Darryl.

Written by Justin Azevedo | 04 December 2010

(This is a 2500 word article. Go to the bathroom before you start reading.)

Those of you who know me understand I am a huge fan of the Flames. I've said it many times-I'm a lifelong fan whose first article of clothing post-hospital was a Flames onesie. Part of it stems from the involvement my father's had with the Flames organization, being an employee for about 15 years between 1984 and 2003, but the other part of it is my tendency to express extreme loyalty to anything that captures my attention, regardless of that thing's popularity. It's the reason I stuck with the team during the "Young Guns" era, and why, when I was 8, wrote a letter to Harley Hotchkiss asking why the Flames had traded Theo Fleury (I got a letter back, although I can't remember what it said or even where it is now). I didn't miss a game between 1999 and 2003, even though guys like Jukka Hentunen were considered impact players. I remember reading the Blaze magazines during that time and seeing the same letter from Ron Bremmner year after year, with one notable change-the increase of years the Flames had missed the playoffs.

Yeah, it sucked being a fan back then.

I was lucky enough to attend the draft in 2000 in the 'Dome, but the only thing that really stuck with me was the "Flames Forever" campaign and the chocolate pucks they handed out. I wasn't able to grasp the concept of exchange rates and contracts back then, so I had no idea why the Flames would be moving. I mean, there was always a bunch of people at the game (at least in my 9/10 year old eyes) so why were the Flames struggling financially? It was a question my parents tried to answer for me, and I have to say that they did a pretty good job simplifying the explanation. But, as you all know, the Flames were able to get their cash and they stayed put. They kept losing, though, and the owners decided it was time to make a change.

A Bit of History

Ken King was hired in late in 2001 to try and turn the Flames around financially. He realized that to be able to make money, he had to have a winning team. He knew Calgary was, and still is, the second smallest market in the entire league, and he wouldn't be able to rely on the population to sell out every game like they could in TO or MTL. So what did he have to do to get a winning team? In 2003,·King decided to bring in a guy by the name of Darryl Sutter, a native of Alberta and a guy who knew how to run a team-he had won a division title in 02 with the Sharks. Darryl immediately made his presence felt, leading the team to a winning record in the last 34 games of the season and finishing in 12th in the conference. Craig Button's contract wasn't renewed, and Darryl was offered the GM gig, which he accepted. He wanted to make the team tough, hard working and difficult to score on. He started off pretty well; acquiring a little known 3rd stringer from San Jose to help with his goaltending situation after Roman Turek went down. That goalie, Mikkia Kipprusoff, would go on to put up a 1.69 GAA-a modern day record (Kipper also brought some much needed stability, too, as the Flames started 4 different goalies in the first month of the season). He loaded up on vets like Martin Gelinas, thrust Regehr into a top pairing role and lived by a mantra-the Flames weren't going to be the most talented team in the league, but Darryl was going to be dammed if they weren't going to skate everyone into the ground every single game. The early returns were mediocre-from the start of the season to November 30th, the Flames were sitting in 11th with a 9-8-1-3 record. Flames fans were gearing up for another disappointing, non-playoff season.

But then something clicked for the Flames when they hit December, posting a stunning record of 10-3-0-2, doubling their point total for the entire season. It was this month that would propel the Flames into the playoff chase, and it allowed them to survive two months of .500 hockey. March is when the Flames picked it up again, and on the 31st, Jarome Iginla scored the lone goal in a game against Phoenix, clinching a playoff spot for the Flames for the first time in 7 years. You all know the story from there-the first Gelinas goal, Iggy's dominance of everyone, Kipper's Conn Smythe play, Mikey C's hair, and the Flames becoming the only team to defeat 3 division champs en route to a heartbreaking loss in game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals. 05-06, 06-07, and 07-08 were all playoff years, but first round losses seemed to become routine.

Risky Business

Darryl's position in the org was safe. No one blamed him for the first round exits-how could they? He built the team, kept his players happy, and made sure there were some younglings with the vets. Besides, any negative move he made was outweighed heavily by the positives. No one batted an eyelash when he traded Alex Tanguay, who had 140 points over two seasons with the Flames, because he was "soft" and didn't want to play on the PK. In Sutter we trusted.

But he felt he was still missing that number one centre for Jarome and Co. Darryl thought that was going to be the final piece of the puzzle. The entire 08-09 season, he tried to get a number one centre. It made sense, as this was the best Flames team he had ever constructed, and he felt another run to the Cup was possible. But injuries started to handcuff the team-Darryl has always spent right to the cap. Soon, a double digit division lead started to evaporate. 5 players on the IR didn't help, and Darryl sensed his Cup season slipping away, so he did something drastic.

The Great Pumpkinhead

Olli Jokinen was a Flame. A first rounder, Brandon Prust and Matthew Lombardi were going the other way. Darryl finally had his first line center, and he was confident that the injuries would start to heal. Everything was set up perfectly for the Flames-a cushy lead atop the division, a probable series against the St. Louis Blues, a team which had a soft schedule and used it to their advantage and would be an easy opponent in the playoffs. But some people didn't like the trade. They thought it was too much to give up for a guy with 40 points and bad underlying numbers. Darryl and his supporters scoffed as Olli potted 2 goals in his debut in Philly. The injuries didn't heal, though, and Sutter had to bring up guys like Matt Pelech, who were nowhere near ready to play in the NHL. But more guys got hurt, and Darryl's practice of spending up to the cap was going to bite him in the ass. League rules don't allow players to be put on IR after the trading deadline, so Lankgow's 4.5 million and other salaries were still counting against the cap. Darryl forgot that he added 3 million dollars onto the cap when he traded for Jokinen, and the Flames had to dress 16, 15, 16 and 17 skaters as their lead atop the Northwest disappeared. Darryl lost many supporters here, as many felt it was a gross mismanagement of the cap. But the Flames were able to pull it together in time for the playoffs, and they finished fifth, only to lose again in the first round, as this time the Blackhawks defeated them in 6 games.

