" and like it or not we'll see how good this decision plays out next year.

B. Sutter was paid a premium. Peters was paid a fairly standard amount - more than, say, Travis Green or Rick Tocchet.

[Royle9]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

B. Sutter was paid a premium. Peters was paid a fairly standard amount - more than, say, Travis Green or Rick Tocchet.

Agreed, that's why I said "not since D.Sutter did the flames pay a premium". Maybe we got confused here haha
Peters was another safe hirer, we didn't go out and spend on a "A" tier coach for sure.

That's my point here, I don't forsee the flames spending $ on a coach as its never been in their vocabulary. Now take the revenue hit due to COVID and the flat cap for players etc... there was no way the Flames were even going to entertain paying for a Gallant/Bruce the almighty etc as it was never on the table.

Ward was their guy the whole time, and coincidentally the "cheapest" option in comparison to the BIG names out there outside of maybe Babcock who likely would take a huge discount with T.O fitting most of his bill but no way after the Peter's fiasco would CGY entertain that.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Royle9

Agreed, that's why I said "not since D.Sutter did the flames pay a premium". Maybe we got confused here haha
Peters was another safe hirer, we didn't go out and spend on a "A" tier coach for sure.

That's my point here, I don't forsee the flames spending $ on a coach as its never been in their vocabulary. Now take the revenue hit due to COVID and the flat cap for players etc... there was no way the Flames were even going to entertain paying for a Gallant/Bruce the almighty etc as it was never on the table.

Ward was their guy the whole time, and coincidentally the "cheapest" option in comparison to the BIG names out there outside of maybe Babcock who likely would take a huge discount with T.O fitting most of his bill but no way after the Peter's fiasco would CGY entertain that.

He’s saying Brent was paid a premium, not Darryl. Unless you’re referring to the GM making the decision?

I personally have no idea how much guys like Peters or Brent were paid relatively speaking. Pretty clear that GG, Ward and Hartley wouldn’t have been expensive hires. Nor Playfair or a past his prime Keenan.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

He’s saying Brent was paid a premium, not Darryl. Unless you’re referring to the GM making the decision?

I personally have no idea how much guys like Peters or Brent were paid relatively speaking. Pretty clear that GG, Ward and Hartley wouldn’t have been expensive hires. Nor Playfair or a past his prime Keenan.

According to CapFriendly (which I'm not sure of for coaches salaries) Peters got $2M, which is obviously not top tier but also not entry level.

I've no doubt Ward doesn't get a huge salary compared to others, but I'm also not convinced that salary was a big factor.

[ComixZone]

Peters was a $2M/year coach - which was probably a solid $1M more than Gully.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Royle9

Agreed, that's why I said "not since D.Sutter did the flames pay a premium". Maybe we got confused here haha
Peters was another safe hirer, we didn't go out and spend on a "A" tier coach for sure.

That's my point here, I don't forsee the flames spending $ on a coach as its never been in their vocabulary. Now take the revenue hit due to COVID and the flat cap for players etc... there was no way the Flames were even going to entertain paying for a Gallant/Bruce the almighty etc as it was never on the table.

Ward was their guy the whole time, and coincidentally the "cheapest" option in comparison to the BIG names out there outside of maybe Babcock who likely would take a huge discount with T.O fitting most of his bill but no way after the Peter's fiasco would CGY entertain that.

BRENT Sutter was paid a fair bit, and they were lucky not to have to pay compensation to the Devils (I'm pretty sure they figured there was a risk).

[Calgary4LIfe]

I may be misremembering here, but wasn't Hartley a 3 million/yr coach too?


I don't think that coaching salary has ever been an issue for the Flames. I don't think that's what made Ward more attractive over someone else. I do think that the Flames' owners are shrewd enough to figure out that paying for their management personnel top-dollar is worth it as they have all been businessmen with that experience.


I just think that the Flames suffer from not being as an attractive of a market + simply making poor decisions all on their own.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

I may be misremembering here, but wasn't Hartley a 3 million/yr coach too?


I don't think that coaching salary has ever been an issue for the Flames. I don't think that's what made Ward more attractive over someone else. I do think that the Flames' owners are shrewd enough to figure out that paying for their management personnel top-dollar is worth it as they have all been businessmen with that experience.


I just think that the Flames suffer from not being as an attractive of a market + simply making poor decisions all on their own.

For some reason CF has forgotten Hartley existed. I'm not confident in that site's coach salary reports though. They list Ward at $900K which is really doubtful.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Royle9

...I don't forsee the flames spending $ on a coach as its never been in their vocabulary. Now take the revenue hit due to COVID and the flat cap for players etc... there was no way the Flames were even going to entertain paying for a Gallant/Bruce the almighty etc as it was never on the table.

Ward was their guy the whole time, and coincidentally the "cheapest" option in comparison to the BIG names out there outside of maybe Babcock who likely would take a huge discount with T.O fitting most of his bill but no way after the Peter's fiasco would CGY entertain that.

I think it is more likely that the decision to promote Ward was based primarily on the belief that a fifth coach in six years was a bad idea. Especially considering the balance of Ward's short tenure as the team's interim HC, and his own ideas for how to continue to improve moving forward. In other words, the option for change was likely considered to be change for the sake of change, which is almost always a bad idea.

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