WHAT'S NEXT?

Geoff Ward has heard the same question asked many different ways and many different times since being named the Flames interim head coach last November.
Just like fans and media love stories about players who took the road less traveled to make it to the NHL, they are also fascinated by coaches who had what's considered an unorthodox route to hockey's biggest stage.

After earning that first head coach gig in The Show, even with the interim title attached, the oft-asked query - many times again in the post-season - was whether he felt he had made it, if he had that 'wow' moment on where all his hard work had brought him, and how far he had come from his humble coaching beginnings.
But even after having that interim tag removed and being officially named the club's 20th head coach, Ward still didn't have a heart-warming Hallmark moment to share.
Much like Jed Bartlett, the popular president played by Martin Sheen on the Emmy-winning series The West Wing, he's always thinking 'what's next?'
"No, to be honest with you, not yet," said Ward with a laugh. "I'm always thinking about moving ahead. So I've been spending an awful lot of time just watching the playoffs, taking what I feel we can use from the games that are being played, and how we can apply it with our team, and, you know, putting a plan together for some ideas to be brought up with Tre (GM Brad Treliving) and the management team as to where do we move ahead from here with our team in order to make it better and take that next step.
"So, there's been an awful lot of planning, initially, for next season and getting ready for that. I'm not sure when that moment you're talking about may hit, but I certainly haven't taken the time to really think about it yet."

That's perhaps fitting.
You don't achieve what Ward has by standing still or admiring the view where you are. The nose-to-grindstone, relentless pursuit of perfecting his craft is what has propelled the Waterloo, Ont., product to where he is today.
Let's take a quick look in the rearview mirror.
Ward was a full-time school teacher New Liskeard, Ont., who took over a midget team to begin his coaching career. From there he moved on to the University of Waterloo as an assistant from 1989-91, then the OHL as an assistant with the Niagara Falls Thunder in 1991-92.
He then spent time as a head coach with the Waterloo Siskins, the Kitchener Rangers and the Guelph Storm.
After plying his trade in the AHL as both an assistant and head coach, he took a job as an assistant coach with the Bruins in 2007 and achieved the ultimate goal by winning a Stanley Cup in 2011.
Ward also spent time in Europe and was an assistant coach for the German national team before signing on with the New Jersey Devils prior to coming to Calgary in May of 2018.
When Bill Peters resigned midway through last season, Ward - who had been the associate coach - took over behind the bench and led the team during their stretch run, the Covid Pause, training camp V2.0, and then a qualifying-round series win over the Winnipeg Jets, before falling to the Dallas Stars in the first round of the playoffs.
Since then, Ward - who returned home to Massachusetts just two weeks ago, where two of his four kids are attending school locally (the other two in college) - has remained focused on the task at hand: building the Flames into a Stanley Cup winner.
He knows what it feels like to hoist the coveted chalice.
He wants to do it again here.
"There's still a lot of work," said Ward, "and now is the time to start chipping away at it.
"Now that the season's over, you go through, like you said, the post-mortem. There's an awful lot of things you're spending some time on - going through the proper process to look at everything."

Treliving finished his exit interviews with players last week and Ward said he will talk with his GM this week about what was said and discussed before making his own calls.
Of course, there will also be plenty of discussion among the team's braintrust in advance of the upcoming draft and free agency.
"One of my first jobs is going to be to talk to all the players," he explained. "I really want to dig in with them, really get their feedback on how they felt during the season, and through the playoffs, areas where they think we're good, areas where they feel we can continue to get better. We want to talk about their roles, how they can continue to expand. I want some feedback from them on what they felt we can do better as a coaching staff in order to help them continue along the path we've started.
"So, still a lot of things that need to be done. But having done a lot of the work through the last seven, eight months means we're way more prepared moving into this (next) season. I think it gives us the opportunity to really springboard forward in a big way to taking that next step."
That step, he hopes, will be aided by the loss to the Stars.
You can't change history, but you can learn from it.
"When you don't go to the last game and win, ultimately it's disappointing and it should be," said Ward. "And that part of it hurts. I think that's an important part of our learning curve as a team, to really understand and putting that hurt in the proper place after you lose. I think if you use it properly, it can make you a better team."

While it's customary for a head coach to talk to his charges following any campaign, it's not surprising that it's the first thing on Ward's plate now that everyone has had some time to digest what happened this year. To say he has an open-door policy doesn't paint the whole picture. His coaching style is based around the most important tenet of any coach or leader: trying to make those around him the best they can be.
He includes the players in his strategy and plans and values their input. He truly cares and that shows through.
"I'm a big believer in the fact that I think if you feel like you have ownership in the program, you have ownership in your own development, you have an ownership in terms of the place you come to work, I think you're much more committed," explained Ward.
"Really, that's how we operate. I think it's important that the players understand that it's their program, it's not ours. 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 vested 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.
"If they fell like they are, they are going to come to the rink every day ready to contribute and excited about being there. They are committed to it because they are part of the plan. It's so much easier to have a group of people, a team, move ahead and demand the best out of each other and ultimately get it."