Bill Peters - 17th Flames Coach

[conundrumed]

2 hours ago, Flyerfan52 said:

While in Phoenix it was Burke but I remember Helle talking before the Jets vs Wild series about him & Dubnyk being friends & using the same coach in BC during the summer.

Francilia sounds more like a conditioning & life coach than goalie technique guy though. Both might well use someone else to critique their positioning, etc.

I believe you're right, dry land training.

Dry land training is an industry, has been for a few decades.

It's an unbelievable tool, can't imagine any NHLer wouldn't be doing it.

Kessel and his smart-assed," I only skated 5 times in the summer".

Yeah, because the dry-land stuff alone kills you.

Spare me, lol.

It's pretty easy, "wanna be a 1mil per guy or a $5mil per guy"?

I can't imagine a player not doing it.

Kessel's joking. ...he's being Kessel.

Lyin' bastard. I love him for that stuff.lol

[Flyerfan52]

1 minute ago, conundrumed said:

I believe you're right, dry land training.

Dry land training is an industry, has been for a few decades.

It's an unbelievable tool, can't imagine any NHLer wouldn't be doing it.

Kessel and his smart-assed," I only skated 5 times in the summer".

Yeah, because the dry-land stuff alone kills you.

Spare me, lol.

It's pretty easy, "wanna be a 1mil per guy or a $5mil per guy"?

I can't imagine a player not doing it.

Kessel's joking. ...he's being Kessel.

Lyin' bastard. I love him for that stuff.lol

But it's so hard to skate on dry land. Hard on the blades too.

 

I notice the leaders that we see improve every year are guys shelling out the coin even though they already (for the most part) already have lucrative contracts. Again that drive to excel & hate of losing shows it's face.

Pre-draft I'd place a fair bit of value on the question "What's your summer plans?". The guy that answers "Drinking & chasing skirt" slips on my list while the guy with a detailed workout plan rises (even though the 1st guy sounds like more fun ).

 

Some players get by on natural talent but without a regimin they start to fall off pretty fast. They usually have a slow start as they are playing themselves into shape like the players of old (Phil Espisito was famous for that).

 

 

[conundrumed]

2 minutes ago, Flyerfan52 said:

But it's so hard to skate on dry land. Hard on the blades too.

 

I notice the leaders that we see improve every year are guys shelling out the coin even though they already (for the most part) already have lucrative contracts. Again that drive to excel & hate of losing shows it's face.

Pre-draft I'd place a fair bit of value on the question "What's your summer plans?". The guy that answers "Drinking & chasing skirt" slips on my list while the guy with a detailed workout plan rises (even though the 1st guy sounds like more fun ).

 

Some players get by on natural talent but without a regimin they start to fall off pretty fast. They usually have a slow start as they are playing themselves into shape like the players of old (Phil Espisito was famous for that).

 

 

The worry is losing a kid. You've worked so hard to get here, sometimes they're just done.

The dry land stuff, that is Blockchaining hard work.

That's why you say, I hope that guy has a good summer.

Kessel's lying, and I think it's awesome.

Yeah sure Phil, whatevs. Fun to watch.

There isn't an even potential player not on board.

Or they put a big red line through your name.

Which brings me back to Kessel. lol.

[Khrox]

10 hours ago, phoenix66 said:

I wondered about that name too...  2 things came to mind,  one was that In an interview with Conroy today he made a point of saying that BP was interviewing during the WC.. and even tho we live in the world of Skype, thats what made me think Sturm is still a possibility .. plus, Francis obviously knows, but wanted to say something too obvious , and he left out the NHL when he said Veteran coach . made me think the immediately obvious was the wrong answer..

 

not sure about employed ones. not too often a team lets a employee go for a lateral move .. unless they are employed as a scout , or a farm team coach 

Sturm is one of the names that had been thrown around as a possible assistant coach in Calgary between the firing of GG and hiring of BP. He has been coaching since retirement, and has actually turned the German national team around. The guy is known for hard work, and has openly stated that he wants to get into NHL coaching soon (and a guy like him probably knows that you don't get an NHL head coaching job without being an AHL head coach or NHL assistant coach first).

[cccsberg]

Apparently BP is back in Calgary finalizing staff decisions.  He also mentioned he'd be travelling over the summer to visit guys like Gaudreau and Monahan.  Not sure I've seen that previously, except for the recent TML fiasco, but it bodes well for trying to accelerate the introduction of our new coach and helps him with ideas about certain line-up decisions which will be pretty much immediate with the team departing for China the 2nd or 3rd day of early training camp come September.

[cross16]

Buzz since yesterday is that Geoff Ward is leaving the Devils for an assistant job in Calgary. No one has confirmed Huska but his name is still strongly in rumors as well. 

 

If this plays out this way I think they are both excellent hires. Interesting part of this is Ward came up as a candidate when the Flames hired Gulutzan which is potentially why he would consider a position here (given I believe he is under contract to NJ)

 

 

[phoenix66]

OK .. so who Blew the place up ??

