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Flames GM Feaster still working the baseball analogy pretty hard

Ken King

This photo taken Dec. 28, 2010 shows Calgary Flames’ general manager Jay Feaster addressing a press conference in Calgary. Early next week, Feaster will then start the tough task of evaluating his squad and assessing what has to be done to make the Flames a playoff team next season. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Larry MacDougal)

AP

In early May, Calgary GM Jay Feaster said the Flames coaching search was in the “first inning.”

Today, the Flames sound like they’re looking at long relievers.

Or something like that.

“I would say by the end of this month, it would be more in the middle innings of the game,” Feaster told the Calgary Herald. “We don’t think it’s in our best interests to set an artificial deadline.

“We have a process. We’ve put that process together, and we’ve shared that process with ownership. Ownership has signed off on it, and we’re going to work that process.”

Feaster’s staying mum on specifics. The only nuggets of info he’s revealed are that 1) He had a master list of coaching candidates, 2) Assistants John Weisbrod and Craig Conroy added names to that list, 3) several coaches approached the Flames about the opening, and 4) the master list has been whittled down to a short list.

Hence the whole “middle innings” analogy.

Of course, Calgary still has plenty to conduct -- the interview process (which I’m guessing is the seventh-inning stretch), player assessments and draft analysis, all of which ties into the head coaching position.

As for the type of coach the Flames are targeting, Feaster gave a brief glimpse into his preferred personality when discussing Rangers bench boss John Tortorella, who Feaster teamed with in Tampa Bay to win the 2004 Stanley Cup.

Torts has clashed with reporters all postseason long. Does playing nice with the media matter?

“In my mind, that’s not one of the requirements,” Feaster said. “What matters more is winning. There are an awfully lot of great guys and very congenial and outgoing guys who will interview with you a whole day.

“But if they’re not winning, they’re not going to be coaching long.”