Interim coach Geoff Ward acknowledges how unusual the past few weeks have been for the Calgary Flames, but he’s tried his best to keep the noise outside the dressing room.
Ward, who officially inherited the head coaching job on Nov. 29 after former Flames player Akim Aliu took to Twitter to expose racism allegations against his former coach Bill Peters, has seen nothing but wins as a bench boss, and he’s vying to keep his players focused on the game.
“It’s been chaotic, that’s probably the easiest way to put it,” said Ward during After Hours on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday. “But I think, you know, the most important focus for us has been the feeling of the team and what we need to do to sort of keep the noise to the outside, and I think the players have done an excellent job.”
Ward’s Flames carved out a 4-3 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.
“It’s important that the dressing room stays insulated and we keep all the distractions to the outside,” the coach said. “I think they’ve come together a little bit, and we’ve started to play some better hockey.”
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