Bagging Bouwmeester

by James Duplacey

For someone who likes to avoid the spotlight, Darryl Sutter certainly knows how to steal the focus. Calgary were stoically silent on the first night of the 2009 Entry Draft, making only a minor move by exchanging selection spots with the New Jersey Devils - a transaction that was widely considered as a polite gesture of conciliation for the hiring of former Devils coach Brent Sutter as the new bench boss of the Stampede City squad. The Flames, who dropped down two pegs on the draft board as a result of the Devil deal, selected Swedish rearguard Tim Erixon - son of former NY Ranger winger Jan Erixon - with their first pick (23rd overall) in the 2009 lottery.

After that decidedly dull opening day of Draft Night ‘09, the Flames gm lit up the dance floor on Saturday. Sutter set tongues-a-wagging and mouths-a-drooling with the news he had acquired the negotiating rights to dominant defender Jay Bouwmeester, the coveted free agent who was set to hit the market when the signing frenzy began at noon on July 1st. The price Sutter paid for a commodity he may never actually own was reasonable, surrendering the rights to Jordan Leopold and a third round draft choice in the 2010 sweepstakes. Even the most skeptical scribes had to agree that Sutter had spun some draft floor magic and the Calgary conductor completed the web late Tuesday night by signing the bruising blueliner to a lengthy multi-year deal, believed to be in the vicinity of five years and $35 million. If that’s the area, it will be a profitable neighborhood for the former Florida rearguard. A fluid skater and sharp puck handler who plays with a obstinate edge, Bouwmeester brings poise and purpose to the table. Opposing forwards who dare enter Calgary’s kitchen will be met by a tenacious trio of trenchmen - the rugged Robin Regehr, the deft Dion Phaneuf and the bellicose Bouwmeester - that rank among the roughest, toughest and most belligerent in the league.

The arrival of Bouwmeester will cause some accounting headaches for the Flames front office boss. The club has almost $20 million in annual salary tied to the aforementioned defensive trifecta and another $25 million already guaranteed to essential names such as Jarome Iginla, Miikka Kiprusoff, Daymond Langkow, Craig Conroy and Cory Sarich. Sutter has already begun the paring process by sending Jim Vanderemeer and his $2.3 million salary to the Phoenix Coyotes. A veteran backup goaltender to spell Kipper, a net-filler to replace Mike Cammalleri and a fourth line plugger with grit and grime on his resume are still on the Sutter shopping list - if he can find room under a very tight cap for the missing pieces to his Stanley Cup puzzle.

Tags: Add new tag, Duane Sutter, Jan Erixon, Jarome Iginla, Jay Bouwmeester, Miikka Kiprusoff, Tim Erixon

Brotherly Love

by James Duplacey

The worst-kept secret in the Stampede City was confirmed today when Darryl Sutter stepped up to the podium and announced that brother Brent was the new bench boss of the Calgary Flames, signalling the official end of the Iron Mike regime and the commencement of the Sutter Steel era.  Ever since he resigned the coaching half of his double portfolio, the elder Sutter has been searching in vain for a replacement who could instill in his charges the same fire, brimstone and broth that he delivered during his tenure behind the bench. An inside the system replacement (Jim Playfair) failed to meet expectations, an outside source (Mike Keenan) was equally ineffective so an inside-the-family solution was the logical next step.

We know Brent Sutter brings solid credentials to the table. He piloted Team Canada to a pair of gold medal victories at the World Junior Championships, served a successful reign as pivot and front office boss of the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels, a tour of duty that delivered a Memorial Cup to the Alberta community in 2001 and proved he could handle the pressures and media scrutiny of the NHL. What he hasn’t shown is the ability to advance a team beyond the first round of the NHL playoffs - a task he will have to accomplish to keep the Sutter name affiliated with the Flaming “C”.

Make no mistake, if brother Brent fails to keep Calgary in contention beyond the final day of the regular schedule, he will not be only Sutter to be shown to the exit door. By increasing the Sutter fraternity in the Flames front office system to four (brother Duane is the director of player personnel and brother Ron is a scout), gm Darryl Sutter placed his own neck in the noose. Sideline skeptics and showcase scribes have been vocal in their disapproval of Sutter’s work this past season - a campaign that saw the club allow a substantial lead in the Northwest Division standings evaporate so much the team had to struggle just to earn a ticket to the post-season dance. A slew of injuries, a decided decline on the defensive side of the sheet and mismanagement of the salary cap all combined to capsize the club, leaving the squad with an empty gas tank when they needed formidable fuel to overcome the run’n'gun Chicago Blackhawks, who simply out-skated, outhit and, ultimately, outscored the fizzling Flames.

The club also named Ryan McGill, Dave Lowry and Jamie McLennan as assistant coaches. However, in this family affair, the blame game starts and stops with the name Sutter. For the brothers, it will be all for won and won for all. Otherwise, all will be looking for employment in another city.

Tags: Brent Sutter, Duane Sutter, Jim Playfair, Memorial Cup, Mike Keenan, Red Deer Rebels, Ron Sutter, Team Canada

Alberta Bound?

