CALGARY -- The old cowboy is back in town and he's looking to take care of some unfinished business from 2004. Darryl Sutter, straight out of Viking, Alta., remains as haunted by that by that 2004 game seven loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning that cost the Flames a cup as thousands of Flames fans.
Before he quits the NHL for good, Sutter would love to bring another Stanley Cup back to Calgary but first he needs to find a way to turn around the struggling Flames, who weren't even in a playoff position Tuesday.
Sutter 2.0 was on the ice for his first practice with his new team on Tuesday and said it felt pretty good.
"Well it's good to have the flaming "C" on again," he said. "To come back into the Saddledome is special."
NOT MUCH TURNAROUND TIME
Sutter has a lot of work ahead of him to turn around the fortunes of this underachieving bunch.
The Flames are in sixth place in the NHL's North Division. Through 26 games they're one game under .500. With only 30 games left in the regular season Sutter knows the turnaround has to happen now if they want to make the playoffs.
"The system is fine," Sutter said.
"It's the execution within it and there's two or three areas that I think I can help the guys with and they'll be good at it. That's not an issue."
SUTTER PRESENCE
Sutter mainly observed at Tuesday's fast-paced practice. But he told the players exactly what he wanted from them before they hit the ice.
Forward Matthew Tkachuk said Sutter commanded instant respect.
"When you have a guy who's a proven winner, he comes in with that winning mentality and that's exciting," Tkachuk said.
"It was a very fast up-tempo practice. I didn't go to the board once I don't think. Lots of skating and a lot of puck movement. It was good."
Defenseman Chris Tanev agreed.
"He's a proven winner. He knows the game and he's obviously respected by everyone in the hockey community. Basically we've just got to come in and work hard every day and do our jobs. That's basically what he stressed to us."
TWO-TIME STANLEY CUP CHAMP
The 62-year-old Sutter last coached in the NHL in 2017 with the Los Angeles Kings. In his six seasons with the Kings he was able to celebrate two Stanley Cup Championships, the first in 2011-12 and the second in 2013-14.
He's a winner and said he knows what his strengths are.
"My strengths are clearly as a bench coach and clearly with individuals, so that's what I'll work on," Sutter said. "That's sort of my business is the best way of putting it."
COACHING EXPERIENCE
Sutter has been a head coach with the Blackhawks, Sharks, Flames, Kings and now with the Flames again. He's been behind the bench for a lot of games and thinks this team has what it takes to be successful.
"I think they're a really good young group here and (there's) good leadership. We've just got to get it to all come together."
That will all start Thursday night, when the Flames take on the Montreal Canadiens.
