Darryl Sutter effect: Flames bench boss takes home top coach award

Darryl Sutter has won the Jack Adams Award going to the National Hockey League’s top coach for the first time in his career.

The Calgary Flames bench boss helped his group to the biggest season-over-season improvement by any team, capturing first in the Pacific Division with a 50-21-11 record.

The squad also finished sixth in goals per game and third in goals against.

Sportsnet 960’s Flames Talk host Pat Steinberg had a front-row seat, watching Sutter work his magic.

“I just don’t know if anybody did a better job in the NHL this year in terms of actually the coaching job and how much of an impact coaching made more than Darryl Sutter did,” Steinberg explained.

“Take a look at what he did starting last year when he came for those final 30 games and how it carried over to start this season. His stamp was all over it,” said Steinberg.

“It was an almost immediate change from season to season, and we even started to see it at the end of last year. Right from training camp, the preseason, and especially from the start of the regular season and that first game against Edmonton, you could tell this had a different identity,” said Steinberg.

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He got them to play prototypical Darryl Sutter hockey: shot volume, possession, hemming teams in deep. All of the things Darryl Sutter has been known for.

Sutter is the second winner in franchise history, following Bob Hartley’s footsteps in 2014-15.

Although this is Darryl’s first Jack Adams, it’s not the first in the Sutter family. Brian took the hardware home in 1990-91 with the St. Louis Blues.

This year’s two other finalists were Andrew Brunette of the Florida Panthers and the New York Rangers’ Gerard Gallant.