Dany Heatley wants out of Ottawa, prompting sideline scribes and prognosticating pundits to suggest that the Calgary Flames would be a suitable location to station his sizable ego, store his baggage-filled luggage and saddle the Flames administration with his multi-million dollar salary. Heatley is a Calgary kid and coming home to the prairie might just be the anecdote needed to resolve the tormented issues that have hampered his on-ice development. Oh, he’s a dangerous sniper who can put the biscuit in the basket - the 180 pucks he has deposited behind enemy goaltenders in the past four seasons are a glowing testament to that skill. However, he remains a resolutely one-way player with remarkable offensive gifts but little or no regard for playing the defensive side of the puck. Ottawa has never recovered from their decision to allow Zdena Chara to test the free agent waters and have been searching for a dominant blueline presence ever since. To acquire a rearguard capable of anchoring the defense, supplying opportunistic offense and providing a veteran voice to help nurture the blossoming newcomers requires making a sizable sacrifice. Heatley has actually helped Bryan Murray by volunteering to be the ammunition that gets blasted out of the Nation’s Capital. However, by admitting he didn’t care for having his ice time diminished or the defensively responsible system being implemented by new Senator bench boss Cory Clouston, Heatley has flung himself on trembling turf, one that might just shake him off the consideration list for the Canadian Olympic Team.

With that blueprint on the table, should Calgary care to enter the sweepstakes for securing his services, it would require surrendering one of the their big two boys on the blueline - the offensively gifted but still defensively immature Dion Phaneuf or the rambunctious and rugged anchor of the own zone Robyn Regehr. While it’s true Phaneuf struggled most of the season - oddly he never seemed to be the same player after Sean Avery opened his venomous trap and spewed those unfortunate and inappropriate comments about Phaneuf’s current flame off the ice - his potential still far outweighs his downside. If Mr. Sutter has done his diligence - and there’s nothing in his character to suggest otherwise - it’s safe to assume he has watched too many astute NHL gm’s pillage promise by offering tempting but ultimately unfulfilling treats. As for Regehr, it’s doubtful Darryl Sutter would even grunt a recordable response should Mr. Murray come a calling.

Yet, at the same time, Sutter loves a challenge, has never shied away from making controversial decisions and has a history of success with reclamation projects. The prospect of having Heatly and Iginla lighting a burner under the Flames has to be intriguing. When the press asks him the obvious questions – and he’ll be pestered endlessly by the Fifth Estate in the days to come - Sutter will deftly deflect the queries with a carefully worded non-denial denial. But make no mistake - if Mr. Sutter thought for a single second that the addition of Heatley would bring the Flames a step closer to the Stanley Cup instead of a stumble backward, he’d swing the deal regardless of the cost.

Tags: Bryan Murray, Cory Clouston, Dany Heatly, Darryl Sutter, Dion Phaneuf, Robyn Regehr

A Family Affair?

With the news that Brent Sutter has resigned his position as the bench boss of the New Jersey Devils, the door appears to be wide open for the esteemed pivot to accept a similar post with the Calgary Flames, an opportunity which just happens to ready and waiting. When Calgary gm Darryl Sutter pulled the plug on the two-year tenure of “Iron” Mike Keenan shortly after the Flames wilted and burned in the 2009 playoffs without naming a successor, most sideline scribes and prudent pundits predicted that the coach’s seat was vacated for future filling by brother Brent. Even before brother Darryl tied the can to Iron Mike, Brent Sutter was openly admitting to the press that he was uncomfortable operating under the icy stare of New Jersey gm Lou Lamoriello. He spoke longingly of his desire to escape the glare of the media and return home to Alberta to be close to his family and take a more active role in operating his WHL junior team in Red Deer.

Most prognosticators, including this transcriber, felt New Jersey brass boss Lou Lamoriello would (or could) do little to block Sutter’s retreat from the Devil’s den. The club was expected to make an earnest run at the Stanley Cup this spring and the disappointing opening round loss to Carolina – made especially infuriating considering the circumstances of that defeat with two losses coming in the closing minutes of regulation - probably signed Sutter’s letter of dismissal. Despite compiling a more-than-respectable 97-56-11 mark in the regular season, Sutter’s 4-8 record in the post-season was not acceptable. By leaving the sinking ship with his life jacket still on, he saved Lamoriello the grief of gutting him but also supplied the wily g.m. with a trump card he’ll be certain to play when the parties meet around the NHL poker table. Sutter is still signed on the dotted line for another year so any and all queries as to his availability will have to be coupled with considerable compensation.

Of course, the departing but still under contract Sutter was in full-bore denial mode, carefully avoiding the vultures of collusion circling over his head. He refuted all claims that the intrigue of pacing the partition in front of the Flames bench influenced his decision. He rebuffed suggestions that working for his respected and beloved older brother and finding respectable employ within a slapshot of the family farm played any role in his decision to bolt the swamps of New Jersey for the flat lands of Alberta.

The Flames have remained resolutely mute on this turn of events, although this silence will not last long. Regardless of what decision the two Sutter brothers make - and make no mistake, this will be a two-headed determination, Brent Sutter is returning home. That will have the champagne - or whatever beverage is in vogue on the Sutter family farm - flowing from Calgary to Red Deer to Viking.

Tags: Brent Sutter, Darryl Sutter, Lou Lamoriello

Fanning the Flames

Welcome to Flaming Puck - your up-to-date, up-to-the-moment commentary on the musings, machinations and maneuverings of the Calgary Flames. Over the coming weeks, we will be discussing and dissecting the inner workings of the vast prairies #1 NHL franchise. There will be plenty of fodder to finesse our way through - including the appointment of a new bench boss and the preparations and potential picks for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft and the Free Agent signing blitz about to commence in early July. We’ll also examine the establishment and organization of the Abbottsford Heat, Calgary’s new AHL farm club that has invaded the lower mainland of British Columbia. I welcome your comments and critiques throughout what promises to be a noteworthy and exciting summer signing period and await your suggestions and solutions on how the Calgary brass can make the necessary adjustments to bring Lord Stanley’s vaunted Mug back to the Stampede City.  We’ll be fanning the Flames shortly.

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