Geoff Ward, Flames 18 th coach

[Sarasti]

It is official.

Geoff Ward is our head coach for the coming season.

[phoenix66]

Now just need to get him a good Associate Coach 

 

 

[cross16]

No surprise, just a little surprised it took so long. Interesting to see if we see the full staff announcement because outside of the delay taking time to build a staff it doesn'tt make a lot of sense and will lead to rumors. 

 

I hope i'm wrong on this one but I don't like the hire but I do really hope it works because if it doesn't its back to the drawing board for this organization so i'll be pulling for him. 

 

Hopefully he can take the off-season and full training camp to evaluate the systems/tactics and come up with some new approaches and put a different stamp on the team. if what we say in the playoffs is the way he wants to play than the Flames really need to trade Gaudreau. Not a good fit for how Ward had them playing and I don't see him getting back to his game under that system. 

[Thebrewcrew]

Ward did a good job this season, he definitely deserves credit for that. 

 

I find it a little underwhelming, he's a good enough head coach, but I'm not sure he's a coach that will consistently get the most out of his team.

 

I hope I'm wrong tough.

[phoenix66]

1 hour ago, cross16 said:

No surprise, just a little surprised it took so long. Interesting to see if we see the full staff announcement because outside of the delay taking time to build a staff it doesn'tt make a lot of sense and will lead to rumors. 

 

I hope i'm wrong on this one but I don't like the hire but I do really hope it works because if it doesn't its back to the drawing board for this organization so i'll be pulling for him. 

 

Hopefully he can take the off-season and full training camp to evaluate the systems/tactics and come up with some new approaches and put a different stamp on the team. 

and this is my thinking too .. keep the continuity , bring in players that meet his criteria 

Biggest thing for me , is get him a quality associate coach. Lots of good B coaches looking for work right now ..Hynes, Montgomery, Boucher , Maclean.. Boughner if he doesnt get the job ... Maybe Gallant would do it for a year if he doesn't get a HC job .. heck id even check out Tim Hunter and Rocky Thompson 

The rest of the staff i dont see changing 

 

[travel_dude]

1 hour ago, cross16 said:

No surprise, just a little surprised it took so long. Interesting to see if we see the full staff announcement because outside of the delay taking time to build a staff it doesn'tt make a lot of sense and will lead to rumors. 

 

I hope i'm wrong on this one but I don't like the hire but I do really hope it works because if it doesn't its back to the drawing board for this organization so i'll be pulling for him. 

 

Hopefully he can take the off-season and full training camp to evaluate the systems/tactics and come up with some new approaches and put a different stamp on the team. if what we say in the playoffs is the way he wants to play than the Flames really need to trade Gaudreau. Not a good fit for how Ward had them playing and I don't see him getting back to his game under that system. 

 

A little disappointing that the results we had were rewarded this way.

I get that it's not all on the coach, but unless major changes happen to either the playbook or the roster, this shall continue.

Playoff Bennett and Lucic won't be able to play that way for a full season.

Monahan playing a more defensive game is fine, but not at the expense of team scoring.

We really need to get the top line better starts as they are not successful when forced to start in the D-zone more.

I thought it was obvious.

 

As you say, maybe with a more concentrated camp (less guys that shouldn't be there) will allow him to find the right niche.

That and whomever BT adds to the group are a fit like Lindholm was in Y1.

[jjgallow]

 

I think the Flames got this right, Ward has come up through the system and he has the support of the team.   That outweighs all the criticisms on here, ranging from "he should play Lucic more because he has a bloated salary" to "I didn't like his shift changes in that last game".

 

Guys guys.

 

He's a great coach and we have done better with him.   Had a better postseason.

 

All I see on here is a bunch of has-been namedrops.  People wanting coaches who aren't any good but are more well-known because they were good 10 years ago.  It's not 2005.  

 

Now if we can just get Conroy to replace Treliving then we might actually be getting somewhere.

 

 

P.S....for those of you already preparing to blame Ward for next season, I'll save you the suspense.  Next season is going to be Horrendous.   And it's not going to be Ward's fault.  It will be Treliving's fault.   Which you already know because this has been a long time coming.  Once we deal with that we can really get back to the "drawing board"...and...yes....

 

I don't care which coach we go with, the drawing board is coming.

[cross16]

1 hour ago, phoenix66 said:

and this is my thinking too .. keep the continuity , bring in players that meet his criteria 

Biggest thing for me , is get him a quality associate coach. Lots of good B coaches looking for work right now ..Hynes, Montgomery, Boucher , Maclean.. Boughner if he doesnt get the job ... Maybe Gallant would do it for a year if he doesn't get a HC job .. heck id even check out Tim Hunter and Rocky Thompson 

The rest of the staff i dont see changing 

 

 

Hynes is head coach in Nashville. 

 

I would be shocked if Huska goes anywhere but the other spot would be interesting. Have a feeling they'll bring everyone back though. 

