following the accusations of racist comments and physical abuse, the Calgary Flames named a sociate St. Louis Cardinals Jersey coach Geoff Ward the interim head coachon Friday.
A longtime a sistant coach in the NHL, Ward takes over a team that is not only dealing with the off-ice i sues surrounding the now-former head coach, but one that has struggled to be consistent on the ice.
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His story goes well beyond the rink. He was a high school and elementary teacher in Ontario. From the cla sroom to Calgary, here's what you need to know about the Flames' interim bench bo s.
Where is Geoff Ward from?A native of Waterloo, Ont., Ward actually startedhis coaching career at the University of Waterloo as an a sistant coach under Don Mckee from 1989 to 1992.
Did Geoff Wardplay in the NHL?No, Ward never made it onto an NHL roster. In fact,no records were found of Ward's playing days, suggesting there were none or at leastno organized activity.
Does Geoff Ward have NHL head-coaching experience?No, Ward has never been the head man on an NHL bench. He has been an a sistant for three teams spanning just over 11 seasons.
He has head coaching experience in the OHL (Ontario Hockey League), ECHL (East Coast Hockey league), AHL (American Hockey league) andDEL (Deutsche Eishockey Liga).
How long has Geoff Wardbeen coaching?Ward Tyler Webb Jersey began his coaching experience with Waterloo before becoming an a sistant Chris Carpenter Jersey coach with the Niagara Falls Thunder of the Ontario Hockey League for the 1992-93 season. After six seasons in the OHL fiveas a head coach, includingfour with the Kitchener Rangers Ward hit the ECHL in the 1999-00 season with the Arkansas RiverBlades.
In 2001 he made his AHL head-coaching debut with the Hamilton Bulldogs, Montreal and Edmonton's AHL affiliate. He won theLouis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award for the AHL's coach of the year after the 2002-03 season with Hamilton.
Breaking onto the NHL scene as an a sistantcoach for the Boston Bruins in 2007-08, Ward spent his first seven NHL seasons with the B's where he won the Stanley Cup in 2011. He would then travel down to New Jersey and serve on the Devils' bench for three seasons before leaving for his Mike Shannon Jersey most recent role as a sociatecoach of the Flames ahead of the 2018-19 season. His promotion comes just over one season into his Calgary tenure, giving himhis first gig as an NHL head coach.
What changes might Geoff Ward make to the Calgary Flames' system?Ward said in his first pre s conference as the team's interim coach that he just wants his players "just feeling good about being at the rink and feeling good about preparing to play hockey" in the wake of an unusual situation.
"If we can keep it as normal as po sible, then as time goes on, everything looks after itself," he said via NHL.com. "For us, tomorrow is about coming to the rink preparing to play a hockey game, trying to make it as simple and as seamle s as po sible for the players."
"I can say I've never been in this circumstance taking over a team, but the reasoning doesn't matter," he added. "What's important is what you do once the moment happens and you need to step in. You need to make sure the team is prepared. In that regard, it's the same. But in the other regard, it's different Blank Jersey ."
Notable players Geoff Ward coached in his careerBefore his time on NHL benches, Ward had the opportunity to coach some prominent NHLers during his tenures with Niagara, Kitchener, Guelph and Hamilton/Toronto/Edmonton.
Here are the players coached under Ward Andrew Knizner Jersey 's direction:
(Niagara)Ethan Moreau, Manny Legace; (Kitchener) Boyd Devereaux; (Guelph) Brian McGrattan, Craig Anderson; (Hamilton/Toronto/Edmonton)Jason Chimera, Fernando Pisani,Sven Butenschoen,Alexei Semenov,Marc-Andre Bergeron,Louie DeBrusk,Shawn Horcoff,Ty Conklin,Jason Ward,Michael Ryder,Jarret Stoll,Tomas Plekanec,Mike Komisarek,Francois Beauchemin,Mariusz Czerkawski,Bill Lindsay,Ron Hainsey,Francis Bouillon,Donald Audette,Raffi Torres,Marty Reasoner,Mike Ribeiro,Mathieu Garon,Chris Higgins,Karl Dykhuis,Chad Kilger,Brad Winchester,Kyle Brodziak,Toby Petersen andIgor Ulanov.
