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Darryl Sutter, who led the Calgary Flames to within a whisker â or perhaps a pixel â of a Stanley Cup parade in 2004, is now back behind the bench at the Saddledome, tasked with squeezing more out of a talented core that has already churned through several coaches.
Under their new boss, there will be no excuse for falling short of expectations.
The Flames made this surprise move late Thursday, announcing about 75 minutes after a 7-3 rout of the Ottawa Senators that Geoff Ward had been fired and that Sutter is returning to his old stomping grounds.
They need … anything but this.
Their visit to Ottawa, home to the cellar-dwelling Senators, will wait until later in the week.
First, they hit Toronto for a pair of meetings with North Division-leading Maple Leafs. Gulp.
The Flames, it seems, can’t keep the puck out of their own net.
Auston Matthews, it seems, can’t be stopped.
For a struggling squad, now south of the even-steven line at 8-9-1, it feels like a match made in hockey hell. Somewhere, you can hear Harvey the Hound whimpering.
“Well, we’re playing arguably the best team in the league these next two games and they’re going to be intense games because they came into our rink and took it to us for two games (in January),” said Flames alternate captain Matthew Tkachuk after Saturday’s Blowout of Alberta a 7-1 landslide for the host Oilers at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
Maple Leafs vs. Flames Preview: Two games of Tkachuk
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Similar to their pair of matches with Connor McDavid and the Oilers, our boys in blue are going to see a lot of fire in the next few days. The Leafs will have their first player returnee game Sunday afternoon as they gear up for back-to-back games against the Flames. T.J. Brodie may not get the standing ovation most players receive in these situations, given current circumstances, but it will be an emotional return nonetheless for the 30-year-old who knew only one team his entire career.