Red Deer hero has a lot on his plate in
these crazy times
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| Brent Sutter mans the Rebels bench in the 2016 WHL playoffs. |
When it comes to Sutter, you almost didn’t imagine that moment would come until it actually came. Since buying the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels in 1999, Sutter had been the team’s head coach, general manager, president and governor for most of that time.
He gave up the head coach and general manager roles for five seasons from 2007 to 2012 to be an NHL head coach for two seasons with the New Jersey Devils and three campaigns with the Calgary Flames.
Following his time with the Flames, Sutter returned to taking on all of his many roles with the Rebels.
That all came to an end Saturday when Sutter, who is 58-years-old, announced he was stepping down as the Rebels head coach. The franchise owner will continue on as the club’s general manager, president and governor.
The coaching duties for the rest of the Rebels abbreviated season will be handled by assistant coaches Ryan Colvill and Brad Flynn, and they will be joined behind the bench by assistant general manager and director of player personnel Shaun Sutter, who is Brent’s nephew.
Speaking to Greg Meachem for a story on the Rebels website, Brent Sutter said the decision came from a perfect storm of navigating the team through the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, a rash of injuries especially to the Rebels defence and a lack of on-ice success that has left both the players and coaches frustrated.
Sutter made his decision to step down after conversing with Shaun and Rebels senior vice-president Merrick Sutter, who is Brent’s son, following the Rebels 6-3 loss at home to the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday.
The Rebels proceeded to fall 5-2 to the Hurricanes in Lethbridge on Saturday falling to 2-11-2 with an eighth straight loss.
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| Brent Sutter monitors game action in Prince Albert in 2018. |
“I just felt like this is a good time for them to hear a different voice, get reset, leave here in a good mindset and then come back next fall with that mindset.”
With Sutter as head coach, the Rebels won the WHL title and Memorial Cup as CHL champions in the 2000-01 season. He guided Canada to gold medal victories at world juniors as head coach in 2005 and 2006.
The former veteran NHL player helped oversee the Rebels as Memorial Cup hosts in 2016.He has 526 career regular season wins to sit eight all-time on the WHL list for most head coach victories.
Sutter will make a decision on a new head coach in the off-season. He said he thought about stepping away from the coaching role last summer.
You can bet Sutter hasn’t been able to spend the time he wants to on the coaching side of things. When something comes up on the COVID-19 front even just administratively that deals with a government health department, Sutter likely has to drop everything and focus on that.
“You need someone younger, because to be quite honest, coaching is the hardest position in an organization, when you’re dealing with players of this age,” said Sutter to Meachem. “You have to put so much time into it, and when you’re doing that plus the management side of it…. Because you’re so dialed in on the coaching side you’re not there to help out with some of the other side.
“Mentally it’s been really tough for everyone with the whole environment we’re in. We need to get the player upbeat again.”
Away from the Rebels, Sutter has had to wrestle with the fact his son Brandon became infected with COVID-19 as a centre with the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks have been derailed with over 20 players, coaches and staffers testing positive for COVID-19.
They last hit the ice for a game on March 24 falling 5-1 at home to the Winnipeg Jets.
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| Sutter works the Rebels bench during a road game in 2018. |
In taking to Meachem on Saturday, Brent said he may take some time to wind down.
“I’ve been coaching for 22 years and two months and I’ve been so dialed into it, so passionate about it,” said Sutter. “Yet you can’t be selfish.
“The players and the front of the jersey always comes first, no matter what. The right thing for this hockey team and this organization is for me to step down right now. For me personally, it’s the right thing.”
Pats’ Bedard all-heart in end of his WHL season, other notes
It is a situation no 15-year-old should have to face.
Last Tuesday, Regina Pats 15-year-old phenom Connor Bedard, who is the first player to be granted exceptional player status to play full time in the WHL before age 16, found out after his team’s 6-1 win over the Swift Current Broncos that his grandfather, Garth Bedard, passed away in a car crash near Sicamous, B.C.
The Pats offered to fly the youngster home, but he elected to stay with the team for their game against the Brandon Wheat Kings on Friday. All the WHL East Division teams are playing in a bubble environment at the Brandt Centre in Regina due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bedard was slated to return after that contest so he could begin to self-quarantine before joining Canada’s entry at the world under-18 men’s hockey championships, which will run April 26 to May 6 in Frisco and Plano, Texas.
He said he wanted to play that Pats game on Friday, because his grandfather would have wanted him to do that. The two were super close and were best friends.
