Darryl Sutter new head coach

[cupthug89]

Like this move  or not the flames are drastically better off behind the bench now , id argue the flames now have the best coach in the division , this move also signaled the last dance for this core , thrilled about all of this 

[travel_dude]

5 hours ago, The_People1 said:

 

Pretty sure no one is shocked Ward got fired.

 

Everyone is shocked Darryl Sutter is coming back though.  The guys 62.  Rode off into the sunset after two Cup rings.  I didn't think he would have the desire to coach again because there's really nothing more to prove. Given his age, I thought he would rather go do ranch stuff, retire, and be with family.

 

That's why this seems like a desperate move on the owners part.  Pretty sure ownership has a good relationship with the Sutter family and maybe asked Darryl for help personally.  BT likely wanted to fire Ward and wanted someone new but the owners probably said No... If it's a new coach then we get to pick him.   And the owners picked Sutter.  My guess anyways.

 

And Ward was 59.

 

Both the owners and GM wwere pbviously frustrated with the team.

It doesn't take a great hockey mind to see that Ward was in over his head and the team was suffering.

I haven't really digested what it will mean to this team.

We have problems that need to be fixed, but coaching may address the issues that were ignored.

 

As a coach, he won't have mixed messages.  The players will know where they stand.  They will know what is expected.

The top 9 players will benefit from being played to their strengths.

Sure they will have to work, but faith in a winning coach should be there.

 

[travel_dude]

8 minutes ago, phoenix66 said:

Aside from I believe Ward got the shaft from the players , I love this. I've firmly believed if Sutter had stayed coach for 1-2 more seasons he'd have had a cup here .

 

Him only knowing crash and bang is a misnomer . The team he had in 2004 was not a very talented team..they played to the best of their ability.. that's what Sutter does.

Every player in this team will be told what they are and what they will do..or else .

 

I don't expect Bennett to suddenly get his wish to be a center .. he will be put where he will do the best..Sutter will decide that . We will never again ask " what is Sam Bennett?" Question is , whether Sam will like the answer 

 

Skill players thrive under him.. I think of Dustin Brown.. his career was essentially over until Sutter showed up. But we will know what D is..and if you are a physical player , you will play physical.

Id argue this is the most talented team he's been given.. now we find out what they can and can't do 

 

Some good points, but the coach made his bed with his vision of the team's play.

I also suspect that Huska may have to take a backseat for awhile until the team becomes a defensive team again.

Not saying we beocme the Wild, just that we don't play a good defensive game.

THe skills are there, just lost in executing whatever the game plan was.

 

Interested to see if this spans any trades.

Not to get rid of players so much as bringing in missing elements.

Grit is not missing, just not used effectively.

Speed is missing but it's speed of execution.

Leadership on the ice is lacking at times, seems like we are going in different directions at times.

 

 

 

 

[JTech780]

 

[Krule]

Been a while since I've posted...but this is definitely worth posting to.... 

 

I am not at all surprised by this move. It certainly appeared to me that something had to be done because I have no idea how to explain the last half dozen games or so. Blown out by the Oilers, play 2 great games against TO, get blown out by Ottawa in game one and three only to blow them out in game 2 of the 3 game set in Ottawa. Then come home and blow that same Ottawa team. Talk about inconsistency! Now let's see if Darryl can adapt his coaching style with todays NHL. I am smiling right now because the players don't have a clue what they are about to go through since I remember him as a player and coach! Tough, tough, tough. And here we go! 

[cross16]

8 hours ago, JTech780 said:

Well doing some research, during Sutter's last 3 years as coach of the Kings, they had the best CF% 55.57, the best SF% 54.63, the best xGF% 54.42, the best SCF% 53.74, the best HDCF% 54.95 all during that 3 year period. 

 

So I am going guess that this team is going to be possessing the puck a lot going forward. 

 

I don't know what this means long term, but I am starting to warm up to it in the short term.

 

I was surprised by this to be honest, not the possession but the fact that his team actually generated a high quality of scoring chances. My recollection of those Kings teams were they were similar to this year's Flames in a lot of ways with the dump and chase, go get it, keep it on the perimeter and generate a high volume of shots. Surprised to see the numbers say they generated a lot of quality. 

