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GILBERTSON: With Sutter’s return, pressure is on Flames’ core players – Calgary Sun

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Those guys were hard-hatted.

These guys might be hard-headed.

Darryl Sutter, who led the Calgary Flames to within a whisker — or perhaps a pixel — of a Stanley Cup parade in 2004, is now back behind the bench at the Saddledome, tasked with squeezing more out of a talented core that has already churned through several coaches.

Under their new boss, there will be no excuse for falling short of expectations.

The Flames made this surprise move late Thursday, announcing about 75 minutes after a 7-3 rout of the Ottawa Senators that Geoff Ward had been fired and that Sutter is returning to his old stomping grounds.

They are, indeed, going full retro.

Sutter was a staple at the Saddledome for an eight-year span from Dec. 28, 2002, until that exact same date in 2010, serving as skipper and then general manager.

MAY 27, 2004 – Coach Darryl Sutter and the boys are not too happy during the third period of Stanley Cup final game 2 action in Tampa Bay, between Calgary Flames and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Photo by Dean Bicknell /Postmedia file

In his first full season at the helm, he guided two superstars — right-winger Jarome Iginla and netminder Miikka Kiprusoff — and a bunch of relative unknowns on a fairytale run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final.

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The Red Mile was born that spring, the city rallying around a band of overachievers that was being spurred along by the no-nonsense farm-boy from a few hours to the northeast in Viking, Alta.

Since that stint in Calgary, Sutter has twice had his name engraved on hockey’s ultimate prize. He coached the Los Angeles Kings to the NHL title in 2012 and again in 2014.

The Flames’ current core — now taking their orders from a 62-year-old Sutter, most recently an advisor for the Anaheim Ducks — has barely advanced through a playoff round, let alone stuck around long enough for bushy beards and banner-raisings.

Maybe ‘The Jolly Rancher’ can change that.

That’s what Calgary’s general manager, Brad Treliving, is banking on.

Treliving and Sutter will address the media on Friday at 11 a.m. MT video call. When the team takes the ice for an early-afternoon practice, Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Matthew Tkachuk & Co. better be ready to bust their butts.

JANUARY 31, 2010 — Calgary Flames General Manager Darryl Sutter spoke on January 31, 2010 about the trade involving Dion Phaneuf, Fredrik Sjostrom and prospect Keith Aulie to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday morning. In return the Flames are getting four players including Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman, Jamal Mayers and Ian White. Photo by Colleen De Neve /Postmedia file

Sutter, even if he’s softened a wee bit since his initial stop in Calgary, will demand as much.

Thursday’s late-night coaching switch should squash any talk of a tear-down or rebuild. You don’t bring in a guy with Sutter’s resume — he is No. 17 on the NHL’s all-time wins list with a career mark of 634-467-101-83 — or reputation unless you consider yourselves a contender.

While the new/old boss has reportedly signed a three-year contract, he’s not here to preach patience. He’s back to change the culture, to insist on the same sort of relentless effort that helped him and five of his brothers go from spirited scrimmages in the hayloft to squaring off at the highest level.

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The results, starting with Saturday’s Battle of Alberta against the Edmonton Oilers (8 p.m., CBC/Sportsnet 960 The Fan), will be fascinating.

Ward was ultimately scapegoated for an inconsistent, unpredictable start to this 56-game sprint. The Flames have been a mixed bag so far, with an 11-11-2 record that has featured a few dominant victories and a few too many demoralizing losses.

Thursday’s 7-3 thumping of the last-place Senators was too little too late, to save his job.

“I think the mental readiness of our team was good, I thought the work ethic was good, and I thought our details were a lot better,” Ward praised.

While he was axed shortly after that post-game presser, those same traits — engagement, accountability and a willingness to work — will be priorities under Sutter. He won’t accept anything less.

And if the message doesn’t stick, if wins don’t follow, you can bet the next move will be a farewell to one of the skating stars. Or several of them.

Prior to Ward’s ouster, there seemed to be two trains of thought for a frustrated fan-base — either blame the coach or blame the general manager for not hiring a proven winner.

Ward, as likeable a guy as you’ll ever meet, lasted less than six months after his ‘interim’ tag was removed. Previously, he’d only worked as an assistant or associate at the NHL level.

His predecessor, Bill Peters, never made the Stanley Cup playoffs as a head coach before he arrived in Calgary. (Peters was forced to resign after startling allegations of past misconduct, including a racial slur.)

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Treliving’s first coaching hire, Glen Gulutzan, was also short on experience and profile.

Sutter brings both.

Darryl Sutter instructs players during a practice of the Calgary Flames at the Saddledome. Photo by Tim Fraser /Calgary Herald

The moment he walks through the door, he will be the most accomplished guy in the locker room.

His demanding can style work. He has two Stanley Cup rings as proof of it. If video-review technology was further along in 2004, it might be three.

Which means that the pressure is on the Flames’ players now, especially those core pieces.

You could argue, up until Thursday at 10:50 p.m. MT, that Treliving had assembled all of the ingredients except for an established top-of-his-craft coach.

