Tag: Calgary Flames

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Report: Flames could ditch Darryl Sutter!

Sportsnet

It’s been no secret that there was rift between several Calgary Flames players and old school head coach Darryl Sutter this season, and it spilled over into more than one public back and forth. Of course, the most notable examples came from forwards Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri, both of whom are first player players under Sutter’s defense-first system. It wasn’t exactly surprising to see their offensive numbers considerably dropping as they get used to a new playing style.

And despite the fact that Sutter had recently inked a multi-year contract, it now appears as though there’s a chance he could be on the way out of town. Take a look at what Evan Renaerts had to say on Twitter earlier this afternoon: 

“Calgary #Flames will likely go a different direction next year and buy out #Sutter (regardless that he signed for 2 more years at $4M per) . Players have shared on exit interviews their concerns is being reported. Hard to see flames buying him out but may have no other choice. Only time will tell.”

Sutter and the rest of the Flames missed the postseason, further fueling speculation of a chance behind the bench in favor of a more modern-thinking head coach. 

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New home for the Calgary Flames officially in the works!

Expedia

After nearly 40 years of playing in the Scotiabank Saddledome, the Calgary Flames will soon have a brand new home to call their own to replace the aging facility.

Minutes ago, it was announced that a deal has officially been struck to replace the venue that opened in 1983. The new complex, which is expected to be complete in 2027, will be getting almost $900 million in government funding. 

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith had this to say: 

“Let me tell you, Calgary isn’t Calgary without the Flames and Alberta isn’t Alberta without the Battle of Alberta.”

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Major announcement forthcoming from Calgary

Daily Hive

It wasn’t long ago that an agreement between the Calgary Flames and the city of Calgary to build a new $634 million arena to replace the aging Scotiabank Saddledome was terminated. For now, the Flames remain in only the second building they’ve ever played in (formerly played at the Stampede Corral from 1980-1983), but it’s beyond obvious that the venue is extremely out of date and is even literally starting to crumble. 

Next season will be Calgary’s 40th year playing in the Saddledome, which is the second oldest venue in the National Hockey League behind New York’s Madison Square Garden (which recently underwent a $1 billion renovation). NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman even got stuck in an elevator during last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, causing him to quip, “You need a new arena.”

Minutes ago, news was released that an “important announcement” is going to be made later this afternoon with regard to a future events center in the city: 

It absolutely is way past time for the aging Saddledome to be put out to pasture in favor of an updated venue with every possible amenity that Calgary’s bitter Alberta rival in the Edmonton Oilers recently opened in 2016.

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Insider reveals shocking reason behind Brad Treliving’s departure.

HabsolumentFan

The Calgary Flames surprised many of their fans on Monday morning when they announced that they had mutually parted ways with longtime general manager Brad Treliving.

It’s true that the Flames failed to make the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs in spite of high expectations on their team, but nonetheless Treliving was heralded as a hero just last summer when he turned lemons into lemonade when both Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk made it clear that their futures were not in Calgary.

The language used by the Flames, a mutual parting of ways as opposed to a termination or a non-renewal of a contract, was also curious and according to NHL insider Frank Serravalli there may be good reason to be curious.

On Monday, Seravalli revealed that a major contributing factor to Treliving’s departure may have been the status of head coach Darryl Sutter. Seravalli reports that Sutter will remain with the Flames, and “that fact played a role on whether or not Treliving would remain at his post.”

This would appear to indicate that Treliving felt Sutter was not the right coach for the group of players that he had assembled under the Flames banner, with ownership seemingly seeing things differently.

Given that Sutter is under contract through the 2024-25 season it’s not hard to see why ownership was reluctant to replace him, but the reaction to this news from fans in Calgary has not been positive.

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GM Brad Treliving out in Calgary!

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The Calgary Flames have made some major changes at the top levelings of their organization this morning.

According to an official announcement from the Flames organization, the team has mutually agreed to part ways with general manager Brad Treliving. Furthermore Don Maloney has been promoted to president of hockey operations and will also serve as the organizations interim general manager.

Maloney has experience as an NHL general manager having previously served as the general manager of the Arizona Coyotes, and was acting as vice president of hockey operations for the Flames prior to being promoted today.

