Maybe, just maybe, there is light at the end of the tunnel for these Calgary Flames.
Just about anything would be better than the Flames’ disastrous 2022-23 season, in which the club missed the playoffs entirely after winning the Pacific Division title the previous year.
Head coach Darryl Sutter openly confronted his high-paid new players, especially Jonathan Huberdeau, and adamantly refused to play almost anyone under 25 until the Flames were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs in April. .
Sutter’s stubbornness ultimately cost him his job, even though his costly two-year contract extension hadn’t even kicked in. This bad in Calgary.
Especially with Johnny Gaudreau continuing to score in Columbus and Matthew Tkachuk emerging as a Hart Trophy contender in Florida, Sutter’s relentless negativity hasn’t exactly resonated with a Flames fan base desperate for some sort of silver lining in a season. nightmarish.
Nonetheless, at the end of the day, even with Brad Treliving in the GM chair and an on-ice leadership core of four alternate captains, the 2022-23 Flames still felt like Sutter’s team, from end to end. at the end.
The Flames hadn’t had an official captain since Mark Giordano left in 2021 because, for all intents and purposes, Sutter was the captain.
But not anymore.
« Absolutely, we’re going to have a captain, » Craig Conroy, the Flames’ new general manager, told Sportsnet 960 radio host and FlamesNation contributor Pat Steinberg on Tuesday. “You have to have a captain. I have always believed in it.
« I just struggled with it every year [we didn’t have a captain]but that’s obviously a decision beyond me,” Conroy added, noting that he would make a point of discussing it during interviews with candidates for the vacant Flames head coach position.
« At the end of the day, you need a person to come in and talk to the coach. Really, I think it has to be done. That’s what I’ve always experienced in the NHL and not l having was weird to me.”
No one would ever confuse Craig Conroy with Darryl Sutter. Certainly not at a press conference.
While the former Flames head coach preferred to answer questions with minimal words and even less substance, Conroy was refreshingly optimistic and transparent in his introductory availability on Tuesday afternoon.
During his 1,007-game playing career, Conroy established himself as one of the best defensive forwards in the National Hockey League. He also became known as one of the most talkative and likeable people in the sport.
He lived up to that reputation on Tuesday, and more.
« I’m ready to accept this next challenge and promise our fans that I will do everything I can to bring another Stanley Cup here, » Conroy said, beaming. « Lanny [McDonald] brought it once, hopefully I can be a part of bringing it again with all those guys.
« Offensively, I’d like to see us be more creative from the red line, » Conroy later explained. « I want them to be creative, I want them to be free and do what they do. And you know what, you’re going to turn the pucks over – and then you counter. From the red line, I want of structure.
Conroy joined the Flames’ management group after retiring as a player in 2011. After starting as a special assistant to interim general manager Jay Feaster, Conroy rose through the ranks to become a full-time assistant general manager under Treliving in 2014.
Although his name occasionally popped up in connection with various general manager openings in the league during his AGM tenure, Conroy remained in that position for nearly nine years before finally being promoted on Tuesday.
With a former Flames star now in charge in Calgary, it remains to be seen if others will follow. To his credit, Conroy readily discussed the prospect of adding franchise icon (and former center) Jarome Iginla to join the Flames’ revamped front office.
« We’ve always expressed an interest in working together, » Conroy remarked. « Right now he’s coaching RINK Kelowna, he has his son, Joe, but that’s definitely something I want to explore moving forward. »
But before he can call on Iginla to once again blow away the Flames’ 2004 Cup final, Conroy will have to fill the vacancy Sutter vacated behind the bench.
He will also be tasked with coming up with a game plan for how the Flames will deal with their seven key players – Elias Lindholm, Tyler Toffoli, Mikael Backlund, Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev, Nikita Zadorov and Oliver Kylington – who are eligible to hit. the UFA market in 2024.
« I think the biggest part of being a CEO is asset management, » Conroy said. “We have seven unrestricted free agents. I kinda feel like I know where these guys are at, but that was as an assistant GM. They would be different conversations. So, I think I want to get to where they are.
“We cannot enter a season with seven UFAs. It just doesn’t make sense. We have to make sure we get it right for the Calgary Flames. So let’s look at all of these options.
And while Sutter was – to put it mildly – reluctant to bring the younger players into the Flames mix, Conroy’s comments on the subject seemed like a comforting breeze.
« I think we’re going to change the core a bit – not the core pieces, but I think we’re going to add some youth to the roster, » Conroy said. “My big thing was the draft, observing the players, and what I observed and learned is that you need young players in a team. You need that excitement, what they bring day after day. It’s nothing against older players, but when you look at the league, you see what these youngsters are doing.
It’s safe to say Craig Conroy could you just need to know what number Jakob Pelletier wears on the back of his sweater, for example. The trainer he hires could just be prepared to give Matt Coronato, Matthew Phillips or Dustin Wolf actual NHL auditions instead of the token cameos they were granted in 2022-23. It’s certainly not as if Sutter’s favorite veterans have lifted the Flames into contention.
Legitimate change may actually be on the horizon in Calgary. While he’ll probably never be able to match the impact Tkachuk has provided in Florida this year, Huberdeau is still one hell of a player. MacKenzie Weegar, Nazem Kadri and Jacob Markstrom have huge upsides. The Flames just need to be patient and play to their respective strengths.
Sutter, always stubborn, alienated a significant portion of his team’s players and fan base with his curious ways last year. In stark contrast, Conroy’s endless positivity and progressive ideas drew rave reviews in Calgary on Tuesday.
Now it’s up to ‘Connie’ and the coaching staff he’s ready to muster to back up his words – and boy, he’s got a lot of words – with a big bounce to Cup contention in 2023- 2024.
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