Apologies if already posted, but Wes Gilbertson had a great article talking to Conroy and Gelinas about their experiences with Sutter when they were players:
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“Darryl gets the most of everyone. That’s what he does best,” Gelinas said. “He knows how to push buttons. He knows how to drive people. He knows how to motivate people.
...
For Conroy and Gelinas, this will be their second first impression.
“I remember, maybe the first two weeks that he was here (in 2002-03), he hated the way that we changed on the fly. He was losing his mind,” Conroy said. “We went out there and we changed on the fly for about 45 minutes one day. I’m thinking, ‘Can we just do it right? This is sooo boring.’ He’d stop us — ‘No, the first guy goes here, the second guy goes here. The third guy has to read. We have to be a little smarter.’
“And we did it and we did it and we did it and we did it. You’re an NHL player, you should probably know how to change. But it’s the way he wanted you to change. That’s what I love about the way he coaches. He doesn’t let you off the hook and it’s the little details that he expects. And if you don’t do ’em, he addresses it.”
...
“He is particularly hard on your leadership group, your top guys. He holds them to a higher level than everyone on the team,” Conroy said. “And when you do that, everything else kind of flows down. I mean, you can’t let your top guys get away with stuff. If you do, bad habits happen.
“With Darryl, it’s not always comfortable. It’s not always fun. But he is doing it for the right reasons. It’s not personal with Darryl. It’s not that he doesn’t like you. He just expects a lot of you — more than you maybe expect out of yourself — and he pushes those buttons to get that. He’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you get that.”
Also some anecdotes about 2004, and how Sutter coached Conroy (and Iginla) vs Gelinas.
The value you get for the players you are selling could be lower though, if they have to quarantine, since the buying team misses out on a few games of the player they are buying. Teams who are safely on the top of their division might still be comfortable buying but bubble teams might be hesitant ponying up a lot for a player that may not be able to contribute as much during the regular season.
One result might be though is teams deciding they want to be sellers earlier on and activity may peak further in advance of the trade deadline. Seems like that's already a trend that more activity happens before the trade deadline than at it, and this year it could be even more exaggerated.
If you are trading to a US team (most of the league) this really doesn't matter
I believe that in the off-season the decision on a head coach was always set on one of either Sutter or Ward. The most popular opinion here seems to be that Ward was Treliving's pick, and Sutter was the owners, and that ownership deferred to Treliving but have now pulled rank to hire their first choice.
However, it is also possible that the situation was reversed: perhaps Treliving's first choice was Sutter, but ownership was more set on Ward as a cost-saving measure while staring down millions of dollars of losses during the pandemic. Perhaps it was a group decision from the beginning to try something, and then to alter course when it was very clearly not working at all. Correcting the mistake of hiring Ward was definitely much easier to swallow than it would have been attempting to correct the mistake of a much higher dollar commitment to Sutter in the first place.
I think these are both equally probable scenarios.
Ultimately Ward helped turn the team out of a dumpster-fire season and got them 1 win deeper than they've been in the last 5 seasons (with a Tkachuk injury *). It's not hard to see why they went the cheaper route.
As others have said, Darryl's own interest could also have changed over a few months...the outlook regarding COVID and vax status certainly has changed. If he's in ANA, he may even be vaccinated now?
It's not just Treliving. Sutter himself has confirmed that they have been in regular communication for what seems like a long time now.
I just want to remind you that Darryl absolutely does not care about being honest to the media if it suits his purposes
I love the guy, and it's not like he never says anything true, but I wouldn't trust him any more than Treliving. It's not like Darryl would contradict his GM in the first public interview.
...As others have said, Darryl's own interest could also have changed over a few months...the outlook regarding COVID and vax status certainly has changed. If he's in ANA, he may even be vaccinated now?
I am sceptical that Sutter was every physically in Anaheim since before the shutdown. He was hired as an advisor, and I would bet that most of his work since the border closure was in the form of consultations over the phone or zoom.
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Have to go 20-10 in the last 30 games. So the team better get whipped into shape quickly.
That would be true most years, when you're up against the entire conference. But the normal rules don't apply this year.
They play Montreal 7 more times
If they go 5-2 against them, they would only need to play the other remaining games evenly with them. And that could just as easily be 1 game over .500 as 10.
Every game is a divisional 4 pointer this year. So all they need to do is dominate one of MTL, EDM or WPG. Though WPG is a steeper hill for sure.
