[News] Brent Sutter interview on Global Sports Tonight

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Brent sure seems to have a lot to say about the Flames.

Maybe he wants back in.

what else has he said so far?

[Tinordi]

Brent Sutter got a raw deal

[Hockey_Ninja]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Whatever the Bruins scored 9 goals on us when Brent was in charge. Brent coached a boring style and also took a team that was 5 years straight in the playoffs to 3 straight misses. Remember it how you want but this team was falling apart no matter who coached it. Brent saw that at the end of last season which is why he mutually parted ways with the team.

Brent had this team in the bottom 5-10 in the standings after 35 games a couple of times and was the coach during a 9 game losing streak. On top of that letting 8 in against the Oilers the day of trade deadline with your starting goalie, franchise player, and top Dman recently traded is not surprising. Do you think the players had the game on their mind that day? They all thought they were getting moved

Fair enough. I don't hate Hartley and i'm willing to give him a chance but i hope he can get these guys, especially the younger ones coming in, to commit to playing defense at least for next season. I figure it's going to be an important topic during training camp.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

what else has he said so far?

Said something in the fall (or early winter?). I can't remember... but he said something else.

[FanIn80]

I'm really not all that concerned about what Brent Sutter has to say about the Flames. Whether he's right or wrong is irrelevant. I've just simply moved on.

My focus, as a fan right now, is the upcoming draft. After that, it will be the upcoming UFA season, followed by the RFA season and then training camp, pre-season, opening night and beyond.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

...I would also love to see why Dave Lowry, when asked to come back as he was groomed for the job and a former Flames captain, declined the invitation and didn't want to be a part of the Flames organization anymore. I thought that was a quite damning and went relatively un-noticed...

I have seen this speculated but never confirmed. In the initial press-release announcing the coaching changes, the Flames confirmed that Sutter and Feaster had mutually agreed to part ways, but only stated that Lowry was "let go". Was there ever any sort of confirmation that this was his decision?

[Frank MetaMusil]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

Brent Sutter got a raw deal

Keenan got a raw deal.

At least the Flames let Brent coach out his contract.

[AltaGuy]

Originally Posted by Frank MetaMusil

Keenan got a raw deal.

At least the Flames let Brent coach out his contract.

Yeah, Playfair even more than Keenan got a raw deal.

I did not think Brent Sutter was a very good coach at all. I'm not sure that Hartley is a good coach, but he's been given the crappiest situation of the last four years too. No centers, injuries, no training camp, horrible goaltending, etc... so I'll reserve judgement.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by AltaGuy

Yeah, Playfair even more than Keenan got a raw deal.

I did not think Brent Sutter was a very good coach at all. I'm not sure that Hartley is a good coach, but he's been given the crappiest situation of the last four years too. No centers, injuries, no training camp, horrible goaltending, etc... so I'll reserve judgement.

Playfair didn't get a raw deal IMO. He took a team that won the west one year, won the division the next, and finished 8th in his year and the only reason they made it was because Colorado lost a must win game. The flames couldn't even finish off the oilers when they were in an epic tailspin.

Keenan got fired after improving the team to a 7th and 5th finish and the team had significant injuries in his last year

Sutter coached his whole contract missing the playoffs every year.

I am okay giving Hartley another chance next year but at the same time I fully support a new GM taking over and he will have the right to choose his coach

[sa226]

This is veering off topic but Keenan didn't get a raw deal. Playfair was put in an admittedly difficult position with a short leash and failed. Brent Sutter coached out his contract and parted amicably.

I don't think Feaster really wanted Sutter back, and I don't think he really wanted to come back unless there was a change in direction.

The Keenan coaching staff simply failed. While they certainly faced adversity with injuries, the injuries weren't significant enough to completely derail the season. Well coached teams fight through that. Not to mention the late mini training camp.

This obviously opens the debate of the coachability of the core, but that horse is dead, beaten, gone and playing in Pittsburgh, San Jose, Winnipeg and Toronto.

