Calgary Flames naming Ryan Huska as their new head coach: report
The Calgary Flames have reportedly chosen Ryan Huska as their head coach.
ESPN’s Kevin Weekes broke the news this afternoon, following a report from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman yesterday suggesting Huska was the favourite to land the job.
Weekes says a press conference will be held on Monday to introduce Huska, who has been an assistant coach with Calgary since 2018.
**Breaking News** šØ š°
Credit @FriedgeHNIC for his report last night; the @NHLFlames will be naming Ryan Huska as their new HC, Iām told Press Conference to be held on Monday.
Pls excuse the Legend in background š. @espn @NHL @NHLNetwork #HockeyTwitter pic.twitter.com/7s3vfuc98p— Kevin Weekes (@KevinWeekes) June 9, 2023
Huska, 47, has spent the past five years as an assistant coach for the Flames. He spent the previous four seasons as head coach of the Flames’ AHL affiliates in Stockton and Adirondack.
In a search that had many different names linked, Huska’s was one that remained talked about through the entire process. He was one of three internal candidates the Flames were said to have been considering, with the others being Mitch Love and Kirk Muller.
Prior to becoming a coach, Huska had a brief playing career which included one NHL game with the Chicago Blackhawks during the 1997-98 season. After retiring in 2000, he took a quick break from the game before joining the Kelowna Rockets as an assistant coach in 2002, a role which he held for five seasons. He was then promoted as the Rockets head coach and remained as such for another seven seasons.
Assuming Weekes is correct, this will be the first major decision made by Craig Conroy as the Flames’ GM. The 51-year-old made it seem as though he has a clear vision of what he wants this team to look like moving forward, and this will be his first opportunity to put his stamp on it. Whether it is the right decision remains to be seen, but there was no getting away from the fact that the players needed a new voice after a frustrating season with Darryl Sutter.
More to come…
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