It’ll depend on these playoffs.
I find Ward a very good interim coach, and i don’t mind him riding the HC title for the rest of the season (which is obvious he is already doing).
But when you have the likes of Gallant and Laviolette available, you have to finally stop penny pinching with arguably the most important job in hockey and just go for it. GG was bad, Peters was good, but let go for something that was worth letting go to. Treliving has tried going the “hire your own coach” method, but it’s time for this team to take the next step and hire someone that will be able to get them past more than just a round or two and hopefully the Stanley Cup. Gallant and Laviolette have done that before.
I find us in a similar situation as the Flyers. Their makeup of the team from 18/19 and 19/20 is one major difference: Coaching. They hired AV and now they’re a powerhouse. Just shows how much emphasis and importance there is on coaching in the NHL.
I don’t mind Ward, in fact, I really like him and am happy that he kept our team in playoff contention (for the most part).
But, it’s time we hire a coach with a proven track record to get the Flames going where they should have been going since the hire of GG.