Brent Sutter Back in Action as Red Deer Rebels Head Coach -NHL Update
Brent Sutter would probably not have been doing anything else anyways even if the Calgary Flames had not let him go over the offseason, but in order to stay active with hockey, the former National Hockey League (NHL) head coach took up a new position, with
the Red Deer Rebels this time.
Sources close to the Calgary Herald have termed the decision one he made on his own, since he is the owner and general manager of the Red Deer Rebels as well, which is a hockey franchise in the Western Hockey League (WHL).
He let go of Jesse Wallin on Tuesday and has decided to take over the position himself by citing the current position of the team, which is not the best it could of been.
“Coaching, it’s a tough racket and in Jesse’s situation, No. 1 he is a very good coach, but the message just wasn’t getting through to the players and I don’t really have an exact reason why that has been the case. Jesse recognized it, too. The right thing
is to make change,” Sutter said.
Sutter has a lot of experience in the field of coaching hockey and has been doing so for a number of years in the minor leagues along with the New Jersey Devils and Calgary Flames of the NHL. He headed the Calgary Flames for three season and had a record
of 118-90-38, but due to a weak repeated performance by the club this past 2011-2012 NHL regular season, the management decided that it was finally time to let him go.
“Now the onus is on the players,” added Sutter. “It’s thrown their way and they need to respond. We’ll see what we have for character; we’ll see what we have for a team and see what our leadership group is about.”
Brent Sutter is also a former NHL player who was drafted by the New York Islanders as the 17th overall back in 1980. He played 18 seasons in the major league with New York and the Chicago Blackhawks with a total of 1,111 games played with 829
points, 363 goals and 466 assists.
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