As reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Calgary Flames are expected to fire head coach Darryl Sutter. Sutter was set to enter a two-year extension with the team on July 1. The team made the news official later Monday morning.
Calgary will owe Sutter the $4MM per season committed on his extension, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic confirms.
While the news comes with some surprise after the team retained Sutter while parting ways with general manager Brad Treliving weeks ago, it’s not entirely unexpected based on Calgary’s incredibly disappointing season. After making multiple high-octane changes during the offseason, the Flames were expected to compete for the Pacific Division title entering 2022-23. Instead, burnout struck the team, which missed the playoffs for the third time in six seasons.
Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation president and CEO John Bean gave the following statement on Sutter’s dismissal:
On behalf of ownership and all Calgary Flames fans, we want to thank Darryl for his cumulative years of service to the Calgary Flames and to the community at large.
The news concludes Sutter’s second tenure as head coach of the Flames. After serving behind the bench for three seasons between 2002 and 2006, the Flames brought Sutter back into the fold during the 2020-21 season. In total, he ends his Flames career as head coach with 404 games, a 210-136-15-43 record, and a Western Conference championship in 2004.
Sutter’s reputation for strong defensive teams came through strong in 2021-22, with Calgary enjoying their best regular-season record behind their Stanley Cup-winning 1988-89 campaign. Finishing first in the Pacific Division with 111 points, Calgary’s strong play dried up in the Second Round, losing to Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers.
That same mentality didn’t carry over to a 2022-23 team with significant offensive turnover, and prized acquisitions Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri struggled heavily to fit into Calgary’s system. With the team committed to both players for many years to come, interim general manager Don Maloney decided a new direction behind the bench was necessary for future success.
Whoever Calgary’s next head coach may be, they’ll inherit a team that still has the key components necessary to compete in the Western Conference. With a system more suited to the capabilities of Huberdeau and Kadri, as well as more opportunities for younger players such as Dillon Dubé, Jakob Pelletier, and Adam Ruzicka, the Flames aren’t in a position where they need to tear down and start over.
Darryl will have a lot of money to buy feed for his cattle now. And the Flames will possibly get a coach with some innovation.
@Gbear – $8MM for cow pies and Cool Whip. Party in Viking at the old homestead. Now just find someone who can figure out the inner workings of Huberdeau and Kadri to get more GPGs from them. Not to mention, stay away from “shot quantity” and go back to “shot quality with intelligent quantity.”
If Darryl could have 12 Tkachuk’s up front, his style of hockey might work. But there’s only two of them and he lost the one he had. Then again, I could be a good coach with a dozen Tkachuk’s. :D
@Gbear – Rumor has it Eric Francis overheard Darryl secretly wishing for Big Walt, instead of these kids that think they know stuff. I’m not sayin’ it’s true, just telling you what I heard. :) I’m glad the talking heads on the Interweb Radio are bringing up his aversion to playing the kids that had earned it and demeaning them, ala Keenan. It reminded me of a certain Hall-of-Famer who said (paraphrased), “He (Keenan) turns the coolest game on Earth into work.” Some HCs just baffle you by seemingly trying to take creativity out of the game and scripting everything.
Wonder which western conference team will hire him next
Please no…. Not the Ducks….
He’s a dinosaur. Out with the old in with the new.
Flames players just quit on Sutter. Sad
That’s how they got rid of a coach they collectively did not like.
The Flames are not in a position where they have to tear down and start over?
Huh? A bunch of players have said they want out, and most of their D core is UFA after this season. And they are capped out already!
They can likely do ok with a new coach and system, but that will just be more of the same mediocrity. They need some young high end players.
Maybe Sutter is the reason those players want out.
Exactly. I listened to the president interview and he was asked what players were meeting about.
He let it out, briefly, that players were talking about attracting new players and wanting to stay…so ya, safe to say
Can they circle back to Treliving now?
@wreckage – Don Maloney was asked that and said, basically, “that ship has sailed.” He did feel that Tre was not going to be out of work for long, if he chose to get right back in.
For all the Flames fans that liked this guy and thought the players were soft give your head a shake this coach is still thinking the world war is still on..Way over the hill into the pasture….Great move flames upper staff..
Damn, introducing the next Blues assistant coach…smh…
Not a flames fan, but I think this was the absolute best thing they could do.
Mike Love.