 

I'm still lukewarm on this but I totally get why they did this. It feels like a desperation move but if your franchise wants to win (and it's very clear the Flames do) this is without a doubt the right move to make. You can't make big trades so go and get a coach whose MO is literally getting the best out of whoever he works with and establishing an identity. Since the Colorado series it's been put up or shut up time for this core and i'm not sure there is a better coach in the entire league to install that than Sutter. I've got my questions he can play the right way but I also know that Sutter isn't a dinosaur, he adapts. Can he adapt some of his core philosophy remains to be seen but this isn't going to be some trap it up win 1-0 type of team. 

 

I think it will be a good fresh start for a few guys. I'm really intrigued to see what he doe with Lindholm (center vs wing) Monahan, Mang, and of course Bennett. I know Sutter will give Bennett a fresh start but I'm not sure this move is as positive for Bennett as we think. The defensive efforts we've seen out of Bennett the last couple of games are going to get him back into the press box faster than Ward put him there. 

 

I'm probably most excited to see what Sutter can do with Monahan. He's on the record as really liking Monahan, but his systems traditionally put a lot of work on the center's plate especially in the neutral zone. It will be really interesting to see if he can get Monahan playing more like the player he was supposed to be when he was drafted. That's the player I wonder the most about. 

[Addicted]

Cross....I totally agree with your post. The one thing I see with Bennett is, yes he may end up in the press box, but if he does he’ll know why he’s there. I’ve got nothing to base this on of course but I really think Wardo benched him and didn’t use the opportunity as a learning experience. Instead it ended up being mass confusion for Benny, resulting in a player lost, then trying to do too much, then finally giving up.

At least under Sutter, he gets benched, he’ll know exactly why and how to fix it. I think once you see Benny’s role defined you’ll see a more confident player and a new Benny. 🤞

[MP5029]

1 hour ago, phoenix66 said:

Aside from I believe Ward got the shaft from the players , I love this. I've firmly believed if Sutter had stayed coach for 1-2 more seasons he'd have had a cup here .

 

Him only knowing crash and bang is a misnomer . The team he had in 2004 was not a very talented team..they played to the best of their ability.. that's what Sutter does.

Every player in this team will be told what they are and what they will do..or else .

 

I don't expect Bennett to suddenly get his wish to be a center .. he will be put where he will do the best..Sutter will decide that . We will never again ask " what is Sam Bennett?" Question is , whether Sam will like the answer 

 

Skill players thrive under him.. I think of Dustin Brown.. his career was essentially over until Sutter showed up. But we will know what D is..and if you are a physical player , you will play physical.

Id argue this is the most talented team he's been given.. now we find out what they can and can't do 

This team could be, his LAK team was pretty loaded with talent and kopatar was more of an elite Ctr than Monahan or Lindholm but after that we still have some solid and probably more deep talent at Ctr. Than the LAK’s 

 

the only real thing we are really lacking is a couple of RW power forwards...which I’m betting Sutter will push BT to get ASAP 

[Cubicon]

1 hour ago, phoenix66 said:

Aside from I believe Ward got the shaft from the players , I love this. I've firmly believed if Sutter had stayed coach for 1-2 more seasons he'd have had a cup here .

 

Him only knowing crash and bang is a misnomer . The team he had in 2004 was not a very talented team..they played to the best of their ability.. that's what Sutter does.

Every player in this team will be told what they are and what they will do..or else .

 

I don't expect Bennett to suddenly get his wish to be a center .. he will be put where he will do the best..Sutter will decide that . We will never again ask " what is Sam Bennett?" Question is , whether Sam will like the answer 

 

Skill players thrive under him.. I think of Dustin Brown.. his career was essentially over until Sutter showed up. But we will know what D is..and if you are a physical player , you will play physical.

Id argue this is the most talented team he's been given.. now we find out what they can and can't do 

 

I think he gets this reputation from his GM role with us back in the day. He'd pick guys that were big but didn't have any skill, which killed us.

 

Sutter's no good at building a team, but, as a coach, he does magic with the ingredients he's been given.

[flames-fan-in-jets-land]

7 hours ago, The_People1 said:

I honestly don't think Sutter is going to make a difference to this season.  We saw in LA, if he has the talent, then he can win.  In my opinion, we don't have the pieces in place.  We don't have RWs.  We could use a true #1 Center.

 

What can Sutter do outside of deploying a really tight defensive system to take advantage of Markstrom's goaltending and try to win games 1-0?  