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Hey Mod's Can we shut this thread down and start it's own Sutter thread? I think that he deserves his own thread, not linked to the prior coach.
Thanks
Apologies if already posted, but Wes Gilbertson had a great article talking to Conroy and Gelinas about their experiences with Sutter when they were players:
Also some anecdotes about 2004, and how Sutter coached Conroy (and Iginla) vs Gelinas.
Anyone else just looking forward to having Darryl post-games again?
Whatever the results on the ice are this week, I'm just going to be happy to see what Darryl has to say after the final whistles.
I was hoping they would have gotten post game reaction by Zoom on the weekend. Disappointed they didn’t because I suspect Darryl would have had some pretty good opinions after those games!
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Also possible Sutter was the first choice but declined for whatever reasons. For one, he puts family above all and taking the job in the midst of Covid isn’t great for family. What’s more, the team still has some holes that could be filled in due course. If we can see it, clearly DS can too. Without Covid, most anticipated upward movement of the salary cap. A few million more could have meant a Toffoli like player instead of Leivo or Simon.
Coaches have an impact timeframe and a shelf life. Maybe the group felt extending the timing was the way to go. DS himself said he owed a lot to ownership. To me the rhetoric sounded as if he wasn’t prepared for this at this moment but that it was a necessary last resort and that it was a bit of favor / loyalty.
After watching the video that Mathgod posted, I saw this one linked about Chris Sutter working at a restaurant in Venice. Something that struck me was a statement from Darryl that before thinking about moving cities, they would consider whether it made sense for Chris (at 2:21):
Without speculating too much or getting too personal, I’ve read that people with Down Syndrome are at high risk when it comes to Covid. So taking the job last year may not have been the right “fit” at the time. In any event, I’m happy he’s jumping back in the saddle now as it will at least make the team more entertaining to follow and watch.
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I think a lot of these guys are in for a shock.
Do we see any Flames player agents in the media in the next few weeks?
If we do, one of us will gladly drive that individual to the airport.
Either they're interested in graduating from their boy-ish, half-hearted, complacency-laden approach in the workplace to being men and consummate professionals that want to be part of an identity en route to winning at the sport they play for a living, or they are welcome to take their current approach and lifestyle elsewhere.
It's really as simple as that.
I'm fascinated to see who falls into what category. Sutter will make diamonds out of the guys that endure the rigors to come and embrace his no BS guidance/criticism though. I have no doubt that on an individual level they'll be better for it.
We're blessed to have this man come out of apparent retirement to turn this group around, and I hope they share that gratitude. There aren't many better coaches.
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If we do, one of us will gladly drive that individual to the airport.
Either they're interested in graduating from their boy-ish, half-hearted, complacency-laden approach in the workplace to being men and consummate professionals that want to be part of an identity en route to winning at the sport they play for a living, or they are welcome to take their current approach and lifestyle elsewhere.
It's really as simple as that.
I'm fascinated to see who falls into what category. Sutter will make diamonds out of the guys that endure the rigors to come and embrace his no BS guidance/criticism though. I have no doubt that on an individual level they'll be better for it.
We're blessed to have this man come out of apparent retirement to turn this group around, and I hope they share that gratitude. There aren't many better coaches.
Pretty sure no one on this team is going to argue with a lifelong rancher and multiple Cup winner about how important hard work is
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Said it yesterday or the day before but worth repeating. These players are now entering the "time to grow up" phase. Sutter is going to waste no time weeding out the ones who can't hack it.
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It's easy to dismiss direction or meander under a coach that has never won and is still learning the ropes of their own job at this level, but Darryl Sutter is not that coach.
He willingly took this gig on and committed 3 years, you can be sure he already has concrete ideas on whats going on with these guys and what needs to change.
He's been through the rodeo of turning a group of floundering chumps into legitimate cup challengers twice now. Hope the boys are ready.
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It's easy to dismiss direction or meander under a coach that has never won and is still learning the ropes of their own job at this level, but Darryl Sutter is not that coach.
He willingly took this gig on and committed 3 years, you can be sure he already has concrete ideas on whats going on with these guys and what needs to change.
He's been through the rodeo of turning a group of floundering chumps into legitimate cup challengers twice now. Hope the boys are ready.
This is just it. He walks in the room and commands respect. He didn’t need this job, he’s not trying to climb the ranks and further his career. So you better damn well listen to what he’s saying being you know he came back to win a cup for the city and he knows how to win it.
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