Ward In Charge

I had made mention back on August 30 that Geoff Ward, interim head coach at the time, had likely done enough to warrant the Flames removing the "interim" tag from his role. His work with the team following the dismissal of Bill Peters saw the Flames down the Jets in the play-in round while playing some inspired hockey to ascend the standings before hockey's shutdown, and I made the case in the August 30 article that Ward is likely the best candidate to lead the Flames into next season and beyond. Today, the Flames did the right thing and gave the reins to Ward full-time after signing him to an extension as head coach.

According to reports, Ward has signed a two-year deal with the Flames as they officially made him the twentieth head coach in franchise history. As stated in my article, Ward led the Flames to a 24-15-3 record after taking over the head coaching duties, and we saw improved performances from Sean Monahan, Sam Bennett, Elias Lindholm, Milan Lucic, and Cam Talbot among many Flames who helped them down Winnipeg 3-1 in the play-in round before Dallas ousted the Flames 4-2 in the normal first round of the playoffs.

Ward's systems and gameplan seemed to work well for the Flames in the short-term, and that's a good sign for a team that has the talent on paper but seemed to underperform at times. They forechecked well, moved the puck in the offensive zone effectively, and they saw good results from a handful of players under Ward's schemes. Goaltending issues aside, the Flames will need to tighten up the defensive zone a little, but that could be said for half the teams in the NHL.

Regardless of how the season finished for the Flames, it's pretty clear that they found some success under Ward after he took over as head coach. Ward's resumé has a Stanley Cup on it as he was an assistant coach with the Bruins in 2011, and he's worked behind the bench for the Devils as an assistant coach as well. Seeing him take this step to head coaching is a natural progression, and the players seem to trust his systems and coaching as they responded well to the systems he implemented and/or changed after Peters was fired.

I said it on August 30: "I do believe that Geoff Ward might be the right guy", and I stand by that statement today. It seems the Calgary Flames also believe this to be true, and they did the right thing by letting Ward guide the Flames for the next two seasons if everything goes well.

Congratulations to Geoff Ward, the new head coach of the Calgary Flames!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!