The Geoff Ward era has come to an end in Calgary. The Calgary Flames took to social media announcing the firing of their head coach after a 7-3 win against Ottawa on Thursday night. The Flames put up an extremely mediocre record of 11-11-2 with Ward behind the bench this season, which lead to many fans calling for his firing. Ward took over as interim head coach for the Flames last season after Bill Peters was let go under racist slur allegations. This past September, Ward finally head the “interim” tag taken off as he was officially named Head Coach.
The Flames wasted no time finding a replacement for Ward, as they re-hired former bench boss and general manager Darryl Sutter to a three-year deal. This will be Sutter’s fifth time being a head coach in the NHL, as he previously coached the Chicago Blackhawks (1992-1995), San Jose Sharks (1997-2003), Calgary Flames (2002-2006), and Los Angeles Kings (2011-2017). Many Flames fans had been asking for a coach with proven experience, and it is safe to say they finally got one. Sutter has been to the Stanley Cup Finals three times as a head coach and won it twice. Sutter was the behind the bench with the Calgary Flames in their 2004 Cinderella run to finals but won his championships in 2012 and 2014 with the LA Kings. Sutter is no stranger to winning, as he has won over half his games as head coach. In his 1,287 games as bench boss, Sutter has won 634, lost, 552, and tied 101. Before you question the 101 tied games, Darryl Sutter has been coaching before the shootout was implemented in 2005.
During his time as head coach in Calgary, Sutter also managed the team. From 2002-2006, Sutter was both the head coach and general manager for the Flames, but the workload eventually became too much. At the end of the 2005-2006 season Sutter stepped down as head coach so he could concentrate on his managing duties. Sutter managed the team until 2010.
While Flames management hopes Sutter will be the spark a struggling Flames team needs, we cannot forget that this is the Flames fifth coach in 9 years. As good as a coach Sutter is, it’s hard not to think whether the coaching has been the issue as of late. Since 2012, the Flames have cycled through Bob Hartley, Glen Gulutzan, Bill Peters, and Geoff Ward, yet the results have been fairly similar. Maybe Sutter’s old-school styling of coaching is just what the Flames need right now. As of right now, everything is speculation and all we can do is just wait and watch what happens.
After a mandatory quarantine, Sutter is expected to join the Flames by Tuesday and should be behind the bench against Montreal on Thursday. Until Sutter arrives, assistant coach Ryan Huska will step in as interim head coach.
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