Taking over midseason not new to Sutter

The previous item alluded to Darryl Sutter’s connection to San Jose, and his frequent trips back here as a member of the Calgary organization. There was a direct tie there. Sutter was fired by San Jose (and by Dean Lombardi) 24 games into the 2002-03 season, but was quickly grabbed by the Flames, whom he led to a 19-18-8-1 record as a midseason replacement. Now, Sutter is in that situation again, having taken over for Terry Murray 33 games into the season. After today’s skate, Sutter was asked about once again taking charge of a team nearly halfway through a season.

SUTTER: “The toughest part is that you are new to the group, for the most part. You know a handful of guys. The only advantage you have in it is, if you have some experience with the league. You might not know (players) personally, you pretty much know what kind of players they are, so you try to get something to happen right away. This is a different situation than the last time I did it. I was going to a team that was basically out of it. They were in a total sort of re-start. This, we’re trying to do it a little bit quicker, and you believe that it is a good group, so you’re trying to get them to believe it. You put in what you can, to help them along the way.’’

Sutter also spoke about his challenges in his first game…

SUTTER: “I told the players, after, that they were a lot better last night than I was. The toughest part, when you’re in your first couple games, you just want to focus on your own guys. So it puts a little more onus on your staff that’s on the bench with you, to help you along the way. Names, numbers, after a while it just becomes automatic and you don’t have to look at it. But last night, there were times when I found myself looking to see who was there. That’s something you know you’ll get better at in a hurry. I told them, Mike Richards and Brad Richardson, if you guys are ever out there on the ice together, that’s your fault. [laughs]’’