Who Will Light The Fire?

I'll be very honest when I say that I was skeptical when the Calgary Flames named Geoff Ward the interim head coach of the team following Bill Peters' departure. I knew Ward had had success in the AHL, but I wasn't convinced he was the right man for the job. After all, he had been an assistant coach with the Flames, Devils, and Bruins through his entire NHL tenure, so could he be the guy to put systems in place and have the players execute? I believe he answered my critical-though-rudimentary analysis of his work in spades after he guided the Flames to a first-round dismantling of the Winnipeg Jets while getting the Flames into the eighth-seed in the Western Conference.

Should he be the guy moving this team forward? That's a question the Flames' brass now need to answer.

Again, I think Ward earned the opportunity to continue. He went 24-15-3 with the Flames after taking over the head coaching duties, and we saw improved performances from Sean Monahan, Sam Bennett, Elias Lindholm, Milan Lucic, and Cam Talbot in these playoffs. While there might have been questions about the Flames' goaltending situation going into the bubble, Talbot stepped up after his coach put him in the blue paint as the starter, and Talbot responded very well.

The question for the Flames is what they do if they opt to go elsewhere. There aren't a ton of experienced coaching options out there right now after Peter Laviolette has been linked to the Washington Capitals, so who could they turn to if the Flames want to go in a different direction?

I would assume the Flames will avoid Mike Babcock due to the fact that the Maple Leafs are still paying him. It makes no sense for the Flames to being in Babcock after his troubles as well, and I don't believe he'd be the right coach for the team. It should be noted that Babcock has ties to southern Alberta region after coaching the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns, but I can't see either really making a pitch for the job in Calgary.

Gerard Gallant would be an interesting choice if he came in as the Flames showed all sorts of size and speed against the Jets, and that's precisely how Gallant loves to coach the game. If we look at his track record with Vegas, there was no shortage of effort that the Golden Knights gave night-in and night-out under Gallant, and that kind of battle and effort from the Flames would make them a dangerous team with the likes of Tkachuk, Gaudreau, and Monahan flying around the ice.

Hiring Gallant would also prevent Seattle from hiring him, so this could be a win-win for Calgary in getting a great head coach to run their team while preventing a division rival from doing the same.

Honestly, though, I do believe that Geoff Ward might be the right guy. He knows the players, he's got some great systems as evidenced by their hammering of the Jets in the play-in round, and he lets his offensive players flourish. They seem to have bought into his systems, and they showed that off against the Jets before the Dallas Stars awoke from their slumber to extinguish the Flames. Either way, Ward might be the best option for the Flames going forward based on the small sample size we saw this season.

The Flames have some decisions to make, but the easiest one might be to remove the "interim" tag off Geoff Ward's title.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!