Troy Ward and Robbie Ftorek let go

[Zirakzigil]

Fan960 reporting that they are not getting new contacts

https://twitter.com/Sportsnet960/

The Calgary #Flames have announced that the contracts of Troy G. Ward and Robbie Ftorek, will not be renewed. #AHL

Surprised that they are letting Ward go.

Click to read more...

 

[InfinityIggy]

Wow. Very surprised to see Ward go.

 

[herashak]

Huh.

 

[Nordberg]

A bit surprised, but I have faith in our new management. I wonder who the new coaching staff will be.

 

[MuffinMerc]

Best of luck to the both of them. I liked Troy G. Ward a lot.

 

[BVicious]

Yuck. Bad move IMO

 

[Mr Lebowski]

 

[Pirate King Luffy]

Bylsma new AHL coach. Book it

 

[marbsarebad]

Bylsma new AHL coach. Book it

No way, definitely Tortorello

 

[Calculon]

Pascall making waves already. Perhaps he wants to bring in his own guys. That or Burke wasn't happy with Ward/Ftorek.

 

[SickHandsNoShot]

Pascall making waves already. Perhaps he wants to bring in his own guys. That or Burke wasn't happy with Ward/Ftorek.

You know the only guy you didn't mention was the guy who made the decision right?

..... You know.... The GM.... Brad Treliving

 

[mdgfrancis]

If Treliving has this strong of feelings about how the prospects should be coached and developed at the AHL level, you gotta wonder if Hartley is the guy he wants developing the young guys at the NHL level.

Burke has put his stamp on Hartley, but he put his stamp on Ward too.

 

[Anglesmith]

You know the only guy you didn't mention was the guy who made the decision right?

..... You know.... The GM.... Brad Treliving

Well, I think it was a reasonable thing to assume that Pascall had a big hand in the decision if not outright responsibility of it. He was assigned to oversee the Flames' interests in Adirondack, and the next day the coaching staff was let go. To assume that Treliving made the decision would be to assume that Burke makes all Treliving's decisions, wouldn't it?

 

[Noori]

He was assigned to oversee the Flames' interests in Adirondack, and the next day the coaching staff was let go. To assume that Treliving made the decision would be to assume that Burke makes all Treliving's decisions, wouldn't it?

I somehow doubt Pascall in less than a day managed to evaluate Ward and conclude he shouldn't be the AHL coach. I'm betting Burke and Treliving have someone in mind. The timing of announcing this the day after hiring Pascall/promoting Conroy makes sense so they wouldn't have to answer any questions about it during the press conference. This isn't a knee jerk management team. Burke took his time before letting Feaster go, hiring Treliving, etc. Nothing is done on a whim anymore in this organization (which I love).


Ward's fate may have been set in stone for some time yet. PMM (a poster on CalPuck who has written articles for the Flames/Heat) had this to say:

With that said, I think there was some difference of opinion in the direction of the organization with the new change in management. Therefore, it's best for everyone to be on the same page. Burke is, Treliving and his assistants are, Hartley is, I don't think Ward was - but he complied. So I think it's for the best if the organization is running like a well oiled machine, especially at such an important rebuilding juncture.

I'm guessing truculence/hostility/belligerence/pugnacity isn't as high on Ward's valued traits as it is Burke's and Treliving's. To that extent, I'm okay with this decision since the organization needs to be consistent top to bottom in attitude.

Best of luck to Ward. He'll find a coaching job in the AHL or NHL very, very soon.

 

[Anglesmith]

I somehow doubt Pascall in less than a day managed to evaluate Ward and conclude he shouldn't be the AHL coach. I'm betting Burke and Treliving have someone in mind. The timing of announcing this the day after hiring Pascall/promoting Conroy makes sense so they wouldn't have to answer any questions about it during the press conference.

The way I see it is that this probably came up during the interview process with Pascall, but we really don't know either way I guess.

 

[Calculon]

You know the only guy you didn't mention was the guy who made the decision right?

..... You know.... The GM.... Brad Treliving

With the new management structure in place, I wouldn't be entirely sure the GM has the only voice in who's running the minor Flames. Besides, Trevliving's only been here for a little over a month; Burke's had more than a year to properly evaluate Ward.

 

[Unlimited Chequing]

That's too bad. Maybe some organization may pick him up for the big leagues as an assistant coach.

 

[SickHandsNoShot]

With the new management structure in place, I wouldn't be entirely sure the GM has the only voice in who's running the minor Flames. Besides, Trevliving's only been here for a little over a month; Burke's had more than a year to properly evaluate Ward.

And Pascal has been here for a day.... But my point was Treliving makes the decisions. Burke approves them

 

[Skobel24]

Eh, I don't see this being a big deal.

 

[SickHandsNoShot]

Double post

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I personally think Ward was an excellent coach from what I know, but everyone always likes their own guys so it's not surprising in the slightest. Best of luck of to Troy, thanks for all your hard work and efforts with our boys.

 

[Lunatik]

Perhaps Ward and Ftorek didn't want to re-sign? Or simply couldn't agree on terms? It's not just a 1 way street. Just because they are not returning does not mean it was just the Flames decision.

Any mention of Sigalet? I think he has been a fantastic goalie coach over his tenure and IMO he is more valuable to the Flames than either Ward or Ftorek.

I will say this though, I supported Ward during his tenure, but this past season I really questioned many of his decisions. Ward has this mindset that he needs to roll 4 lines and even when the roster was half filled with ECHL players he continued to do this and that was a big reason why the Heat were unable to score goals during that stretch when the Flames/Heat were depleted with injuries.

He also favored some ECHL call-ups and players on AHL contracts over our own signed prospects, which is a no-no if the organizational mandate was to develop our own prospects first and foremost. Arsene/Lamb playing ahead of Cundari could be one of those cases the team is unhappy with.

I also am not sure his coaching style can match Hartley's. We want the ADK Flames to play the same system as the big club, but when the Heat played that system they were burned badly by cross-ice/backdoor passes in the defensive zone. Especially in games against the top club, the inability to stop those passes led to at least a dozen goals against Texas on the season, half of those being in the Texas Massacre.

Again, I liked Ward. But I think this is a positive move for the ADK Flames.

 

[InfinityIggy]

Well, I think it was a reasonable thing to assume that Pascall had a big hand in the decision if not outright responsibility of it. He was assigned to oversee the Flames' interests in Adirondack, and the next day the coaching staff was let go. To assume that Treliving made the decision would be to assume that Burke makes all Treliving's decisions, wouldn't it?

I actually agree, yes Pascall has only been 'on the job' for a day, but he probably has done his homework and is able to assess the situation from a 3rd party standpoint long before being hired. He probably knows who he wants to bring in already.

 

[johnnystormcgy]

He seemed terrific at player management, and turning young athletes into mature professional athletes, but I always wondered about his ability to win and develop players offensively. Sad to see a man lose his job, but I think it was time to move on.

 

[Volica]

It was funny with Troy; people were calling for his head last year; then he got some actual talent to his team and everyone became a fanboy; I am indifferent to this move. They'll get a real gooder down there; I am loving the way the Flames are being run nowadays on every level; I assume the AHL will be the same.