Flames weekly notebook: Ryan Huska is over-coaching

In my 20 years of following the Calgary Flames, I have never seen them in such disarray to start a season. Everything that could go wrong is going wrong through the first 14 games of the season.

Let’s start with the on ice product where the Flames rank at or near the bottom in nearly every statistical category. They’re not getting the production they need from nearly every player in the lineup. Their top two defencemen, MacKenzie Weegar and Rasmus Andersson, are playing some of their worst hockey as members of the Flames. Dustin Wolf is putting in either spectacular performances or getting lit up.

Flames fans can live with these outcomes this season if it means that young players are going to get playing time, and the franchise is going to pivot and start to truly build for the future.

Unfortunately, both those things aren’t happening. Ryan Huska continually scratches young players like Zayne Parekh, Matt Coronato, and Connor Zary while not holding his veteran players accountable.

Then there are reports from NHL insiders that Flames ownership and upper management still hold the position that they don’t want to fully rebuild, despite the fact that it’s what the fan base wants and it’s how you acquire the elite talent you need to build a consistent winner in the NHL.

It’s time for ownership and upper management to come to the realization that this is not the team you’re going to the promise land with. This is a group that has been together going on four years and they haven’t accomplished anything. Not one playoff appearance.

It’s time for Conroy to rip the band-aid off and start to turn this ship in a different direction. Flames fans will accept a few down years if it means the Flames are building for something better in the future.

What fans won’t accept is this organization continuing to wanting to “remain competitive” keeping them in the mushy middle where they have lived for the last 30 years. My advice would be to embrace building for the future.

In the NHL you either sell hope, or you sell winning. The Flames aren’t doing either right now and it’s pissing off their fan base.

Let’s dive into some other Flames topics from this week

Ryan Huska is over-coaching

The Flames third year head coach has made some head scratching lineup decisions over the first 14 games of the season.

It starts with Zayne Parekh, who has been made a healthy scratch in four of their games this season despite being one of the Flames better defencemen at 5-on-5 and the fact he is their best quarterback option on the first power play unit.

Scratching Matt Coronato, one of the best shooters on a team that is dead last in goals for this season. Yes, Coronato has had a brutal start to the year for his standards. But so have a lot of other forwards. They just signed him to a seven year contract extension. Scratching what is supposed to be a foundation par too your team moving forward doesn’t make sense.

Connor Zary was a healthy scratch the last two games. Meanwhile Huska has Yegor Sharangovich playing centre in Zary’s spot despite the fact Sharangovich has proved time after time that he is not a centre at the NHL level.

Huska is juggling lines every game.

He’s overplaying Dustin Wolf.

He hasn’t found a legit partner for MacKenzie Weegar.

Simply put, Ryan Huska is over coaching this team. He’s overthinking things because of the brutal start to the season. It’s time for the Flames head coach to play his best players, and put them in positions to succeed. That’s the most important part about being a coach.

Devin Cooley turning into a great story

Who would have thought 14 games into the season that Devin Cooley would be the most positive story? Especially after the preseason when Cooley had a 4.08 GAA and a 0.846 SV%.