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Confirmed with Link: Flames hire Robbie Ftorek and Todd Woodcroft

TheJudge

TheJudge

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Mar 11, 2007
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http://flames.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=679765

Ftorek will be an assistant coach with Abbotsford.
Robbie Ftorek will work under Abbotsford Heat Head Coach Troy Ward. Ftorek has an incredible coaching resume which includes two years each with the Los Angeles Kings, New Jersey Devils and the Boston Bruins, while most recently working as the bench boss of the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League from 2007-12. Ftorek has also led the Albany River Rats to win the Calder Cup as their head coach in 1995. As a player, Ftorek played over 700 career games split between the WHA and NHL and has numerous accolades including league MVP and scoring records. In 1991, he was enshrined as a member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame and has represented the United States at the Olympics, Canada Cups and World Championships. He has his name engraved on the Stanley Cup twice.
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Woodcroft as scouting director.
Todd Woodcroft has been hired in the newly created role of Scouting Director. In this role, Todd will assist Director of Amateur Scouting Todd Button and Assistant General Manager of Player Personnel John Weisbrod. Todd most recently scouted in Europe for the LA Kings and formerly with the Minnesota Wild and Washington Capitals organizations. Todd will be based out of Minnesota, and will report directly to John Weisbrod.
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Rockmorton

Registered User
Oct 26, 2011
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Great new direction

Turns out, Conroy is going to be running the day to day operations of the Heat. On Sportsnet radio, they said that the Flames announced that the Heat is not going to be designed to be competitive, but to serve as a development tool for the Flames. They think that will provide consistency throughout the organization.

Sounds solid. Feaster & Wiesbrod run the show here, Conroy oversees the Heat. Woodcroft and Button bring the players in, Ward & Ftorek develop them and teach them the system, then when they're ready for the show, they come up to Hartley already proved that they know what's expected. If everyone's on the same page, this could be sweet.

Reminds me of the Wings. Strong European scouting and having the kids learn the system from day one.
 

MarkGio

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Nov 6, 2010
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Rockmorton said:
Turns out, Conroy is going to be running the day to day operations of the Heat. On Sportsnet radio, they said that the Flames announced that the Heat is not going to be designed to be competitive, but to serve as a development tool for the Flames. They think that will provide consistency throughout the organization.

Sounds solid. Feaster & Wiesbrod run the show here, Conroy oversees the Heat. Woodcroft and Button bring the players in, Ward & Ftorek develop them and teach them the system, then when they're ready for the show, they come up to Hartley already proved that they know what's expected. If everyone's on the same page, this could be sweet.

Reminds me of the Wings. Strong European scouting and having the kids learn the system from day one.
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Cool. But what if the system changes? Hartely and Ward don't teach the same game
 

Rockmorton

Registered User
Oct 26, 2011
683
113
MarkGio said:
Cool. But what if the system changes? Hartely and Ward don't teach the same game
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I got the impression that they will be. It was hinted at that Ftorek was being brought in to either complement Ward or potentially replace him. I'm guessing the coaches will have to teach the same system or be replaced by someone who will.

This seems like a grassroots way to establishing an identity.
 

Double Dion

Jets fan 28/06/2014
Feb 9, 2011
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wflames said:
They were both in the top 3 on Feaster's list.
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I wish there was a "like" button... I like both signings just based off their interviews on 960. I feel like our scouting department has diversified our NA evaluation extremely well, but was still somewhat lacking in europe outside of Finland. Sounds like Woodcroft has some really strong Russian connections that could be very useful to the organization.

I hope Ftorek can help fix the PD issues the organization has had. We need to develop our future guys on the farm much better than we have been. Ward is a good X's and O's guy, but his real job should be PD, not getting blood from stones. Hopefully Ftorek can contribute towards that, at least the organization has recognized the problems. (I say that based on Conroy's 960 interview in concert with Ftorek and Feaster's)
 
Johnny Hoxville

Johnny Hoxville

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Jul 15, 2006
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I don't have a link, but I recall hearing a couple months ago that the Heat will be playing a system much more closely to the Flames; this was going to be done so there isn't that big of an adjustment when players get called up. Hartley should be Ward's direct boss IMO.
 

Double Dion

Jets fan 28/06/2014
Feb 9, 2011
11,002
3,862
MVW said:
I don't have a link, but I recall hearing a couple months ago that the Heat will be playing a system much more closely to the Flames; this was going to be done so there isn't that big of an adjustment when players get called up. Hartley should be Ward's direct boss IMO.
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You're right, Conroy confirmed it on 960 two days ago. Systems will be the same and player development will be emphasized over winning on the farm. Conroy is now the GM of Abbotsford and Ward is accountable to him.
 

MarkGio

Registered User
Nov 6, 2010
12,533
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Double Dion said:
You're right, Conroy confirmed it on 960 two days ago. Systems will be the same and player development will be emphasized over winning on the farm. Conroy is now the GM of Abbotsford and Ward is accountable to him.
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Sweet. Abby will be fun to watch. It will be our young guys playing a decent system. Maybe they'll be able to win the Calder Cup!
 
Johnny Hoxville

Johnny Hoxville

The Return of a Legend
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I also recall when Hartley was hired that one of his top priorities was to meet with Ward. He wanted to discuss his ideas and how he does things. Hopefully now that he's been here for a season, there becomes even more unison between the 2 teams. The Flames are really committing to doing this the right way and it's about time. Well done.
 

MarkGio

Registered User
Nov 6, 2010
12,533
11
MVW said:
I also recall when Hartley was hired that one of his top priorities was to meet with Ward. He wanted to discuss his ideas and how he does things. Hopefully now that he's been here for a season, there becomes even more unison between the 2 teams. The Flames are really committing to doing this the right way and it's about time. Well done.
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Upon reflection, I wonder if Hartley was hired knowing the Flames might rebuild? Hopefully he's the guy to help these young guys adjust to the NHL
 
TheHudlinator

TheHudlinator

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Nov 21, 2011
28,842
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Victoria,BC
This doesn't make a ton of sense to me. Ftorek is a defensive coach as is Ward and Abb is suppose to be playing an up beat fast pace offensive system like Hartley's. Not saying it is a bad idea but I would have thought they would have targeted someone more offensive minded.
 
Johnny Hoxville

Johnny Hoxville

The Return of a Legend
Jul 15, 2006
37,549
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Calgary
I think Ward coached a defensive system because he didn't have a very talented roster and he was playing to win games. Hopefully, that was the case and things open up more down there this year with a lot more talent.

Hartley to me coaches a system that is quite similar to the Flyers.
 
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