Update: NHL insider Frank Seravalli has shared more details on the motivations behind the split.

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Jonathan Huberdeau admits the truth after brutal season

NHL.com

The Florida Panthers sent shockwaves throughout the National Hockey League last July when they traded assistant captain Jonathan Huberdeau and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar to the Calgary Flames in exchange for gritty forward Matthew Tkachuk. 

It wouldn’t be long before the Flames would lock up Huberdeau to a lengthy eight year contract extension worth $84 million, and they were understandably envisioning their newest forward continuing his offensive prowess that saw him eclipse the 100-point mark in 2021-22 with Florida. 

Needless to say, Huberdeau’s first season with the Flames could not have gone worse. In the 79 games that he played in, Huberdeau only managed 55 points, and in doing so, set the new NHL record of the single biggest drop-off in production with 60. In fact, it was the first time in nearly 20 years that a drop-off that eclipsed 40 points from one season to the next had even occurred. And it certainly didn’t help that Huberdeau publicly traded barbs with old-school bench boss Darryl Sutter throughout the year. 

In his seasons-ending media remarks this afternoon, Huberdeau gave his true thoughts on how his first season with the Flames went, which he admitted knowing would be an adjustment but had no idea just how much of one. 

“I knew it was going to be a change and adjustment,” Huberdeau said. “But, of course, I didn’t think it was going to be this hard.”

“I completely lost my swagger this year,” he continued. “You can just tell. You have no confidence in the way you play, the way you make your plays. It’s hard. You know you’re just trying to be out there and help your team to win and you can’t really do it.”

Huberdeau bounced all throughout the lineup this year, skating on three different lines while also moving from left to right wing. 

“It wasn’t working offensively,” Huberdeau said. “I think Darryl was trying to make it work and that’s why I kind of bounced around. It was that kind of year. It’s to find some fits. I played with (Backlund) mostly at the end of the year. It was going well, so I think I need to find a duo. And that’s what (Darryl) was trying to do.”

What about his relationship with Sutter moving forward? 

“Me and Darryl will figure it out together and try to fix some things,” Huberdeau said.

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MacKenzie Weegar says what everyone else is thinking!

Yardbarker

It wasn’t long ago that an agreement between the Calgary Flames and the city of Calgary to build a new $634 million arena to replace the aging Scotiabank Saddledome was terminated. For now, the Flames remain in only the second building they’ve ever played in (formerly played at the Stampede Corral from 1980-1983), but it’s beyond obvious that the venue is extremely out of date and is even literally starting to crumble. 

Next season will be Calgary’s 40th year playing in the Saddledome, which is the second oldest venue in the National Hockey League behind New York’s Madison Square Garden (which recently underwent a $1 billion renovation). NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman even got stuck in an elevator during last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, causing him to quip, “You need a new arena.”

And first year Flames defenseman MacKenzie Weegar stated the obvious during his end of season remarks earlier today. Weegar, who was acquired by the Flames last summer along with Jonathan Huberdeau in the blockbuster deal that sent Matthew Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers, said that it was time for the Flames to play in a new building.

“I think we need a new rink,” he said. “Maybe that’ll help. The Saddledome obviously’s got some caracter. Maybe a couple updates could make it look a little bit better.”

It absolutely is way past time for the aging Saddledome to be put out to pasture in favor of an updated venue with every possible amenity that Calgary’s bitter Alberta rival in the Edmonton Oilers recently opened in 2016.

Whether or not the Flames get a new rink, Weegar is with the Flames for the long haul, having signed an eight year contract exertion prior to this recently completed season.

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Milan Lucic reveals just how bad things got for him in Calgary.

Daniel Lea/CSM/Zuma

The Milan Lucic saga in Calgary may finally be over, and quite frankly it may even put an end to the Milan Lucic saga in Edmonton considering the Edmonton Oilers originally signed him to his much-maligned contract and were still paying him $750,000 this season due to the salary retained in the trade that sent him to the Calgary Flames.

It brings to an end a period in the career of Lucic that drastically altered the reputation he had as a player in the National Hockey League. Lucic would go from having the reputation of a dominant physical forward with the Boston Bruins, perhaps even among the most feared men in the entire league, to that of a largely overpaid and ineffective forward with the Oilers and Flames.

