due to his wife’s critical remarks, the calgary flames head coach has decided to end his…

Due to his wife’s critical remarks, the Calgary Flames head coach has decided to end his…

ALGARY – For their next head coach, the Calgary Flames have promoted an internal candidate.
After serving as the Flames assistant for five years, Ryan Huska assumes the captaincy.

The Trail, British Columbia native, 47, takes over for Darryl Sutter, who was let go in May.

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In eight years, Calgary has had five head coaches.

Craig Conroy, the new general manager, made his first significant decision by hiring Huska.

Huska has previously spent seven seasons as the Kelowna Rockets’ bench boss in the Western Hockey League and four seasons as the coach of Calgary’s AHL affiliate.

To fill the roles of general manager and head coach, the Flames went within the organization.

Brad Treliving, who declined an extension with Calgary and was elected general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs on May 31, was Brad Treliving’s assistant for nine seasons.

In 2023–2024, Huska will prioritize getting greater performance out of Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri.

Kadri was a free agent when he was signed by the Flames, while Huberdeau was acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Florida Panthers last summer that also saw Matthew Tkachuk leave.

Despite being signed by Calgary for a total of 15 years and US$133 million, neither Kadri nor Huberdeau were able to establish a good rapport with Sutter, and their output was far lower than their peak years.

At the conclusion of the season, Huberdeau remarked, “I completely lost my swagger this year.”

In 2009, Huska led the Rockets to a WHL championship. That year in Kelowna, Mikael Backlund, the Flame with the longest tenure (14 seasons in Calgary), was a Huska player.

Huska served as an assistant coach for Canada’s 2011 and 2012 entries in the World Junior Hockey Championship.

As a player for the Kamloops Blazers (1992, 1994, and 1995), he was the recipient of three Memorial Cups.

In 1993, Huska was selected by the Blackhawks in the third round (76th overall). The center participated in one NHL game for Chicago throughout his five seasons as a minor league player.

The Canadian Press released this report for the first time on June 12, 2023.