Calgary Flames Land New Assistant Coach
The Calgary Flames couldn’t have had a worse day on Thursday, especially in the court of public opinion, as up to four 2024 Unrestricted Free Agents declared they were unlikely to re-sign with Calgary, and with AHL standout Coach Mitch Love opting to head to Washington, but thankfully, it’s not all bad news for the Flames right now.
Sure, they lost one potential assistant coach, but it appears they’ve landed another, as The Hockey News are reporting that former Flame, Ranger, Bruin and Thrasher Marc Savard, with over 800 games of NHL experience will be joining this staff for the upcoming campaign.
.@TheHockeyNews has learned that Mark Savard has been hired as an assistant coach by the @NHLFlames
— Tony Ferrari (@theTonyFerrari) June 23, 2023
He led the Windsor Spitfires to the top seed in the conference both years at the helm and an OHL final.
I wrote about him last month for THN. https://t.co/O5BUrNC1mW
Since retiring from the NHL in 2011, Savard has spent time with the St. Louis Blues as an assistant, but was most recently seen as the Head Coach of the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL, over which time the team posted an impressive 88-35-13 record. While he’s likely a long way away from being a Head Coach at the NHL level, Savard has excelled in the OHL, with his teams performing offensively in a big way, and after getting familiar with the city from 1999-2002, he’s the perfect addition for a team looking to improve after a disastrous offensive performance in 2022-23.
We’ve yet to see an official announcement for this move or any others, but given how quickly the draft, free agency and potential trades are approaching, they will need to make some official moves soon, but with Savard and Huska, it appears they’re making a big philosophical change, one that is much needed for the organization.