In that contest against the Wheat Kings, Bedard scored the first goal of the game 22 seconds into the second period. He gave a salute to the heavens after that tally for his grandfather.
The two sides went to overtime deadlocked at 1-1. With the Pats working on the power play, Bedard wired home the winning tally just 49 seconds into the extra session to give the Pats a 2-1 victory.
The Pats players poured off their bench to celebrate with Bedard and also support him in that emotional moment. Pats team photographer Keith Hershmiller got brilliant pictures of the celebrations from both goals.
Both Regina Pats play-by-play voice Phil Andrews and Rod Pedersen, who is doing play-by-play for the Pats television broadcasts of their game, had outstanding calls on the overtime winner.
Bedard’s performance was reminiscent of the game NFL legendary Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre played a day after his father, Irvin, passed away. In arguably Favre’s most iconic performance coming on Monday Night Football on December 22, 2003, he completed 22-of-30 passes for 399 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-7 romp over the Raiders in Oakland.
For Bedard to have the game he did against the Wheat Kings on Friday was something out of an uplifting Disney movie script. To think he had that type of moment at age 15 is something that is super hard to comprehend.
When Friday’s action wrapped up, Bedard was the leading scorer in the WHL with 28 points coming off 12 goals and 16 assists. He also has a plus-nine rating in the plus-minus department.
By far Bedard’s performance on Friday is the most memorable moment so far in this shortened WHL developmental regular season.
- I was busy adding new content to the Howe Happenings blog on Friday. My main feature focused on Ignite Athletics and how positive the crew there has been mentally for the athletes they train. The piece also shared information about the Spark Park Summer Sport Camps. I always enjoy writing about the crew at Ignite, because they are such a good bunch. The post on Ignite can be found by clicking right here.
- The second post I added to Howe Happenings on Friday was a feature on rising softball star Jorde Chartrand, who turns 18-years-old on April 22. The ace right-handed pitcher, who is an alumna of the regional 222’s Fastpitch program and the Saskatoon Phantoms Softball Zone, will be joining the University of Central Arkansas Bears women’s NCAA Division I softball team in the fall. Chartrand is really talented, and she is a regular at the Indoor Training Centre. I did a story on her, because I hadn’t seen a lengthy feature piece on her. That doesn’t come as a surprise in the media cut era in Canada. I felt she was one athlete that deserved to have a lengthy story written about her. She is also strong academically in school, and I have to give a big shout out for edits she made on the piece. The post on Chartrand can be found by clicking right here.
- On Friday, the WHL announced the Calgary Hitmen had a player test positive for COVID-19 causing the Hitmen to suspend all team activities. The Medicine Hat Tigers were deemed a close contact having played the Hitmen in Medicine Hat on April 5, and they have had all their team activities suspended. The WHL announced no one from the Tigers had tested positive for COVID-19. A total of six games involving the Hitmen and Tigers had to be postponed. The WHL also announced a positive COVID-19 test for a player from the Kelowna Rockets and a positive COVID-19 test for a player from the Vancouver Giants. The Rockets player was deemed to be a close contact with the seven COVID-19 positive tests that were announced for the team on March 31. As the latest test occurred with the Rockets team cohort being in isolation, it doesn’t impact a possible return date for a return to team activities. The positive case with the Giants was for a player that was going through a mandated quarantine before joining the Giants roster. Since that player hadn’t joined the Giants team cohort, the Giants were able to proceed with team activities.
- On Sunday, the Prince Albert Raiders downed the Swift Current Broncos 4-2 in a WHL regular season clash. The win was the 550th career regular season victory for Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid. The Raiders improved to 5-8-2-1 with the win, while the Broncos fell to 3-12-1. The contest was the last game of the WHL season for Raiders 17-year-old defenceman Nolan Allan, who will join Canada’s entry for the world under-18 men’s hockey championships, which will run April 26 to May 6 in Frisco and Plano, Texas. Allan appeared in all of the Raiders first 16 games of the shortened regular season posting one goal, one assist and a minus-three rating. He is heading home to Davidson, Sask., to self-isolate before joining Canada’s under-18 team.
- Tickets are on sale for the April jackpot for the Saskatchewan Amateur Football Mega 50/50 lottery. The funds from this 50/50 lottery will go to support the CJFL’s Saskatoon Hilltops and Regina Thunder and the WWCFL’s Saskatoon Valkyries and Regina Riot. One prize will be drawn per month, and the remaining draw dates are Friday, April 30 and May 31. Tickets can be purchased by clicking right here, and purchasers must be in Saskatchewan in order to buy tickets.
If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.
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