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