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“He was a typical dad — just really excited for me,” said Brett, himself a father of three, starting to chuckle as he recounted the next part of this special conversation. “And then he asked if he could be my assistant coach.”

From the family farm in Viking, Alta., Darryl doesn’t make it sound like a very enticing offer.

“I told him if he needed a 66-year-old has-been, that I’m available,” he quipped.

The Flames believe that Brett Sutter could be a rising star in the behind-the-bench business.

“He made sure we knew he was ready for this job,” said general manager Craig Conroy. “He didn’t duck any of the questions. He just told us, ‘I know I’m ready, and nobody is going to work harder than me if I get this job.’ And I believe that, I do.

“He has a presence already, with the way that he carries himself and the way he speaks. We were in meetings at the end of the year and he was talking about some of the players and the pro scouts that were in that meeting listening to what he said, they said to me later, ‘Wow, he’s very impressive.’ Even they started talking — ‘This guy is going to be a head coach one day.’ ”

Sutter was one of two internal candidates — Joe Cirella will remain on staff to tutor the defencemen — but there was widespread interest in the position.

Word is, the Flames completed close to 20 interviews.

When they narrowed in on their top choice, there was one potential reference they didn’t contact, and that is not a case of any hard feelings after Darryl was dismissed as the Flames’ skipper at the end of the 2022-23 campaign.

“I didn’t want him to think, ‘Did my Dad help me get this?’ ” Conroy explained. “Because that wasn’t the case.

“Darryl was an amazing coach. The whole family, really, at one point or another, coached. So for Brett to be able to lean on them if he needs any help, I think that’s great. And then when you listen to what he says and how he thinks the game, you do see some of the qualities that maybe Darryl had. He’s different from his dad. He has a different personality in the way he talks to players, his demeanour, stuff like that. But the way he thinks the game, there’s a lot of similarities, which is something I really valued.”