The Calgary Flames went with a familiar face when they officially promoted former assistant coach Ryan Huska to head coach on Monday. With that said, the 47-year-old’s message already appears to be one of change, optimism, and new beginnings — which means Flames fans should not expect Darryl Sutter 2.0.
In his first press conference, Huska, who will be the fifth coach to stand behind Calgary’s bench in the last eight years, sat alongside newly appointed general manager and former Flames player Craig Conroy to lay out a vision of the future.
“I’m a believer in consistency and I’m a believer in process. This team is going to play hard for each other,” Huska told reporters. “This team is going to do things the right way, the Flames way.”
The Cranbrook, BC, native also preached the importance of allowing his players the freedom to utilize their talents.
“For me, I look at it as you want them to have the freedom to make plays. That’s why they’re where they’re at, and that’s why they get paid the way they do,” he explained. “They have talent that not a lot of players do have. You want to give them that freedom.
“My job is to inspire them every single day to help get our team to the next level.”
The Flames, who parted ways with Sutter and former GM Brad Treliving this past offseason after missing the playoffs by a razor-thin margin, may be in need of some inspiration.
Multiple players, including Jonathan Huberdeau, have been publicly critical of Sutter’s coaching style.
“You’re supposed to put your players in a position to succeed and I think this season he didn’t do that,” Huberdeau said of the ex-Flames head coach during a radio interview in May.
Conroy, who was appointed GM in May, said that Huska became a clear choice for the coaching role over the last week.
“When I looked around and said, ‘What am I looking for and who would be the best fit?’ it really became clear the last four or five days that Ryan was the guy.”
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 to the Rockets head coach and remained as such for another seven seasons.
New #Flames head coach Ryan Huska speaks with the media at the Scotiabank Saddledome. https://t.co/Z7wFgrkrz7
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) June 12, 2023