Quote:
Originally Posted by Hack&Lube
From what I heard on the radio (maybe Rhett Warrener or others) it was also directed at staff and even subtly at the GM for bringing up players that he didn't want to play in the games versus the vets. There was definitely a tension between what Brad wanted and what Sutter wanted. Conroy spoke about this recently, like how Burke favored a hands off and let the coach decide approach and Brad was more of wanting to determine who was in the room and who was on the ice. Sutter bristled at that.
|
Of course he bristled at all of it. Treliving lost him the services of Gaudreau and Tkachuk in his mind and replaced them with inferior players. To be fair, I really don't blame him either. The GM didn't hold up his end of the bargain when he brought Sutter in to compete for championships with 2-3 elite forwards.
Sutter's comments of huberdeau being the best passer the team has ever had were said in jest....he knew full well that the guy was nowhere near as good as his numbers suggested.
Playing Richie in the shootout at the end of the year was also another massive middle finger to the front office. You could feel the whole thing was about this is who you got me to get over the hump? We desperately needed a PP guy and this is who you got - well here he is with the season on the line.
Agree with Sutter or not, that's fine. I don't because you do still need to be a decent human to people when things are going badly. But his emotions clearly got the better of him and a lot of that was likely frustration that he came back to push this group for a few years and only got one real kick at the can with a capable team.