While it might be easy to suggest that Lucic can brush it off with the millions he has earned in the process, there’s no doubt that all of the controversy surrounding his play and his contract had to have taken a toll on the man, and following the conclusion of the 2022-23 NHL regular season, Lucic admitted as much.

“You want to live up to the expectations of what you’re getting paid and all that type of stuff… and I’m a proud person,” admitted Lucic.

Speaking to the media following the conclusion of the season, a “glassy-eyed” Milan Lucic admitted that it had been a struggle for him during the low points of his tenure with the Flames, and he thanked the fans for keeping his love of the game alive with their chants of “Looch” every time he touched the pucked.

“I gotta say [the fans] made it fun for me again, and I thank the people here for that,” said Lucic.

In fact, things would get so bad for Lucic at some points during his tenure in Calgary that the bruising forward admitted he contemplated stepping away from the game altogether at times.

“It wasn’t fun… and it got to a point for me when it wasn’t fun coming to the rink anymore and all that type of stuff,” admitted Lucic. “It was tough at one point… but that’s why I’m thankful and grateful to have the people around me that I’ve had here in Calgary.”

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Multiple Flames players could be moving on!

Fox News

To say that the 2022-23 National Hockey League season was a difficult one for the Calgary Flames would be a major understatement. 

Fresh off their first postseason victory since their run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2004, the Flames underwent a series of massive changes last summer, starting with the stunning departure of Johnny Gaudreau to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Additionally, they traded All-Star forward Matthew Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar, while also bringing aboard 2022 Stanley Cup winning forward Nazem Kadri. 

However, the entire team fell short of the expectations that they entered the campaign with. Huberdeau experienced a stunning drop-off in production as he struggled to adapt to the defensive playing system of hard-nosed head coach Darryl Sutter, while Kadri also saw a noticeable decline on the stat sheet. Goaltender Jakub Markstrom, who was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy last season, failed to come close to a repeat performance this year. This all along with other factors combined to result in Calgary missing the playoffs, sending them into an uncertain offseason. 

And right now, we’re already seeing reports that there could be several players eventually on the move. Forward Elias Lindholm, who saw his point production drop by nearly 20 points from last season, didn’t exactly sound committed to staying in Calgary beyond 2024. 

“I’ve got one more year and that’s all I can say,” he explained.

Meanwhile, forward Mikael Backlund admitted that this past season was the most difficult of his career, and like Lindholm, didn’t commit to staying a member of the Flames for the long haul. 

“Definitely the hardest season I’ve played emotionally and mentally,” he said. “We never met the expectations.”

“We’ll see what happens,” he said of signing long term. “The year we had, I’m 34 years old. I wanna win the Stanley Cup.”

Buckle up, Flames fans! 

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Sutter credits 1 player for keeping the Flames’ playoff hopes alive.

The Calgary Flames are barely clinging onto their playoff lives with the team 2 points out of a playoff spot with only 6 games remaining on the regular season schedule, but they are still in the hunt.

That came in large part thanks to a huge comeback win for the Flames on Friday night when they overcame a third period deficit for the first time all season long, after previously going 0-18-3 when trailing after 2 during the regular season this year.

Following the game Darryl Sutter, the usually reserved head coach of the Calgary Flames, had a ton of praise for one of his players in particular when he was asked about the play of Tyler Toffoli. Toffoli, who had a major impact in the comeback with a pair of goals against the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night, was cited by Sutter as the only reason the team has remained competitive following the departure of 2 of the team’s top stars in Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk last summer.

“What’s he got? 33? Take those two 40s out (Gaudreau and Tkachuk) and that’s exactly why we’re still in it, those guys who are scoring big goals for us,” said Sutter when asked about Toffoli.

Toffoli has quickly endeared himself to fans in Calgary and his comments following the comeback on Friday night will no doubt only add to that. Toffoli expressed how desperately he wanted the comeback win, a sentiment that was no doubt echoed by every single Flames fan that tuned in for last night’s game.

“It’s about time we came back and won a game,” admitted Toffoli. “We needed it, obviously feels good.”