[sureLoss]

https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/...-nhl-coaching/

Should the Washington Capitals choose not to hire assistant Todd Reirden to be their coach, they needn’t call to ask about the availability of Darryl Sutter.

He’s finished as a coach.

We won’t go as far as to say he’s retired, as the 59-year-old rancher is up at the crack of dawn every morning, running his 3,000-acre farm in Viking, Ab.

But in terms of an NHL career that started in 1978 when he was drafted 178th overall, he’s happy to ride his tractor into the sunset with two Stanley Cups and a cabin full of memories.

"Forty years, that’s enough," said Sutter, 59, when asked if he’d consider the Washington gig that became vacant when Barry Trotz resigned following this month’s Stanley Cup win.

"No way, I’d be too far away from the grandkids."

That’s how it goes for coaches – they don’t retire, unless they are Scotty Bowman.

They simply fade away from the scene.

He admitted that situation could have been found close to home had the Flames called this spring when Glen Gulutzan was replaced by Bill Peters.

"I would have listened for sure," said Sutter of a possible return to the organization he spent eight years with.

"Brad (Treliving) made a great choice in Bill, as did Todd (McLellan) in Edmonton, getting Gully to join."

He now insists following a winter of contemplation there’s no situation that could tempt him to leave his ranch to relocate once again with his wife, Wanda, and son, Chris.