 

so while we were gone, depending on who you believe .. This Guy  will be our new Powerplay Coach..

 

John Shannon on The Fan this morning seemed pretty hesitant to go with it, but guys like Friedman seem to think its a done deal 

gotta admit this name wasn't on my radar .. but he does fit the bill for running power plays.. Top 10 with New Jersey last year..

[JTech780]

I think Ward would be a very positive hire. Seems like a smart guy. I watched a few videos of NJ's PP, looks like it was a similar setup to ours, but he would have guys on the half boards playing on their off wing from time to time for the one timer. It also looks like the guys in the off boards will go down lower to the goal line as well.

 

Edit: I think we were all sitting on this news just waiting to post it here lol. 

[phoenix66]

7 minutes ago, JTech780 said:

I think Ward would be a very positive hire. Seems like a smart guy. I watched a few videos of NJ's PP, looks like it was a similar setup to ours, but he would have guys on the half boards playing on their off wing from time to time for the one timer. It also looks like the guys in the off boards will go down lower to the goal line as well.

 

Edit: I think we were all sitting on this news just waiting to post it here lol. 

What's funny is NJ fans posting they are happy to see him go.. based on low CF.. that just tells me they create good chances and bury them .  

best thing i took from the article by Ryan Pike, was they had some issues.. so they made changes..  unlike our constant keep doing whats not working 

[cross16]

The reaction from Devils fans is very strange. 2 out of 3 years the Devils had a top 10 PP, despite that they were rebuilding and the PP provided most of their offence, yet they seem happy Ward is gone. Yet when you read stuff from Devils beat reports they have a lot of good things to say about Ward and praise him for adjustments he made to get the PP going again. 

 

Interesting. Not a huge surprise as that is typically how coaching works. Grass is pretty much always greener in the minds of fans. 

[cross16]

Now official

 

Will be interesting to see how this plays out in Stockton. I don't love promoting any of the current assistants down there so I hope they go external and hope they go the up and comer from Junior ranks route. Someone like a Trevor Letowski or Drew Bannister. 

 

[conundrumed]

No complaints here.

[JTech780]

9 minutes ago, cross16 said:

Now official

 

Will be interesting to see how this plays out in Stockton. I don't love promoting any of the current assistants down there so I hope they go external and hope they go the up and comer from Junior ranks route. Someone like a Trevor Letowski or Drew Bannister. 

 

 

I am much happier with these two hires than I was with Cameron and Jerrard. Ward has been well thought of in hockey circles for a long time now, he was a finalist to become the head coach when we hired Gulutzan. Ward was a gym teacher at one point in time and has had plenty of success as a coach through the years. Huska has done a very good job with grooming defensemen in Kelowna and down in Stockton, I think as we start to graduate more of our defensive prospects he is a perfect fit.

[cross16]

I also hope this is a sign that they are going to start looking to graduate more players from Stockton. Huska's personal attributes aside, which I agree are enough to warrant him getting the job, I think a plus is now you have someone on the bench who has a thorough understanding of those guys. I think that can be of a huge help when you are graduating from guys from the AHL. Usually when a guy from the AHL takes the NHL job, more prospects follow and they follow in key roles so I hope that is the case here.

 

Could bode well for guys like Klimchuk, Anderson, Mangiapane, who IMO all should be on the team next year. 

[cross16]

Article on the coaching hires. https://www.nhl.com/flames/news/right-men-for-the-job/c-298864252

 

Some quotes from Peters:

 

On Huska:

Quote

"It's a Who's Who of D-men that have come through Kelowna for a long time. So he'll help develop our defencemen here and obviously provides a pipeline of information for the guys in Stockton close to making our team. And I believe we have a lot of guys who are going to push."

 

Vegas and how he sees the Flames playing:

Quote

 

"What Vegas does in this final, win or lose, will make people step back and think. But the game was getting faster and faster anyway. They're just continuing that.

"We want to play fast. A real up-tempo game. Quick in those 15-to-20-foot foot races.

 

 

On players (love this one personally and it suggest the Flames may be done with the tough guy 4th liner):

Quote

 

"Today, and both the teams still playing are great examples, you need offence from throughout your lineup and you need to keep up. So you have to play with pace on all four lines because when you go out on the road and your fourth line is playing against somebody else's No. 1, it's not a concern.

"You need guys who can move around, when they deserve an opportunity to move up, can move up.

"The modern player can't be one-dimensional."

 

 

Suggests they are done with their staff. Also cool that he is honest enough to admit these guys bring something he doesn't:

Quote

 

"But real nice to put this behind us.

"The guys we have, the guys we've added, can complement me, support me, and maybe bring some strengths to the table that I don't have.

 

 

[conundrumed]

Excellent digging cross, agree with you in every aspect.

Huska's an important graduation if we want younger and faster, which I do.

I honestly believe he should be with the big club to give graduating guys a familiar face and supporter.

I think that's very important and will help his guys from last year transition more smoothly.

