The Calgary Flames have elevated Ryan Huska to the role of head coach.
Ryan Huska stands on the bench during a game against the Arizona Coyotes in December 2019.The new era of Calgary Flames hockey is finally set.
The Flames announced their final massive organizational change on Monday, elevating former assistant Ryan Huska to the position of head coach, replacing Darryl Sutter, who parted ways with the club shortly after the conclusion of the regular season.
Huska is certainly not a stranger to the Flames organization. The 47-year-old spent the past five seasons as an assistant coach for the team while primarily overseeing the penalty kill, and he also served as the coach of the Flames' AHL affiliate in Adirondack and Stockton from 2015 to 2018 before joining the NHL club's staff.
Despite the disastrous season the Flames just endured, Huska managed to keep the factions of the team's roster that fell under his purview working smoothly. In 2022-23, the Flames finished fifth in the NHL in penalty-kill efficiency at 82.59 percent while also scoring eight shorthanded goals and allowing the third-fewest total shots against of any team in the entire league.
"Following a detailed search process, today we are proud to introduce Ryan Huska as head coach of the Calgary Flames," said Flames GM Craig Conroy in a statement on Monday.
"While continuity and familiarity are a benefit, we have witnessed firsthand Ryan's work ethic; he is a clear communicator who builds trust with his players; and he's a critical thinker with a plan."
With Huska joining Conroy in a top role this off-season, the Flames have now cemented a hockey operations brain trust that has decades of combined experience within their own organization, with the intention of using that familiarity to right the ship in 2023-24.
Whether that plan goes accordingly remains to be seen.