Calgary Flames Coach Ranking #9 Run Off!

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by _Q_

Brent had some of the best rosters of the last two decades and did absolutely nothing with them.

Peters had a fairly average roster last year and got an incredible regular season out of them. If it wasn't for his off ice antics from years ago, he would still be coaching this team.

You need to take a good look at those rosters. They were nowhere near as good as the 2006-2009 rosters and Iggy and Kipper were also on backside of their careers.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

That's just not true. Stajan was never the #1 centre until Hartley came around. Brendan Morrison and Olli Jokinen were the two 1Cs during the Brent years. And I don't remember Lundmark ever being close to the top six after Keenan.

Brent had Iginla, Tanguay, Jokinen, Cammalleri, Glencross, Hagman, and Stempniak and yet his teams couldn't score. It was agonizing.

Kings have Kopitar, Brown, Doughty, Carter and can't score but that's what happens when your best players are all on the backside of their careers. What were Iginla, Jokinen, Cammarreri, Glencross, Hagman, Stempniak's stats post Flames? They were out of the league or winding down their careers as depth players. Those were all post apex players with Iginla being the only one that was a bona fide top line forward and I still say any team that relied on players like Glencross, Bourque, and Jokinen in their top 6 to score goals is not a playoff team.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

ABP-Anybody but Peters.

For me, what coaching really comes down to is imbuing your character into your players and creating a team. It turns out that Peters had very poor character and ended up being incredibly disruptive to creating that team dynamic. I don't think it's a coincidence that they collapsed at the first sign of vulnerability.

Coupling the poor playoff performance with a languid beginning to the next season, and then the racism fiasco added on top? For me, it wipes out any regular season success he may have had over a short period of time.

Yep. Peters gets my vote for worst coach in franchise history.

[mrdonkey]

Originally Posted by savardandjokinen

Stajan wasn’t a Flame in 2009

He came over in the Phaneuf deal in December 2009, making him a part of the 2009/10 roster.

Perhaps I misspoke when I said "most" of the 2009 season, but certainly he got the most consistent look there of any center we had that year. I can't remember Langkow's last few years outside of being a fixture on the Bourque/Langkow/Bertuzzi line, but I think he was still firmly the 2C that season. My recollection is that the #1 center and #1 LW spots leading up to the Phaneuf trade was a rotating cast of scrubs with Jokinen getting some games there by default, before being dealt to the Rags shortly after Stajan came in. After which point the #1 line became Hagman/Stajan/Iginla.

[Vinny01]

I had the opposite reaction to when both guys were hired.

When the Flames hired Brent I thought they stole him from NJ and he was the missing piece since Darryl was coach. When the Flames hired Peters I was disappointed they went after a guys with little success over the more accomplished Vingnault or D.Sutter

Their first years were opposites in terms of the Flames going on an epic losing streak and ultimately missing the playoffs for the first time in 5 years. Peters got the team their first division banner in 13 years.

Brent coached an aging group and took a team with PTO Brendan Morrison as 1C to 94pts. Peters seemed to have completely lost the room in year 2 and had them so unprepared for the playoffs they got blitzed by the Avs who were 19pts below them in the standings.

I voted Brent

[Red_Baron]

At this point, we should really just have a vote for the worst coach and then keep counting down to get to #9.

If this was a vote for worst coach of all time, Brent would be in serious consideration for me.

[DeluxeMoustache]

I didn’t like the Peters hire. He did nothing in Carolina, except perhaps prove some kind of lesson with Eric Staal. I think the Flames were better under Peters until coaching was required, then got worse. And worse. Then he left in a racism scandal

Brent was supposed to take a perennial playoff team to the next level. A team featuring Iggy who averaged 94 points the last 3 seasons, tried to make them a D first team, missed the playoffs 3 years in a row, and Iggy’s first year his offence dropped so far he didn’t even get 70 points. Horrible boring hockey, and the most exciting thing that happened by far was when he beat the hell out of a garbage can

I will abstain from this one. None of the above

Playfair and Geoff Ward are ahead of these guys

[Fire]

Peters was the obvious choice a couple of rounds ago, but he said some bad stuff 10 years ago, so I guess that makes him a bad coach.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by Fire

Peters was the obvious choice a couple of rounds ago, but he said some bad stuff 10 years ago, so I guess that makes him a bad coach.

Depends how you look at last year. Team played great until the stretch and playoffs, which is where coaching should help. Then was no good this year.

Somebody earlier thanked Aliu for saving the season

[Itse]

Ugh, Brent Suttter, bleh, yuck, excuse me while I throw up.

Christ, that name always brings back bad memories. Terrible coach who translated pretty good rosters into unwatchable hockey and no success.

I would not vote for him if it was between him and Gulutzan. Nor Gulutzan. They belong on a wall of shame. Gods. Excuse me while I drink more to forget that era.

[Hanna Sniper]

Originally Posted by Fire

Peters was the obvious choice a couple of rounds ago, but he said some bad stuff 10 years ago, so I guess that makes him a bad coach.

I found his actions afterwards were a lot more telling, he seemed more interested in maxing his $$$ IMO. What he said in the present was telling enough

Nothing exposes ones character like a fire

[Sylvanfan]

The 91-92 Flames missed the playoffs in a league where 16 of 22 teams make it. Go look at that roster then try to justify why Doug Risebrough isn't the slam dunk winner.