I also believe Ward's experiences in the coaching ranks will give us a better dynamic and some alternative thinking, rather than the hardline set-in-their-ways guys.

[The_People1]

Congrats to Huska.  He's done good things at the farm and it's nice to see we promoted from within.  Well deserved.

 

Maybe we will see more trust using our young kids in key roles next season since Huska has a good read on the younger kids, like Andersson, Kulak, Lomberg, Hathaway, Foo, etc.

[The_People1]

3 hours ago, phoenix66 said:

OK .. so who Blew the place up ??

 

I know.  WTF, pay the bills.

[Khrox]

I'm happy Huska's up. The guy is definitely strong for the D. And while Geoff Ward ran a top 10 pp last year (number 9, tied with Vegas and Vancouver), remember, the year before he ran the 22nd ranked powerplay, and more often than not his powerplays have been around the 15-20 ranked. He also ran the PP in Boston the year they won the cup. The PP that didn't score until the cup finals (regular season Boston PP was 20th). While it's better than Dave Cameron, I'm pretty sure I could slam back 6 beers and then try and coach the Flames powerplay and do a better job than Cameron.

[cross16]

2 minutes ago, Khrox said:

I'm happy Huska's up. The guy is definitely strong for the D. And while Geoff Ward ran a top 10 pp last year (number 9, tied with Vegas and Vancouver), remember, the year before he ran the 22nd ranked powerplay, and more often than not his powerplays have been around the 15-20 ranked. He also ran the PP in Boston the year they won the cup. The PP that didn't score until the cup finals (regular season Boston PP was 20th). While it's better than Dave Cameron, I'm pretty sure I could slam back 6 beers and then try and coach the Flames powerplay and do a better job than Cameron.

 

All true, but that 20th ranked PP was with a team that finished as a lottery pick team and wound up picking 1st overall. 

 

I can't take credit for this but on another forum some worked out that if you look at Wards PPs over his tenure he has averaged out as a top 10 PP.  obviously some highs and lows in there but that's typical. I don't know of a coach or a team that consistently has a high ranking PP. it's a pretty cyclical thing. 

[Khrox]

2 minutes ago, cross16 said:

I don't know of a coach or a team that consistently has a high ranking PP. it's a pretty cyclical thing.

Washington. They've had 1 year where their PP wasn't top5 (it was 7th) in the last 5 years. And you have to go back to 2011 to when they had a bad powerplay (18th). Still, his track record is decent (his 22nd ranked PP was still at 16.5%, like another percent higher and it would have been a top 15, unlike us this year). I was still hoping we could have got Marco Sturm, but this isn't bad either.

[cross16]

3 minutes ago, Khrox said:

Washington. They've had 1 year where their PP wasn't top5 (it was 7th) in the last 5 years. And you have to go back to 2011 to when they had a bad powerplay (18th). Still, his track record is decent (his 22nd ranked PP was still at 16.5%, like another percent higher and it would have been a top 15, unlike us this year). I was still hoping we could have got Marco Sturm, but this isn't bad either.

 

Good find. 

One of the best goal scorers in NHL history in his prime probably helps i would imagine. 

[Khrox]

Just now, cross16 said:

 

Good find. 

One of the best goal scorers in NHL history in his prime probably helps i would imagine. 

Pittsburgh and surprisingly Toronto were also pretty consistent top 10 in that period. But yeah, Ovi and Backstrom definitely help make that happen.

[cccsberg]

5 hours ago, cross16 said:

The reaction from Devils fans is very strange. 2 out of 3 years the Devils had a top 10 PP, despite that they were rebuilding and the PP provided most of their offence, yet they seem happy Ward is gone. Yet when you read stuff from Devils beat reports they have a lot of good things to say about Ward and praise him for adjustments he made to get the PP going again. 

 

Interesting. Not a huge surprise as that is typically how coaching works. Grass is pretty much always greener in the minds of fans. 

You are going to feel a lot better if the coach who deserted the team was a bum and “good riddance” is the common refrain, versus, “oh my God! He was a great coach...now what do we do?”

[manu11]

I can't really comment on Huska, but heard he has done a solid job with the young players in Stockton. The Kelowny Rockets produced a lot of good Defensemen when he was coaching there, wouldn't surprise me, when he'd be in charge of the D-men with the big club.

 

As to the hiring of Geoff Ward, I'm cautiously optimistic. From what i've read he is a good teacher and tactics guy. I don't know about his work in the NHL, but Marco Sturm holds him in high esteem. Ward was one of his coaches during his time in Boston and I think they have a very good relationship. I also think that Ward helped Sturm with the start of his first coaching job as the Coach from Team Germany, at least in his first year. Sturm also named Ward as an assistant coach whenever he was available for the WC's. In his time for the german nationalteam, Ward was mainly in charge of the forwards, especially the powerplay, which has been one the biggest improvements since he joined the team.

Before his time, the german PP was pretty much non existent and a weak point for I don't now how many years.