Geoff Ward Officially Named Flames Head Coach After Serving in Interim Role

The Calgary Flames announced Monday that Geoff Ward, who led the Flames to a 25-15-3 record en route to the Stanley Cup playoffs after being named interim head coach in November, had been appointed as the 20th head coach in franchise history.

Ward was promoted from associate coach when Bill Peters resigned amid accusations of using racist language.

The 58-year-old began his NHL coaching career in 2007 as an assistant coach with the Boston Bruins, with whom he won a Stanley Cup in 2011. He held the same role with the New Jersey Devils from 2015-18 before joining the Flames in May 2018.

In an interview with Flames staffer Ty Pilson, Ward said he intends to talk with his players to get their feedback as he plans his strategy for his first season as an official head coach in the NHL:

"We want to do everything we can to give them not only the opportunity to become the best they can be, but also become part of a group that is ultimately able to win Stanley Cups. Having them fully invested in what's going is where that starts. The only way to do that is to make sure they know you care and that you have their best interest at heart."

In addition to coaching stints in Germany, where he won the DEL Championship in 2014-15 as the head coach of Adler Mannheim and assisted the national team for three years, Ward was an assistant coach at the University of Waterloo and coached junior hockey in Canada before making the move to the AHL in 2001 to become assistant and then head coach of the Hamilton Bulldogs.

The Flames ranked fourth in the Western Conference and eighth in the league in points percentage this season, with their power-play percentage of 25.7 ranking second in the league after Ward took over.

He led the team to a 3-1 series victory over the Winnipeg Jets in the qualifying round before they fell to the Dallas Stars in six games in the postseason.