Calgary Flames fire Darryl Sutter
Posted May 1, 2023 10:15 am.
Last Updated May 2, 2023 9:08 am.
The Calgary Flames fired bench boss Darryl Sutter, according to an announcement Monday, after the team missed the playoffs this season.
The #Flames have relieved Darryl Sutter of his coaching duties.
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) May 1, 2023
“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,” said CSEC President and CEO, John Bean, in a statement.
This comes after Flames general manager Brad Treliving parted ways with the organization and was replaced by Don Maloney as the interim GM.
In a news conference at the time, Maloney said he would be “looking at everything,” including coaching.
#Flames review under Don Maloney was very much legit. Darryl Sutter’s status had very much been in question since it started.
Two weeks later decision has been made to let him go.
— Pat Steinberg (@Fan960Steinberg) May 1, 2023
Sutter signed a two-year extension with the team after winning the Jack Adams Award last season as NHL coach of the year after he took the Flames to the Pacific Division regular-season title.
The extension was set to kick in on July 1, with the contract paying out $4 million each of the next two years.
But the wheels came off this year as the team finished outside the playoff picture, along with rumours of rifts between the players and the bench boss.
In addition, Sutter never held a post-season news conference, leading to speculation that his job could be in jeopardy.
“Darryl is a good coach and good man, but it was time for us to have a new voice, and that’s why we made this decision,” Maloney told reporters Monday at the Saddledome.
It has been reported that several key players made it clear in their exit interviews that the environment in which they were working under Sutter was untenable.
“I interviewed 25 players, coaching staff, spoke to prominent agents who represent key players on our team,” Maloney said. “It became clear to me that we needed a new voice to guide us.”
Maloney spoke about Sutter’s abrasive style, which could lead to positive results for the club had begun to wear thin with his roster.
“He’s a firm coach, he’s a hard coach. Demanding coach,” Maloney said. “But there’s a shelf-life to that type of coaching, but obviously, I felt that his time had expired with us.”
Watch: Calgary Flames part ways with Brad Treliving
The team was expected to challenge for the Pacific Division title after an off-season that saw Treliving bring in Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri and Mackenzie Weegar after trading long-time stars Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk.
Calgary finished with a 38-27-17 record, with 93 points, finishing ninth in the Western Conference and 16th overall.
“We’re in a results business, we’ve got to stop talking about ‘Oh if we made the playoffs, we would have been a hard out.’ No, we didn’t make the playoffs, so we want results,” Maloney said.
“We have the players to do it. We have good players. We have top players in key positions. So, we have to get the right manager and the right coach … that can connect with today’s player.”
Read More: GM Brad Treliving parts ways with Calgary Flames
This isn’t the first time he and the Flames organization have parted ways.
Sutter was named the head coach for the Flames in 2002. He took the team to the Stanley Cup championship for the first time since the 1988-89 season.
During that time, he had a 107-73-15-15 record.
He then moved to the GM role after the 2005-2006 season and later resigned in 2010 at the request of then-club president Ken King.
Later, Sutter took the Los Angeles Kings to two Stanley Cup wins in 2012 and 2014.
-With files from Sportsnet