[redfire11]

I think it is just about time to start a thread.

Who do you think will be our next GM and 19th coach next year?

[jjgallow]

2 hours ago, cross16 said:

if what we say in the playoffs is the way he wants to play than the Flames really need to trade Gaudreau. Not a good fit for how Ward had them playing and I don't see him getting back to his game under that system. 

 

Pretty sure you'd have to fire every single NHL coach if the measure was getting Gaudreau to play his best in the post season.

 

These playoffs were actually Gaudreau's best post-season production since 2015 with Bob Hartley.   Another coach who did really well here but was ganged up on.

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/88391/johnny-gaudreau

[rickross]

Not excited about Ward being our HC next season. Why should I be? There was nothing elite about this team under Ward. Sure he did a good job considering the circumstances he was forced to work with but I don’t think ‘good’ cuts it for this team anymore. Flames fans don’t get complacent!! Why settle for “good” coaching when this team obviously needs EXCELLENT coaching to move this team to the next step??
 

I do agree part of the blame falls onto BT and the players. Personally I don’t feel Ward displayed any signs of being THE COACH this team needs. I guess we’ve already forgotten how we were embarrassed by yet another consecutive post season showing...which he was on the bench for both oustings. 
 

I guess we can keep trying the same things and expect a different result but that’s wishful thinking. According to Einstein that makes us a little bit insane too!

Here’s to hoping Ward proves me wrong...but more than likely we’ll just be in here whining about having to start a new coach and GM thread by mid season 

[sak22]

25 minutes ago, rickross said:

Not excited about Ward being our HC next season. Why should I be? There was nothing elite about this team under Ward. Sure he did a good job considering the circumstances he was forced to work with but I don’t think ‘good’ cuts it for this team anymore. Flames fans don’t get complacent!! Why settle for “good” coaching when this team obviously needs EXCELLENT coaching to move this team to the next step??
 

I do agree part of the blame falls onto BT and the players. Personally I don’t feel Ward displayed any signs of being THE COACH this team needs. I guess we’ve already forgotten how we were embarrassed by yet another consecutive post season showing...which he was on the bench for both oustings. 
 

I guess we can keep trying the same things and expect a different result but that’s wishful thinking. According to Einstein that makes us a little bit insane too!

Here’s to hoping Ward proves me wrong...but more than likely we’ll just be in here whining about having to start a new coach and GM thread by mid season 

We could have a new coach and GM and be in the same spot regardless.  It's what we do.  

[travel_dude]

2 hours ago, jjgallow said:

 

Pretty sure you'd have to fire every single NHL coach if the measure was getting Gaudreau to play his best in the post season.

 

These playoffs were actually Gaudreau's best post-season production since 2015 with Bob Hartley.   Another coach who did really well here but was ganged up on.

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/88391/johnny-gaudreau

 

I think the issue was how he was played this summer.

You would think that if you are trying to get 5v5 offense from a line that isn't scoring, you would shelter them a bit better.

I don't think anyone is saying he is a bad coach.

He just needs to look at why some of his tactics didn't work.

Learn from the mistakes.

[robrob74]

4 hours ago, rickross said:

Not excited about Ward being our HC next season. Why should I be? There was nothing elite about this team under Ward. Sure he did a good job considering the circumstances he was forced to work with but I don’t think ‘good’ cuts it for this team anymore. Flames fans don’t get complacent!! Why settle for “good” coaching when this team obviously needs EXCELLENT coaching to move this team to the next step??
 

I do agree part of the blame falls onto BT and the players. Personally I don’t feel Ward displayed any signs of being THE COACH this team needs. I guess we’ve already forgotten how we were embarrassed by yet another consecutive post season showing...which he was on the bench for both oustings. 
 

I guess we can keep trying the same things and expect a different result but that’s wishful thinking. According to Einstein that makes us a little bit insane too!

Here’s to hoping Ward proves me wrong...but more than likely we’ll just be in here whining about having to start a new coach and GM thread by mid season 

 

I don’t even think he was good and the team never really stopped playing tentative hockey. I think the team played as a full team for one period under Ward, and they got blown out the next two periods to get ousted from the playoffs. I bet if there aren’t other changes to the roster the team takes a big dive and we miss the playoffs by 10 points.

[travel_dude]

1 hour ago, robrob74 said:

 

I don’t even think he was good and the team never really stopped playing tentative hockey. I think the team played as a full team for one period under Ward, and they got blown out the next two periods to get ousted from the playoffs. I bet if there aren’t other changes to the roster the team takes a big dive and we miss the playoffs by 10 points.

 

And yet somehow the Flames played over 600 hockey under him.

Consistency is the thing missing from this team.

Maybe it's just me but I wish he would pick a system that the team can play every night.

Turn that into our identity.

If it's a good one, the team will buy in and the wins will come.

Expecting the top line to somehow be great defensively is just wrong.

