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Sutter loudly gets message across to Flames

Scott Cruickshank, Postmedia News February 24, 2012

CALGARY — Brent Sutter's answer is starting to peter out, typically a sign for someone to ask another question.

Which is exactly what happens Friday afternoon at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

But before the inquisitor can croak out the fresh query, the Calgary Flames coach suddenly raises his voice.

Apparently, he’s got more to say.

“You just can’t come to the rink and let it happen — you’ve got to grab it,” Sutter says loudly. “The position we’re in, we’ve got to grab it. We’ve got to go out and go after it. It’s not something like, ‘Well, let’s see what the five other teams did tonight. Did they lose or win? We had a so-so game. We just got a point. Let’s see what they did.’ No. Let’s go after this.

“Let’s be the team to dictate how we’re going to play. Let’s be the team to dictate what the outcome of the standings are going to be in April.”

Right arm starting to pump, Sutter continues with uncharacteristic verve.

“It’s not something that’s just handed to you. I’ve played on teams that have gone out and grabbed it. And I’ve played on teams that had a hesitancy to do that. Because it’s extra. And that’s what we’re trying to get our group to understand. They have to be mentally, physically, emotionally, totally engaged every night — all out — to get it done.

“At the end of the night if it doesn’t work out, at least we went out fighting.”

Which would be in stark contrast to the eggs laid recently by the Flames — six periods at home so far this week, only one of which could be called decent. All that, after earning possession of a playoff spot in the Western Conference for the first time in 342 days.

Explain that.

“I don’t want to see it get away from us,” says Sutter, whose beleaguered boys face the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday night. “The last couple games haven’t been at the standards I want to see. You’ve got 21 big hockey games left. We just have to recognize it, deal with it, get back on track. We’re right in the mix, right in the thick of things. It’s not like it’s gotten away on us . . . but I don’t want to see it slip away.

“That’s why I’ve been the way I’ve been the last few days.”

Which is to say somewhat surly.

Sutter did his ranting Friday in front of an uncommonly large gathering. Many of the media members had been waiting for the main event — access to general manager Jay Feaster the day after he criticized his club during Thursday’s broadcast of the 4-3 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes.

But the undercard packed plenty of punch.

“Hey, we’re in Canada, we’re in Calgary,” Sutter is saying. “I mean, there wouldn’t be this many people standing around if we were talking in Florida right now.”

Perhaps because of his team’s downward trend, the coach was more outwardly passionate than usual.

And the depth of his disappointment went well beyond the previous night, well beyond the previous season.

“It’s something that’s been here for a while,” says Sutter. “The franchise, there’s been some good things happen. But the fact of it, it’s gotten past the first round once in the past how many years?”

The answer — 22.

For the current lot to get there, more is required from its core.

While Sutter didn’t name names, he did wonder about players who hadn’t ever experienced the post-season, about players who had experienced only a few playoff tilts.

Jay Bouwmeester has 696 regular-season dates to his credit — and not a single one in the spring. And Olli Jokinen, with 1,021 games, has played only a single playoff series.

Further, Jarome Iginla has been no snarling heck for the last week or so. Alex Tanguay, too.

“Through it all, they’re not getting younger,” Sutter says of the team’s veterans. “It’s them not understanding what is 100 per cent. What is that full engagement? That full amount that it takes?”

Given the recent shortfall, it was not surprising to see Feaster — with the regular season starting to wind down, with the NHL’s trade deadline looming — chew into his listless troops on live television.

“The message is the message,” says Sutter when asked about his boss’s comments. “I did talk to (the players) about it. It’s a situation (for them) where you don’t control what’s being thought, what may or may not happen upstairs.

“Let’s just keep our focus where it needs to be.”

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
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