[Party Elephant]

Originally Posted by mrdonkey

He came over in the Phaneuf deal in December 2009, making him a part of the 2009/10 roster.

Perhaps I misspoke when I said "most" of the 2009 season, but certainly he got the most consistent look there of any center we had that year. I can't remember Langkow's last few years outside of being a fixture on the Bourque/Langkow/Bertuzzi line, but I think he was still firmly the 2C that season. My recollection is that the #1 center and #1 LW spots leading up to the Phaneuf trade was a rotating cast of scrubs with Jokinen getting some games there by default, before being dealt to the Rags shortly after Stajan came in. After which point the #1 line became Hagman/Stajan/Iginla.

I'm going to do an "um actually" here, please dont hate me.

Um actually, the trade was on january 31st 2010, with just 25 games remaining in the season due to the Olympic break. You're right that Stajan saw a lot of minutes for that year's futile playoff push, but the flames were out of it by game 70-75.

[mrdonkey]

Originally Posted by Party Elephant

I'm going to do an "um actually" here, please dont hate me.

Um actually, the trade was on january 31st 2010, with just 25 games remaining in the season due to the Olympic break. You're right that Stajan saw a lot of minutes for that year's futile playoff push, but the flames were out of it by game 70-75.

My bad on the date, for some reason I thought the trades all occurred in mid-late December. But that said, it doesn't take away from the original point that the forward lines Brent was given were awful.

He was still a horrible coach, don't get me wrong. But it's not like he was given a lot to work with, either.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by mrdonkey

My bad on the date, for some reason I thought the trades all occurred in mid-late December. But that said, it doesn't take away from the original point that the forward lines Brent was given were awful.

He was still a horrible coach, don't get me wrong. But it's not like he was given a lot to work with, either.

HOF winger snipped so his 3 year running 94 point average landed on, well, 69 (nice... but not really)

“To be an upper ethylen (?) team, it’s gotta be thrived on hard work”

I pity that garbage can.

Jeez. Brent was awful.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

HOF winger snipped so his 3 year running 94 point average landed on, well, 69 (nice... but not really)

“To be an upper ethylen (?) team, it’s gotta be thrived on hard work”

I pity that garbage can.

Jeez. Brent was awful.

Well what does that say about Darryl? In his last season as Flames head coach Jarome totalled 67 points (in Iginla's prime) and in all the seasons Darryl coached 73 points was his highest output as his stats were remarkably similar under the brothers. The reality is that Iginla struggled offensively when asked to play a Sutter style team game. Those rosters were nowhere as good as some Flames fans seem to remember they were as Brent should be ranked higher than he is on this list.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Well what does that say about Darryl? In his last season as Flames head coach Jarome totalled 67 points (in Iginla's prime) and in all the seasons Darryl coached 73 points was his highest output as his stats were remarkably similar under the brothers. The reality is that Iginla struggled offensively when asked to play a Sutter style team game. Those rosters were nowhere as good as some Flames fans seem to remember they were as Brent should be ranked higher than he is on this list.

These are two very different coaches

With Darryl, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. He could get the team on the same page, playing for each other. Implement a defensive system that is suffocating and getting the goals when you need them, and winning. He even has a couple of cup rings to show. What he also had when it mattered was speed, and wave after wave of forechecking. He installed an appropriate system for his roster in its place and time

Darryl got the team to compete, with a way worse roster than Brent had

If Brent had any other last name, he wouldn’t have even had a sniff at the job, and he should not be ranked higher. If anything he is ranked too high. Turned a perennial playoff team in to just a perineal team. On the outside. Not a place they want to be.

He killed Iggy’s offense, just with no corresponding team success. It was plodding, excruciating hockey that the players hated and they didn’t score enough to allow them to make any defensive mistakes.

We all hated watching it. He was terrible

Bob Hartley had to come in and at least get the value back up on assets, with Bouwmeester being a prime example. Bouw was not a Sutter style D. Banging an clearing the crease. He wasn’t even tough in front of the net in any way. He is a puck mover not a grinder

I can’t even fathom under what circumstances someone could look at the crushing disappointment Brent presided over for three years and think he was any good. His time was a colossal flop

[Erick Estrada]

You are being totally irrational. In five full seasons as NHL head coach he's never had a team put up less than 90 points breaking 40 wins in 4/5 seasons. The guy is a very good coach and the reality is that the Flames were a mediocre team with a fractured core. LOL at the Hartley comparison the Flames were considerably worse under Hartley with that group and that's with them going out in free agency and paying Wideman big money.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Not irrational at all

What did he do in NJ? That team had an identity and style that Lou had his fingers all over, and was ingrained in the culture. Brent was status quo there, was not called on to change anything, and had no playoff success. Expectations were high, and that was a perennial playoff team that was no better under him. No easily identifiable impact

Brent *was* asked to change something in Calgary. Take a team that could outscore its opponents, and add some of that structure that it was perceived was missing under Keenan.
Expectations were high and he failed miserably. He was brought in to make a difference in the playoffs. But failed to even get them there

He is probably fine as a junior coach. Because of the disparity in skill levels in players.

But as a NHL coach, being able to get team results?

Nope.