Why Does Brent Sutter Hate His Job??

With his season on the line, with little margin for error-- Brent Sutter went into Vancouver's Rogers Arena knowing that he needed to win-out to even had a chance. Who else would he turn to but his only hope in net-- Henrik Karlsson.

Wait, what??

Sure, in the end, Karlsson was solid and they did pick up a point in the overtime loss; the fact remains that this is a continuation of the follies that has happened during Brent Sutter's tenure as the Calgary Flames head coach. Sutter has been behind the Flames bench for three seasons, each of which he did not qualify for the second-season. With not playing the starting, franchise goalie in a must-win game, combined with a few weeks ago not putting in his top scorers in the shootout-- you have to wonder if Sutter is doing this all on purpose or not. While a lapse in judgement is possible, the fact remains that some of these decisions are head-scratchers and makes many wonder if he was possessed or not when making these moves.

While some "experienced" scribes believed that Sutter may deserve a contract extension because of the team's second half surge (then going on TV that same week and say he could be going to Edmonton to coach there); the results when all is said and done, Sutter shouldn't be behind the Flames bench. I don't know who should, but I know that Sutter probably isn't the guy if he can't get anything out of this team for three seasons. Plus, he isn't GM Jay Feaster's guy-- which could make a bumpy ride for Sutter when he eventually goes out the door.

It's quite interesting on how Sutter was able to succeed (relatively speaking) with the New Jersey Devils, but when he moved closer to home and with family-- and possibly a better forward roster-- Sutter hasn't been able to get much of anything out of the the Flames or when he does....it's far too late to make up the ground lost. The awful part about this is that Sutter can't play the game, which doesn't help the slumps and injuries that have happened-- but at the same time; there's plenty of points that the team left out there and since you can't fire the players or grill them all the time, you have to look higher-- which is Sutter.

The start of this tenure seemed like a match made in hockey heaven-- the brothers Sutter combining to give the Flames a spark and bring back the mucking-and-grinding glory that propelled the team to the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals. Coming back to his home Province and only 90 minutes south of where he built a Major Junior empire with the Red Deer Rebels, bringing along players like Cam Ward and Dion Phaneuf-- Brent would be the guy to help the veterans stay hungry and develop the youngsters to be like the seasoned vets.

Even so, it ended in the brothers not talking, then Darryl getting fired, then just a downward spiral from that point forward. The players should be held accountable, but the fact that Brent couldn't get the motivation needed for the crucial time of the year, it says more about the leadership behind the bench rather than those on the ice.

In a mere couple games, this whole dream could become a nightmare that many fans would want to forget. So much promise, so much miss opportunities. So much for "Every Game Matters," eh Flames??