Ryan Huska focused on relationship-building to kickstart struggling Flames

CALGARY – Ryan Huska knows plenty about the agony, the uncertainty and second-guessing that goes on in one’s head when you can’t get clarity on your situation.

As a player.

As a coach.

That’s exactly the predicament the Flames’ 47-year-old assistant found himself in late last week when a second interview for the Calgary Flames’ vacant coaching gig with GM Craig Conroy was followed by radio silence.

And after enduring 72 hours of drama before finding out he’d landed his dream gig, he’s hellbent on making sure none of his players go though similar pain, not knowing where they stand.

“I found myself on the third day power washing my paving stones in the backyard for, like, six hours,” he chuckled, early on at his introductory press conference Monday. “I don’t have a weed in my yard right now.”

“The mind starts to go, which is a good reminder for me of players and how they’ve changed.

“If you walked past a coach and he didn’t say anything, players used to think, ‘it’s a good sign the coach isn’t talking.’

“But now, if it’s quiet, players overthink.

“It just goes back to how important communication is, so players don’t get ahead of themselves.”

It’s with the understanding that relationship-building is the key to coaching success in today’s NHL that Huska was named the 24th head coach in Flames history Monday. He takes over a team that struggled to live up to expectations last season in an environment dripping in drama.

So dysfunctional was the situation in Calgary under Darryl Sutter that GM Brad Treliving simply walked away at season’s end.

So unhappy were several players with the heavy-handedness in which the team was run, the bulk of the team’s seven pending UFAs have spent the last year prepping to depart as well.

Credit to the organization for addressing the problem, and doing so by hiring the polar opposite of Sutter.

If anyone can use their social skills to convince any of the team’s core players there are better days ahead in Calgary, it’s Conroy and the man who had a similarly-lengthy road to the top. 

They identify well with today’s players, who want answers and clearly defined expectations.

Huska’s priority is winning, but his goal is to create an environment conducive to success by making it a fun place to play again.

“It’s not fun like you’re going to an amusement park,” smiled Huska, who played just one NHL game (as a Blackhawk, against the Flames of all teams).

“There needs to be a focus to what they are doing because we have to have a mindset to get better every day.

“But you want to create something where the players are there to enjoy each other and to make sure that they push each other.”

He plans on fostering that type of teamwork by continuing to earn the trust of everyone around him and by collaborating.

He’ll be the boss, operating at times with a firmness the job requires.

But the us-against-him mentality that was prevalent in the room the last few years will veer more towards an all-for-one approach. 

As an assistant, he was the good cop.

Players like and respect him, as his door was always open.

The trick is figuring out a way to command respect, and their attention, now that the dynamics have changed somewhat.

The press conferences might not be as entertaining as they were with Sutter’s message-sending snipes, but they’ll be full of insight and rationale from the humble B.C. native who gave snippets of his cerebral, measured approach when asked to speak from time to time as one of the club’s assistant coaches the last five seasons.

Hardly surprising he won Conroy over with a PowerPoint presentation so detailed and full of video support that it also included clips on how to improve the power play, while also better limiting prime scoring chances against. 

He wants to empower forwards to be more creative offensively, while being even more diligent in their own zone. 

In his time in Calgary he’s overseen the defencemen, as well as the league’s sixth-ranked penalty killing unit.

One of only four players to win three Memorial Cups as a player, the former Kamloops Blazers forward came within one game of winning a Memorial Cup coaching Kelowna, with Mikael Backlund on his squad.

Using a positive approach, he had success coaching the Flames AHL affiliate, where he did well to help Rasmus Andersson, Andrew Mangiapane and Oliver Kylington grow into NHLers.

Echoing Conroy’s desire to give young players bigger opportunities, his lengthy road to this point arms him with plenty of the tools needed to help them tap into their potential.

He listens, he’s learned, and he adapts.

Conroy loves the idea of changing the culture while keeping some continuity, putting all his trust in a man he’s worked with for many years.

The next job is finding assistants to complement Huska’s skillset, and there’s likely no one the organization would like to add to that crew than Mitch Love, the hotshot head coach of the Calgary Wranglers.

Conroy identified him as one of the four finalists in the head coaching search, but explained Huska got the nod because the step Love will have to make from two-time AHL coach of the year to head coach in the NHL can be an overwhelmingly huge one.

“Mitch is going to be a head coach in the NHL, 100 per cent — I don’t question that, nor does he,” said Conroy, who still has Love under contract for one more year, unless he’s let out of his deal to pursue an NHL opportunity elsewhere.

“But it’s all about being in a room with elite athletes, with huge contracts, the rinks, the media, it’s a whole different animal when you get to the NHL. 

“The pressure that goes along with being a head coach in a Canadian market when you’re trying to learn on the fly, the refs, the travel… the media. I think putting him in that situation now wasn’t fair.”

Don’t be fooled by those who argue the team isn’t getting the new voice it needs.

Huska represents a refreshing new approach, with the added bonus of having intimate knowledge of what works and what doesn’t in that room.

“My knowledge of the players, I think that’s a really important thing,” said Huska, who learned plenty from the two in-season coaching changes he endured as a Flames assistant.

“It’s a positive when I have a relationship with them already, and there isn’t that phase where we have to figure things out.

“That’s one of the reasons I feel comfortable I’m totally ready for this job.

“We’re going to create an environment where the players are going to have every opportunity to grow and succeed.”