[renny]

played golf with Tanguay last year, and he was telling me how him and the team absolutely hated Brent's system. The team felt that they didn't have the right players to play Brent's system. The whole time, I could only think to myself, well now you guys got your wish... a THIRD time... let's hope it's not the coach again in the upcoming season.

So now, we're not making the playoffs, we're 2 points away from last place in the west. We've had to trade away our captain and one of our best D-men. And we see the leaders that remain sulking.

So with all that being said, I think that Brent is a good coach (given his pedigree and his results prior to Calgary), but the organization has moved on. Hartley is the coach let's see what he can do with the core that's left and the kids coming in.

[AltaGuy]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Playfair didn't get a raw deal IMO. He took a team that won the west one year, won the division the next, and finished 8th in his year and the only reason they made it was because Colorado lost a must win game. The flames couldn't even finish off the oilers when they were in an epic tailspin.

Keenan got fired after improving the team to a 7th and 5th finish and the team had significant injuries in his last year

Sutter coached his whole contract missing the playoffs every year.

I am okay giving Hartley another chance next year but at the same time I fully support a new GM taking over and he will have the right to choose his coach

Playfair was a weird one to me - we did back into the playoffs. Yet if you look at the team statistics that season, it was probably the best overall since the early 90s. Good GA, good GF, good PP, good 5on5...

Regardless, that playoff series against Detroit... ugh.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by sa226

This is veering off topic but Keenan didn't get a raw deal. Playfair was put in an admittedly difficult position with a short leash and failed. Brent Sutter coached out his contract and parted amicably.

I don't think Feaster really wanted Sutter back, and I don't think he really wanted to come back unless there was a change in direction.

The Keenan coaching staff simply failed. While they certainly faced adversity with injuries, the injuries weren't significant enough to completely derail the season. Well coached teams fight through that. Not to mention the late mini training camp.

.

Why was Playfairs situation difficult? Because he was the assistant and got promoted? He was inheriting a team that was coming off a SCF one year and division win the next. He also just added a 26 year old top line forward in Tanguay.

The 2008/2009 flames looked everything like a Stanley cup contender. They dressed 15 skaters down the stretch. Top 4 dmen Regehr, Sarich, Phaneuf were injured. Gio was emerging and also missed a huge chunk of the season. Bourque was amazing that year and also injured for a huge portion. Langkow missed time and played with a broken hand. Bert missed a month down the stretch.

[Tyler]

Keenan didn't get hired back because Iggy and Regehr were an inch away from mutiny if they had to play another season with him. That's why Edwards ended up pulling the trigger and not Sutter

[Teroy]

The Flames played this season as if they'd forgotten the fundamentals of the game. Their play in the defensive zone was pathetic. That was partially due to a lack of talent but mainly due to a complete lack of coaching. I doubt we get anywhere as long as Hartley is in charge. Hopefully I'm wrong. Next year should tell, we'll either see a marked improvement in our own zone or it will be time to get a new coach.

[Calgary4LIfe]

I think Brent is a GREAT coach - as long as the players fit HIS system.

He said this team couldn't score off the rush. I don't think they were that talented, to be honest, to do so with the best of them.

His system involved more dump-ins, and the offence was designed to work from cycling. Look at the team he has had in the 3 years he was coach. LA, Anaheim - those teams can cycle very well since they are big. Flames were smaller each and every year it seemed, but Sutter just tried to force them to play that one way.

Hartley has opened it up. I think the best way for the Flames to have any chances offensively is through the rush and set plays. Very few guys can cycle well (though Hudler being one of the smallest is pretty darn good at it!).

I was glad that the Flames didn't retain Brent. Not because of the failure with the team, but just because too many players seemed to be playing out of position, and the team was never able to play consistently.

