[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

There is so much wrong with this statement:


1) 2018 - less than 3 years ago? Has hockey changed that much in 3 years? Elaborate on these huge changes. It is 2018, not 1918.

Yes, the game has continued to change and evolve. It is a younger players game that relies more on speed and transition. You can't get by on playing the lumbering smash mouth game synonymous with Sutter hockey. You need speed and you need to move the puck quickly. Dump and chase with a reliance on crash and bang is no recipe for success in the NHL these days.

2) As others have pointed out, this is exactly the same sentiment that fans and analysts around the NHL said about Darryl being hired in LA... and then he wins 2 cups. Completely turned that under-performing team around nearly overnight, and saved the GM's job.

So, who on this team is Kopitar, Carter, Brown, Clifford, Lewis, Penner, King, Fraser, Nolan, Regehr, Muzzin, or Greene? Smallest guy on the team was Richards who is average size on this team.

Pretty easy to turn a team around when you have that talent level on it too.

3) Based on what I have seen, Darryl is exactly the right coach for this team. What makes you think otherwise? What is this team's biggest issues? I would say it is giving a full effort for 60 minutes - something that Darryl's teams are famous for, at the very least in his first few years on the team. What is another thing that Darryl's teams are famous for? Defensive play - another huge issue on this team even though this team has had iteration after iteration of having one of the NHL's most talented back-ends.

What makes me think otherwise? Take a look at this roster. Take a look at the rosters that Sutter has put together. Sutter likes size and physicality. This team is small and can't play dump and chase to save their lives. They would fail under Sutter because he would try and get them to play that game, and then when they didn't he'd sit the small guys for Robinson, Ritichie, and Leivo. Good lord, Sutter is the antithesis of a coach for this team.

I also still remember Sutter breaking down what was wrong with the Flames years ago when he did a short analyst gig on TSN (or Sportsnet - I don't remember actually). It was under Gulutzan's era. He specifically stated that Calgary has changed their transition to be slower, and that in today's game, every team has a fast transition, and if you don't, you are in trouble. So before you say that Darryl would turn this team into a plodding grind-it-out team, he won't. He wants fast break-outs.

That relied on dump and chase hockey and grinding out the opposition.

Now, in the Covid world, maybe he doesn't want to coach any longer. Maybe he is now officially (quietly?) retired? I don't know. I just can't think of any BETTER options out there. None that are available. He would get this team playing hard, figure out why they are a defensive mess that requires Markstrom to make athletic save after safe (I will hate to see this team if he wears out), and seemingly unable to defend properly. On top of this, they transition like molasses more often than not.

There are other coaches available. I'd take Gallant over Sutter every day of the week and twice on game days. Gallant has shown he can adapt to the talent he has while Sutter makes the team in his own image. The game has passed Sutter by.

The Flames transition poorly because they are schooled to continually move the puck against the flow. Fix this minor issue and this team improves 1000%. Anyone with half a brain can see this.

Maybe Sutter isn't the right coach. Maybe the team is bad. I would love to try Sutter for the rest of the season before making huge moves in the off-season.

Might as well bring Conroy out of retirement and see if Iggy wants to put the band back together too. The game has passed Sutter by. To play his brand of hockey would require a massive retool and we don't have the assets to go through that mess. Not sure if you haven't noticed, but the Flames have drafted small skilled players, not the ice boxes on skates Sutter likes. Bringing Sutter in would be a disaster and move the entire organization backward.