Flames’ coach isn’t the sort to beat around the bush
The Calgary Flames’ new head coach originally hails from about 90 minutes northeast of the Saddledome, from a speck on the map known as Three Hills.
That’s the official word, right there in Bill Peters’ bio.
“It’s Three Hills, but it’s actually two hills and a mound, as he puts it,” quipped Flames general manager Brad Treliving after introducing Peters to the media on Monday, a quick and unsurprising resolution to a coaching search that lasted all of six days.
“When you meet him, he’s a small-town values guy. He’s direct. You want to know an answer? Just ask him a question. There will be no fluff . ... He’s direct and straightforward.”
Which means, some of his loved ones — specifically, any who have been spotted or photographed in the past in copper and blue — should brace for a blunt reply to their ticket requests.
While Peters has been on an extended road trip, working in Spokane, Wash., and then Rockford, Ill., and then Detroit, and for the past four seasons as bench boss of the Carolina Hurricanes, his prairie roots have remained.
His parents still live in the Wild Rose Province.
His in-laws, too. Same goes for two sisters. There are more. Nieces. Nephews.
“I know who the real Flames fans are, and they can have my tickets,” Peters said with a wink. “The rest can buy tickets.”
On paper, Peters’ stint in Carolina was underwhelming.
He posted a combined record of 137-138-53 in four campaigns. He missed the playoffs in each of those seasons, freed up to coach Canada’s winning entry at the IIHF World Hockey Championship in 2016 and to go for gold again from May 4-20 in Denmark.
Still, the 53-year-old made a heck of a first impression at Monday’s announcement, probably winning over a lot of skeptics who were hoping for a bigger name to take command of this bunch.
Peters vowed that his troupe will play with pace and also emphasized puck possession, stressing faceoffs are important “because that’s the first 50-50 battle of your shift.”
His goal is that the Flames will rank among the Top 10 on both the power play and penalty kill.
With “a lot of talent and a lot of good pieces” on the existing roster, he already has his sights higher than simply squeaking into the post-season in 2018-19.
“I want to be a team that gets off to a good start, sustains that quality start, has a playoff spot wrapped up, and then you’re fighting for home ice,” Peters said. “That’s what I would love to see.”
That’s a lofty goal for a squad that dropped out of the playoff race in March, ultimately finishing 11 points out of the final wild-card slot in the Western Conference. That free fall cost former head coach Glen Gulutzan his job.
If Peters can pull it off, though, his popularity will stretch far beyond Three Hills, or even Killam, another of his whistle-stops as a youngster.
“Obviously, if you ever get a chance to come home, in whatever job you’re doing, you’re going to probably do it,” said Flames forward Sean Monahan, one of five players who attended Monday’s unveiling.
“So him being an hour and a half from home, I’m sure he’s going to have a lot of support, and I’m sure he’s going to feel some pressure. As we all do.
“I think everybody on this team now, we’re at a point where losing is not acceptable. Not being in the playoffs, that’s not acceptable. I think he feels the same way.”