To Be Quite Honest

When Darryl signed Jay Bouwmeester for 6.6 million a season, it was the end of Cammalerri in Calgary. As a dumb fan, I failed to see how adding another 6 and a half million onto the blue line was going to help the team score. But Darryl persuaded me, and I stayed happy. The team came out and won its first 4 games. It was looking good until the Flames went on that 9 game losing streak. We played badly, none of the bounces were going our way, and even Kipper was playing badly. Loss after loss, and we were falling out of the playoff picture. Darryl lost me forever when he traded Dion to the Maple Leafs. I'm sure if you go back and look at my comments from back then, I was pissed that he traded Dion. Trading a guy that was looked at as a top pairing player &·offensive threat for a second liner and three expiring contracts was a farce. Then Darryl and Brent decided that even more of a shakeup was needed, and they got rid of Jokinen and Prust (again). But it wasn’t enough that they were going to be traded-no, he made them play in a game before he got rid of them. Why? Because "it gave the team the best chance to win". So why, then, were you trading them in the first place? Sutter ignored that question and instead went into hiding until after the Olympics. Even though the team had a half a dozen games together and all of the two weeks the NHL took off, Darryl decided it wouldn't be a good move to make a splash at the deadline...and then the Flames proceeded to continue their ongoing suckage, missing the playoffs.

After the Fact

So that draft pick that Darryl traded away for Jokinen? It would have been his highest pick since Dion in 2003. The Flames were left dreading July 1, having 17 players signed and about 7 million to work with. So, of course, the most logical move was to re-sign Jokinen to a multiyear deal at 3 mil per. (NTC, too.) Tanguay at 1.7 made sense, but he, too, got a NTC. I suppose I’m just happy Thing 1 and Thing 2 didn’t get any trade clauses.

I was out with mikeH this weekend and we were talking about Darryl, among other things. Through that conversation, I came to the conclusion that Darryl just doesn't like to negotiate any more. Look at all the contracts he's given out in the past year: every one of them, sans White (who isn't a "Sutter player"), seems to be too long, too pricey and most, if not all, of them have a NTC/NMC. As a GM, you are trying to keep the team competitive on and off the ice. You have to find a way to have value contracts, and Paying Stajan and Bourque almost 7 million combined over the next 4 years with a clause that limits movement is unacceptable. I don't think anyone denies that Dion probably should have fetched more, but when Darcy Regher goes on national TV and says, point blank, that he didn't know that Dion was on the market it touches a nerve for me. Instead of eating a contract like he should have done with Jokinen last year, he trades him and a serviceable player away for a contract that will never give you value and a UFA who made half of what Jokinen did. Even from a money angle, the trade made no sense. Darryl talks about how the team is always in "win now" mode-that's his fault. He continuously has failed to find replacements for players past their prime-and in the case of trades like Staios and signings like Ivanans, that's completely indefensible. You gave up a future player, and you squeezed out a young player because those guys have leadership. Trading players for "Leadership" is fucking stupid. These guys are grown adults who make millions upon millions of dollars. If they can't fucking play the game without encouragement they shouldn't be in the dressing room. I do not doubt the existence of a captain or leaders in the room, but trading talented players, or, for that matter, players with more on ice skill then what you are getting back is absolutely moronic. You may not like Jokinen (I sure as hell don't) but I still think he's a better player than Kotalik. Aaron Johnson? The skill difference between him and Staios is minute, but we gave away a pick. True, that player has a 7% chance of becoming an NHL regular, but that's 7% more of a chance then Staios has to be an NHL regular in 2012.

As for the people who want to blow it all up right now? Too bad. The players on the team with high trade values are the ones you should be rebuilding around. You aren't going to unload vets of Sarich's calibre till the deadline. The guys like Kotalik and Staios? The only way they are leaving is through FA or demotion. As far as Iggy goes, is his value really going to depreciate a solid amount between now and March? Quite the contrary, I think. If the Flames keep losing and he keeps scoring at the pace he is (70 points), other GMs will see a player that is still getting it done with a shitty team. If the Flames start winning, (which is actually a possibility, given that the Flames have a good chunk of their games against tough comp done already,) then he's going to get credit for that. Either way, waiting till March, June or July will benefit the team. Also to note, for those wanting to trade for "picks and prospects", as it is right now, Darryl is going to be the guy drafting in June. Why would you want to give him more draft picks then he already has? We all know his drafting track record is god awful-why give him more of a chance to screw it up? Besides, the AHL is littered with those who had "high pedigree" and "potential". Look at the Ryan Smyth trade and tell me something like that situation might not happen with one of our vets. It's more than a realistic possibility. There are lots of shitty GM's in the league. Fleece one of those guys.

Fans: If you want something to change, you need to stop spending money. Stop going to games if you aren't a season ticket holder. Don't renew for next year if you are. Don't go to FlamesCentral; buy Flames apparel or the Sun. Distance yourself from the people behind the crest. By no means am I saying don't cheer for them or support them, but you guys need to get it through your heads. Until Ken King is pressured to get rid of Daz, he has no reason to. The owners don't get involved in hockey ops, but if they start to hurt financially, KK will have to do something.

The Org is making money. If it stops making money, something will change.