FLAMES SEEKING FIRE-TESTED COACH
Calgary’s GM scouting some of league’s available seasoned bench bosses
Calgary Flames GM Brad Treliving made it clear Tuesday how much he values experience as he searches for a new coach to replace Glen Gulutzan.
This team and this management group simply can’t afford to go through any more growing pains.
With that in mind, we present the top candidates:
BILL PETERS
NHL record: 137-138-53
The 53-year-old native of Three Hills, Alta., is the early favourite to take the job.
He has been for more than a month as insiders knew of Peters’ out-clause in Carolina and figured Gulutzan would get the axe if the Flames missed the playoffs.
There’s a familiarity there as Peters was the coach of Canada’s gold-medal winning world championship team that Treliving was co- GM for in 2016.
Peters played at Red Deer College under Mike Babcock and essentially cut his coaching teeth as an assistant with the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs before getting his first head coaching gig with the University of Lethbridge.
A return to Spokane as head coach saw him lead the Chiefs to a Memorial Cup in 2007-08 before a three-year stint coaching Rockford of the AHL.
As assistant’s job with Detroit led to his four-year stint running the Hurricanes.
The knock on him will be that he has no playoff experience as an NHL head coach, as the perennially undermanned ’Canes have yet to qualify for the post-season under him. His team also faded down the stretch this year, just like the Flames.
Hurricanes president Don Waddell said several teams have asked for permission to speak to Peters, who has until Friday to opt out of the final year of a deal paying him US$1.6 million.
He’s big on possession analytics, which is something Treliving believes strongly in.
He is said to have a strong desire to return to Alberta where he has spent so much of his life. Peters has never been afraid to call out players, which is something that could go a long way in Calgary.
He is the head coach of Canada’s world championship team this month, so rumours will increase if Treliving flies to Denmark to see the tourney.
NHL record: 634-467-83
Boy, does this possibility get chins wagging.
He has, um, several ties to the province and the city.
OK, let’s be real — he’s as known a commodity as there is out there.
The question is whether the Flames would dare go back to the Sutter well for the fourth time.
A two-time Stanley Cup winner in Los Angeles after his eight years in Calgary ended in 2010, the 59-year-old resident of Viking, Alta., certainly ticks several boxes in terms of what the Flames need.
A taskmaster who immediately commands the attention of every team he’s taken over, Sutter wouldn’t put up with the handful of players on the Flames roster who aren’t in tune with the notion of trying to out-will opponents with whatever it takes to win.
He wouldn’t come cheap, but Treliving insists ownership has not constricted him in terms of a coaching budget.
Sutter told me last summer he’d consider returning to coaching “if the situation was right.”
Misty-eyed Flames fans remember him as a great coach (but a poor GM) who dragged the Flames to the 2004 Cup final.
He was the last coach in Calgary to establish an identity for the team, compiling a 107-73-1515 record as a tough, relentless and physical team nobody liked to play against.
However, today’s game is no longer about brawn, but speed.
DAVE TIPPETT
NHL record: 553-413-28-120
Considered to be one of the best NHL coaching candidates on the sidelines all season, Tippett is an interesting possibility.
Treliving and Tippett worked together for many years in Arizona, where the coach was the Jack Adams Award winner in 2009-10 when he led the Coyotes to a 28-point improvement from the previous year.
He made a similar impact in Dallas when he started a six-year stint there by improving the Stars’ fortunes by 21 points his first year.
That’s the sort of shot in the arm the Flames are looking for.
A longtime NHL player and Olympian, Tippett, 56, has 14 years of NHL head coaching experience, winning three division titles and twice getting to the conference finals.
ALAIN VIGNEAULT
NHL record: 648-435-35-98
Another Jack Adams Award winner who has won two Presidents Trophy and made two appearances in the Stanley Cup finals, Vigneault is armed with plenty of experience.
Recently relieved by the New York Rangers, the price tag for the former Canucks and Canadiens coach would be high.
With 20 years experience in the NHL, he has made the playoffs nine of the last
10 years.
LINDY RUFF
NHL record: 736-554-78-125
He spent 15 years squeezing everything he could out of the Sabres before moving onto Dallas for four more seasons.
Sixth all-time in NHL coaching wins, he was a Jack Adams winner in 2006. The 58-year-old has won three division titles and lost in the Stanley Cup final once. The Rest
Should Barry Trotz’s Washington Capitals lose in the first round there’s a chance he could be fired, opening the door for a possible hire there.
Oilers coach Todd McLellan would also be of interest if Edmonton parts ways with him.