As people continue poking holes in Darryl Sutter’s legacy, I thought it’d be fitting to revisit one of the more head-scratching stories from his tenure: our 2003 2nd-round pick (39th overall), Tim Ramholt.
Sutter rarely valued 2nd-rounders, so there was genuine excitement about finally holding onto one and watching Ramholt’s development. Fast-forward to the 2007–08 season - Tim finally gets the call to play his first NHL game.
What happens? He gets a single shift. One. He’s out there for a goal against, and that’s it. Sutter, in all his wisdom, decides that’s enough to close the book. No second shift. No chance to redeem himself. No shot to prove he belonged.
That one shift, one minus, and it was over. Tim Ramholt never played another NHL game.
I can’t imagine how crushing that must have felt for him. And frankly, it’s a brutal look for the Flames. Whatever you think of Ramholt’s upside, burying a young player like that after literally one shift just reeks of Sutter’s trademark stubbornness.
The pettiness of Darryl Sutter really knew no bounds.
The biggest head scratcher is as a GM he selected Ramholt. Keenan was the head coach at the time, not Sutter. I don't think Sutter has anything to do with this.
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He came over and played Junior in North America, but went back to Switzerland to play for the next two years. That never sat well with the Flames. They wanted him in the AHL for thst 04-05 season.
I think he was a somewhat skilled guy...but lacked the hard edged competitiveness to make it in the NHL. Flames screwed up that pick. There were some goid players still on the board there.
I do think the way that worked out with Ramholt leaving immediately did result in some of Sutters subsequent big Canadian player picks after. Which was something that hurt the team.
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A Tim Ramholt discussion in the year of our Lord 2025! This is why I love CP as the one stop shop for all my Calgary Flames Nerdom. Where else can you find a place to rehash a discussion about a prospect who never made it beyond 1 game played from 15-20 years ago?
Carry on!
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It's worth mentioning that Philadelphia picked him up not too long after and he never got called up at all. So maybe he just didn't have it.
After not making the Flyers, he was traded to Nashville and played a season with the Milwaukee Admirals. He was never called up to Preds either.
You've got 3 NHL teams who all passed on him. He seemed like an offensive orientated d-man who wasn't that great at producing offence at the pro North American hockey level.
I'm a proponent of giving prospects more time and looks in at the NHL level, and playing a prospect for 1 shift is a brutal thing to do. That being said, Ramholt didn't really look capable of being a full time NHLer, and he probably wsa destined for Europe no matter what.
The one shift thing always seemed silly to me, but I saw Ramholt a lot that year in the Quad Cities and I was not particularly impressed with his play. Adam Pardy got all the good looks that year and I actually thought Brett Palin was the best defender on that team.
Is Tilley still around? Wonder what his thoughts were on the previous Omaha season.
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The Swiss league is quite lucrative, and living in Switzerland means you're experiencing one of the best quality of life countries on earth.
(If you haven't been, I recommend it)
So, you can pull 6 figures doing that, or play in Lowell, Omaha, or Quad Cities for five figures. And maybe get shot, and 100% have to deal with American yokels.
That comparison is perhaps why bubble Swiss prospects are exactly that... bubble.
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It's worth mentioning that Philadelphia picked him up not too long after and he never got called up at all. So maybe he just didn't have it.
I remember being pretty stoked for Ramholt to succeed and was hoping he'd at least carve out a decent career with the Flyers. Pretty telling that not even the Flyers called him up so I guess Sutter knew beforehand what he was.
If it weren't for Tim Ramdolt who was drafted by the Flames and went to Cape Breton to play in the CHL, then the scouts wouldn't have seen so much of Adam Pardy when they showed up to monitor Ramholt's progress.
We got Adam Pardy because he played with Tim Ramholt.
Tim Ramholt walked, so Adam Pardy could run.
Tim was a great locker room guy in junior and loved being a Flames prospect (at least for the year he was here).
NOTHING but great interactions with him.
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A Tim Ramholt discussion in the year of our Lord 2025! This is why I love CP as the one stop shop for all my Calgary Flames Nerdom. Where else can you find a place to rehash a discussion about a prospect who never made it beyond 1 game played from 15-20 years ago?
Carry on!
Yeah, I was expecting there to be some new interview or something where Ramholt talked about his experiences.
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Tim Ramholt and the Pettiness of Darryl Sutter