I think what you're going to see is more consistent effort. I have no problem watching a 1-0 game if it's still a win, I've never subscribed to the idea a game needs to be high scoring to be entertaining and even if it's a 1-0 loss you know it shouldnt be for lack of effort.

 

 

TSN seems to be reporting the hunt for a top line RW/RS and I can see Sutter at least having an opinion on certain targets.

[phoenix66]

21 minutes ago, MP5029 said:

This team could be, his LAK team was pretty loaded with talent and kopatar was more of an elite Ctr than Monahan or Lindholm but after that we still have some solid and probably more deep talent at Ctr. Than the LAK’s 

 

the only real thing we are really lacking is a couple of RW power forwards...which I’m betting Sutter will push BT to get ASAP 

 

Ironically that just may very well be Bennett.. if he buys in..  offseason is a whole other conversation of course . Players like Dube, Mangiapane ,  are all smiling this morning. Expect more of the Lucic we saw last night. 

Monahan will 100% be pushed past his comfort zone , but I think we'll see what he can really be 

 

 

18 minutes ago, Cubicon said:

 

I think he gets this reputation from his GM role with us back in the day. He'd pick guys that were big but didn't have any skill, which killed us.

 

Sutter's no good at building a team, but, as a coach, he does magic with the ingredients he's been given.

Ya his gm track record was not great.. but he did draft Backlund.. Phaneuf (even tho he overlooked the centers he could have had )..but ya too much reliance on whl players 

[cross16]

While you could (i stress could as it's very much debatable) argue that this version of the Flames is more talented than the Kings team he took over, what I don't think is debatable is that Kings team was tailored made for Sutter hockey. Speed down the middle with speed and size on the wings, with 3rd/4th lines that could really grind you down in the offensive zone. Really good fit for a quick transition, dump it in and go get it, take care of your own zone type of team.  That isn't here IMO. This is a team that is not well built to play dump and chase hockey which is traditionally a Sutter staple.  

 

I thik he's going to make an impact, because the biggest issue I have in terms of the Flames this year is not a talent problem its a consistency problem and it's playing too slow. You play slow under Darryl you just won't play and you've also seen way too high a number of simple d zone breakdowns. I suspect the Flames system in the d zone is going to get an overhaul and it's badly needed. 

 

But how much of an impact he makes I think will come down to can he find a happy medium between how he wants to play and how this team is built. 

[The_People1]

32 minutes ago, Cubicon said:

 

I think he gets this reputation from his GM role with us back in the day. He'd pick guys that were big but didn't have any skill, which killed us.

 

Sutter's no good at building a team, but, as a coach, he does magic with the ingredients he's been given.

 

100%.  Sutter has been one of the best NHL coaches of the last 20 years.  Towards the end of his LA Kings days, he was getting stale but I hope he's learned a thing or two about the new NHL that he can put together a good game plan for this team.

[The_People1]

2 minutes ago, cross16 said:

 

I thik he's going to make an impact, because the biggest issue I have in terms of the Flames this year is not a talent problem its a consistency problem and it's playing too slow. 

 

I feel we lack that elite #1 Center but hey, Sutter did more with less in 2004.  So we will see.

[The_People1]

20 minutes ago, flames-fan-in-jets-land said:

I think what you're going to see is more consistent effort. I have no problem watching a 1-0 game if it's still a win, I've never subscribed to the idea a game needs to be high scoring to be entertaining and even if it's a 1-0 loss you know it shouldnt be for lack of effort.

 

 

TSN seems to be reporting the hunt for a top line RW/RS and I can see Sutter at least having an opinion on certain targets.

 

GM and coaches should always talk so yes, we should see more Sutter type players soon.  

[cross16]

3 minutes ago, The_People1 said:

 

I feel we lack that elite #1 Center but hey, Sutter did more with less in 2004.  So we will see.

 

I don't disagree I just don't think that is a primary reason the Flames are spinning their wheels this year. 

[phoenix66]

4 minutes ago, cross16 said:

 

I don't disagree I just don't think that is a primary reason the Flames are spinning their wheels this year. 

Yep.. inconsistent.. identity.. fragile..these have been the common description of this team in recent years.. that will 100% change .

 

Even Monahan.. while I don't for one second believe we'll see the 2nd coming of Kopitar,. He Can hit..he can play physical.. seen him do it .. heck even seen him fight.. I think Sutter will push him to be what he can be 

Sutter has had high praise for Monahan in the past, I'm sure he sees what he can be 

[cross16]

2 minutes ago, phoenix66 said:

Yep.. inconsistent.. identity.. fragile..these have been the common description of this team in recent years.. that will 100% change .