I like Hartley's system - but there are way too many defensive zone break-downs. I am not sure if it is the system's fault, or if our defence is just that bad. There are a lot of mistakes being made on the back-end, and sometimes it looks like it is from a lack of support from the rest of the players on the ice, and other times it just looks like unforced errors or errors with minimal pressure.

Will be interesting to see what Brent says. He was really good with the media I thought. His 'shoulder to shoulder' speech... he swayed many a fan on his side I think. I think he is a good coach for a specific type of team. I think Hartley is a good coach for a specific type of team as well. Problem with the Flames is, they have been a mish-mash of pieces for the last 4 seasons.

[Vedder]

Originally Posted by AltaGuy

Playfair was a weird one to me - we did back into the playoffs. Yet if you look at the team statistics that season, it was probably the best overall since the early 90s. Good GA, good GF, good PP, good 5on5...

Regardless, that playoff series against Detroit... ugh.

Check out the road record. Ugly.

[gargamel]

Originally Posted by sa226

The Keenan coaching staff simply failed. While they certainly faced adversity with injuries, the injuries weren't significant enough to completely derail the season. Well coached teams fight through that. Not to mention the late mini training camp.

From the the San Jose debacle until the injuries piled up, we were the best team in the NHL. I don't know how much more significant injuries can get than having 1 healthy defenceman in the playoffs and only being able to ice 3 lines of forwards in some late regular season games, but no amount of coaching could get a team to fight through that. Whether or not it was because of Keenan, the 2008-09 Flames were damn good and should have been kept intact for another year.

As for Brent, I really think we both hired and fired him at the wrong time. His coaching style is well suited to making his team look mediocre whether they should be great or awful based on talent. Back in 2009-10, it was tragic that he made the Flames look average. Now, average would be pretty nice.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

Brent Sutter sure didn't maximize value among his players, but he got them more win's/point's then they deserved. Anyone who watched the team the past year or two could tell they were far worse then they showed in the standings. So, I'm fine he's gone as Hartley has (a) raised player trade value, and (b) finally sunk the Flames into the basement of the NHL so we're forced to rebuild and get a draft pick.

It will be interesting to see what he says, though..... I have a feeling the gloves will come off. I would also love to see why Dave Lowry, when asked to come back as he was groomed for the job and a former Flames captain, declined the invitation and didn't want to be a part of the Flames organization anymore. I thought that was a quite damning and went relatively un-noticed.

(also helped me win a bet with Bertuzzied)

I feel that Sutter really underwhelmed in the first couple of years. That was a really good team on paper and even Keenan was getting results with them. The core was almost 4 years younger... that was a much better team than what Hartley has had to work with.

[browna]

Bottom line is Darryl left coaching one year at least too early, feeling too much pressure to be the GM full time.

He assumed that there would be a seemless transition to Playfair, but Playfiar didn't ever seem to have the respect, and there was a wasted year with a pretty solid club that could've been the best roster seen post lockout.

He wanted to come back after that, and wasn't allowed...so went out and got a clone of him, or so he thought...turns out Keenan wasn't the Iron Mike, at least using the "Iron" part as a motivational approach...different era since that worked on players. He didn't get a raw deal; he didn't do what he was hired to do.

Brent was hired after the collapsing defense...as the Flames did post lockout, it was "bring in forwards, defense goes to crap, then bring in defenseman the next year, struggle scoring goals, then back the other way" he was brought in on the swing to be a defense first coach, along with Bouwmeester.

Never minded him, though not a huge fan...but, the results in general and on defense show how different him and Hartley can handle basically the same roster. Would be very interesting to see if Brent was the coach for the rebuild; I'd expect different results, and that is the type of team he was suited for. Will never happen, certainly not as long as JF is still in place though.

But if Darryl was there for that one more year, maybe a higher ranking and more playoff success, which would have the roster/expectations/successes different going into the the next year, and then who knows...different roster moves every year since that point which would mean a different run of coach(es), and likely not Feaster manning the steering wheel right now.