 

[robrob74]

42 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

 

And yet somehow the Flames played over 600 hockey under him.

Consistency is the thing missing from this team.

Maybe it's just me but I wish he would pick a system that the team can play every night.

Turn that into our identity.

If it's a good one, the team will buy in and the wins will come.

Expecting the top line to somehow be great defensively is just wrong.

 

 

take out the coach change bump that happens when switching coaches mid season, what was his record after the 7 gamer?

[Horsman1]

8 hours ago, redfire11 said:

I think it is just about time to start a thread.

Who do you think will be our next GM and 19th coach next year?

doug riseborogh and darryl sutter

[tmac70]

Not surprised but also disaapointred. Tre made mention he was the best guy out there, bullSatoshi Nakamoto. This team never made any major advancement under Ward. The systems are awful, players havre no deire to compete. This was a simole hire for Tre, pretty certain we falter this year than previous year. Another soft coach the players can maneuver they way they want

[robrob74]

So let’s take away the 7 games he coached to start his HC career. Since those 7 games it looks like he went 17-15-3. Over an 82 game schedule that is 40-35-7. That’s 87 points. But I guess I am cherry-picking stats. But to be fair, the Flames always put together a streak like the 7 gamer when he took over. But still, these players have a history Of Going on a short run like that and being a .500 team the rest of the way.

[flames-fan-in-jets-land]

6 minutes ago, robrob74 said:

So let’s take away the 7 games he coached to start his HC career. Since those 7 games it looks like he went 17-15-3. Over an 82 game schedule that is 40-35-7. That’s 87 points. But I guess I am cherry-picking stats. But to be fair, the Flames always put together a streak like the 7 gamer when he took over. But still, these players have a history Of Going on a short run like that and being a .500 team the rest of the way.

Exactly. It's no different than when Peters, GG, or Hartley coached.  So why does anyone think anyone else hired would be any different when the same core pieces are still around?

[JTech780]

 

I get why they stuck with Ward, continuity, familiarity and cost. He wouldn't have been my choice but I don't sign the cheques either. Seeing how much Laviolette is getting paid (3 years at around $15m total), I can see why a big name coach wasn't in the cards for this team.

 

Really just have to hope that Ward has learned a lot about game management. I also have to think that they had a long talk about making Bennett a full time center going forward.

[sak22]

11 hours ago, robrob74 said:

 

take out the coach change bump that happens when switching coaches mid season, what was his record after the 7 gamer?

What were the other first 7 games after changes

Keefe 4-3 (3 game win streak to start)

Bowness 3-3-1 (lost first game)

Hynes 3-4 (lost first game)

Evason 5-2 (2-2 in first 4)

DeBoer 4-2-1 (never won more than 2 in a row)

Bougner 2-4-1 (some bump)

Nasereddine 2-4-1 (four straight L's to start)

 

I'd say this "bump" is a little exaggerated.  Give Ward his due for the first 7 games, this also wasn't a firing under normal circumstances and Ward coached the first 2 while Peters was still in limbo, this was a distraction like none other they pulled through admirably, ups and downs after that but 6-3-1 in the last 10 including a win in Boston over Rask which not many teams did this year.  I don't love the hire like many others, given what's happening I think I'd rather see the devil we know (Ward) vs. the devil we don't (insert random cheaper coach).  But I just need to play a little devils advocate here, lets not get too down based on one hire and rumours we don't know how this team will look next year, we don't know how the season will look next year if there will be a season.  We should all hope that we don't see another year where the most important games are played after a 4 month break

[cross16]

According to Capfriendly Wards 2 year deal is worth 900K per season.

 

Not always the most reliable on coaches salaries but if that is true that it is pretty clear that economics was the primary motivator here. That would make him among the lowest paid coaches in the league and would definitely explain why it took 3 weeks to make this official if he truly was the "right guy". 

[flames-fan-in-jets-land]

5 minutes ago, cross16 said:

According to Capfriendly Wards 2 year deal is worth 900K per season.

 

Not always the most reliable on coaches salaries but if that is true that it is pretty clear that economics was the primary motivator here. That would make him among the lowest paid coaches in the league and would definitely explain why it took 3 weeks to make this official if he truly was the "right guy". 

As was said before. With the rest of the staff taking a pay cut, bringing in a high price coach wouldn't look good.

[travel_dude]

15 hours ago, robrob74 said:

 

take out the coach change bump that happens when switching coaches mid season, what was his record after the 7 gamer?

 

I would aegue the opposite.

This wasn;t a coaching change in the traditional sense.

It was an abandonment.

It actually took until January before the coach really got things worked out.

 

I'm not saying I like or dislike Ward.

He did well considering.

For me, he needs to take everything he learned about the team and the playoffs and store it.

Understand what the reasons were for losing.

Address those with the team at first practice.

Work on an identity.

Sell the identity.

Make them play to the identity.