 

Even Monahan.. while I don't for one second believe we'll see the 2nd coming of Kopitar,. He Can hit..he can play physical.. seen him do it .. heck even seen him fight.. I think Sutter will push him to be what he can be 

Sutter has had high praise for Monahan in the past, I'm sure he sees what he can be 

 

Yup and he saw him in the mold that I think many of us did when he was younger. I'm fascinated to see how he see's him now. 

 

Quote

 

"Everyone talks about the centermen in this conference and they don’t talk about Sean Monahan. They should," Sutter told reporters. 

 

Sutter even went as far to suggest that the 20-year-old Monahan rivals some of the best all-around centers in the league. 

"He's probably in that (Jonathan) Toews group in terms of that all-around guy who can play minutes and play situations and play against top guys," Sutter said. 

https://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/741011

 

 

[cross16]

Some other interested information as I look around today, Milan Lucic played for Darryl in 15-16 and by almost all metrics had one of his best seasons in his career.  Should be someone who is excited about this. 

 

By no means suggesting that Lucic is going to be better or as good as that. Simply something I find interesting and would likely be an ally of Sutter's right off the bat. 

[zima]

Isn't this just cool now we are going to try and fix things with another coach what's that old saying keep doing the same thing and expect a different out come. I don't see how this is going to solve our problem I just hope they don't turn him into GM as well.

[robrob74]

2 hours ago, phoenix66 said:

Aside from I believe Ward got the shaft from the players , I love this. I've firmly believed if Sutter had stayed coach for 1-2 more seasons he'd have had a cup here .

 

Him only knowing crash and bang is a misnomer . The team he had in 2004 was not a very talented team..they played to the best of their ability.. that's what Sutter does.

Every player in this team will be told what they are and what they will do..or else .

 

I don't expect Bennett to suddenly get his wish to be a center .. he will be put where he will do the best..Sutter will decide that . We will never again ask " what is Sam Bennett?" Question is , whether Sam will like the answer 

 

Skill players thrive under him.. I think of Dustin Brown.. his career was essentially over until Sutter showed up. But we will know what D is..and if you are a physical player , you will play physical.

Id argue this is the most talented team he's been given.. now we find out what they can and can't do 

 

 

I don't agree that he got the shaft from the players. I think it's more the wrong person for the job. It is nothing against Ward, but Ward is kind of the "nice guy" coach and this team needs tough motiviation. Gully was a similar kind of coach in the way that he was a nice guy to the players. The players didn't play for him. A coach like Ward would be good for a team where the motivation is inherent. It's in the genes of the players. I would say it's a limited group, maybe a Crosby team, someone elite with drive, or they respond to the new Social Emotional style Ward came with. Plus, I doubt Ward really gave real assignments so players didn't fully understand their roles.

 

I think Sutter will be able to assess the team and get what they're capable of out of them. And that's what I feel has been the problem, asking players to do things they can't necessarily do in some situations, or not knowing their roles (clearly enough). 

[JTech780]

Watched some highlights from the 2014 Cup run, and what I saw was a lot of wingers carrying the puck through the neutral zone and over the blueline, with the center driving the middle lane with speed and going hard to the net and the other winger either going hard to the net as well or hard to the slot. All 3 forwards were pushing the defense back with speed through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone. From there the winger funnels the puck to the net and they go to work.

 

I think this will benefit a lot of the forwards on this team. I suspect you will see more dump and chase from the bottom 6, and he will want the top 6 to control the puck more.

[cross16]

if nothing else, we should enjoy the heck out of this

 

 

[robrob74]

9 minutes ago, zima said:

Isn't this just cool now we are going to try and fix things with another coach what's that old saying keep doing the same thing and expect a different out come. I don't see how this is going to solve our problem I just hope they don't turn him into GM as well.

 

I don't see it as we are stanley cup contenders as much as I see it as, we are now going to be placed where we are supposed to be, in a playoff spot in the #3 slot in the division standings. Maybe If they can go on a run, perhaps reach #2. It's not super out of reach. But I am eyeing the #3 spot for this team. 

[JTech780]

I wonder if Husks has the new systems in hand or if they are going to keep things the same till Sutter is ready to go.