Bruce Boudreau has decided where he will coach next season and his choice was not the Calgary Flames.
While the Flames were rumored to be one of the three teams most interested in Boudreau's services (Ottawa and Minnesota being the others) it's not much of a surprise he landed elsewhere.
The Senators hosted Boudreau for an interview while the Wild offered the most lucrative contract.
The Flames, meanwhile, seemingly did not do anything to make themselves stand out.
With Boudreau now in Minnesota the Flames will quickly turn their attention elsewhere.
The Flames are expected to zero in focus on coaching search on Monday. Randy Carlyle will be among those interviewed.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) May 8, 2016
On top of Carlyle, the Flames are also expected to speak with Glen Gulutzan. Kevin Dineen and a couple others remain in the mix as well.
There's a lot to unpack so I'll break things down into a few thoughts:
- I've said this before but Randy Carlyle makes absolutely no sense to me. Sure, he has a connection with Brian Burke. The list of reasons I could see the Flames hiring Carlyle end there.
Bob Hartley is hard on his players, likes dump and chase, physical hockey and tends to favor gritty heart-and-soul players over skill. The only difference between Hartley and Carlyle is their names.
Now I may be wrong - it won't be the first or last time - but I simply can't see the Flames firing Hartley in order to, in essence, hire Hartley again.
GM Brad Treliving talked about Hartley having taken the Flames as far as he could and change being necessary to take the next step forward. I don't see how Carlyle could help them do that.
- I think the Flames would be smart to go with a more new school, forward thinking coach as opposed to someone who will rip a player's head off after one or two mistakes.
Some may think the Flames need a hard-nosed coach but, for my money, Mike Sullivan was the best coach in hockey this season and his players responded wonderfully to his cool-headed approach.
Reminder that this is how players react to him coaching like that. pic.twitter.com/dWZbNTmBHV
— m g (@kikkerlaika) May 8, 2016
Now, imagine the likes of Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Sam Bennett and co. having the green light at all times to try and make skilled plays with the puck. Sure, it'll blow up on occasion but more often than not good will come of it.
So many coaches in today's NHL bleed skill and creativity out of the game. With the way the Flames are constructed I think they'd be better off with someone who puts a premium on those traits.
If not anything else, the hockey would be much more entertaining.
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