The Flames have a talented forward cast, although their go-to guys have yet to silence their critics in the spring.

While they don’t necessarily have a premier defenceman, a description that Mark Giordano no longer fits at age 37, they are certainly solid on the blue-line. Giordano has been around so long that he had Sutter as his GM when he was first cutting his teeth at the Saddledome.

They just signed one of the NHL’s elite puck-stoppers, Jacob Markstrom, to a six-year deal.

Can Sutter get this group to play to their capabilities? Or, better yet, beyond?

When they arrive at the rink Friday, Gaudreau and Monahan will be meet-and-greeting with their fifth head coach. That’s a lot of bosses for two guys in their mid-20s. (Treliving has now hired four of them since he inherited Bob Hartley.)

Sutter, however, won’t require a tour of the rink.

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He knows the organization and ownership.

He knows the city.

He knows what buttons to push, and we’ve all seen the evidence of it.

Back in 2004, the Flames were rarely, if ever, outworked. For that reason, the hard hat was a fitting prize for their in-house player-of-the-game nod.

This current cast has worked when they want to. It’s never lasted long-term, and it’s never been more obvious than this season, when they have oh-so-often followed a strong showing with a total stinker.

Can Sutter buck that trend? Can he be the difference?

We’re about to find out.

wgilbertson@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/WesGilbertson

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Washington Capitals 3-2 win ends Dallas Stars’ winning streak

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome and Taylor Raddysh scored to help the Washington Capitals end the Dallas Stars’ season-opening winning streak at four with a 3-2 victory Thursday night.

Wilson’s goal was his third in three games, Strome his second of the season and Raddysh his first since joining the team in free agency last summer. Charlie Lindgren made 22 saves as the Capitals wrapped up this early homestand with back-to-back wins.

The Stars fell from the ranks of the league’s unbeaten teams despite a short-handed goal by Colin Blackwell and one at even strength from Jason Robertson. Rookie Oskar Bäck set up Blackwell for his first NHL point.

Casey DeSmith was screened on two of the three goals he allowed on 26 shots.

LIGHTNING 4, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov scored the winning goal with less than a minute to play just 1:27 after Brandon Hagel had tied it and Tampa Bay rallied to beat Vegas.

Kucherov’s second goal of the game with 55 seconds left was his sixth of the season.

Janis Moser had a goal and two assists for the Lightning, who remain unbeaten. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves.

Brayden McNabb, Pavel Dorofeyev and Ivan Barbashev had goals for Vegas. Adin Hill turned aside 21 shots.

Jack Eichel, with two assists on Thursday, now has 10 points this season in five games and reached reached double-digit points faster than any other player in Vegas history. He is the 10th U.S.-born player to accomplish the feat.

After Barbashev put Vegas up 3-2 early in the second, Hagel pulled Tampa Bay even at 3 with 2:22 remaining in the third.

BLUE JACKETS 6, SABRES 4

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kirill Marchenko and Mathieu Olivier each had a goal and an assist and Daniil Tarasov made 21 saves to help Columbus to a win over Buffalo.

Yegor Chinakhov, Adam Fantilli, Zachary Aston-Reese and Damon Severson also scored for Columbus, and Zach Werenski added two assists.

Ryan McLeod, Owen Power and JJ Peterka scored for Buffalo, and Jiri Kulich added his first NHL goal. Devon Lev stopped 19 shots for the Sabres (1-5-1), who have lost two straight road games and five of their first six overall.

CANUCKS 3, FLORIDA 2, OT

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — J.T. Miller scored 2:09 into overtime and Vancouver got their first win of the season, beating Florida.

Teddy Blueger and Quinn Hughes had goals for Vancouver, with Kevin Lankinen stopping 26 shots.

Anton Lundell got his fourth goal in the last three games for Florida and Jesper Boqvist also scored for the Panthers, who got 30 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky.

Florida remained without forwards Aleksander Barkov (lower body) and Matthew Tkachuk (illness).

DEVILS 3, SENATORS 1

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Jacob Markstrom stopped 30 shots and lost his shutout bid in the final minutes as New Jersey beat Ottawa.

Erik Haula, Nathan Bastian and Paul Cotter scored for the Devils, who won for the third time in four games and improved to 5-2-0.

The Senators, who were coming off an 8-7 overtime victory against Los Angeles on Monday, struggled to beat Markstrom.

Brady Tkachuk was the only scorer for the Senators, beating Markstrom, with a power-play goal with 65 seconds remaining in the third period.

Anton Forsberg, making his second straight start and hoping to rebound after getting pulled Monday, made 32 saves in the loss.

Haula opened the scoring early in the second period and Bastian added a short-handed goal, giving New Jersey a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes. Cotter scored midway through the third.

RANGERS 5, RED WING 2

DETROIT (AP) — Artemi Panarin had his eighth career hat trick and New York rolled to a victory over Detroit.

Panarin became the first Rangers player to have multiple points in the first four games of a season. He scored twice on the power play. Vincent Trocheck also had a power- play goal and assisted on all of Panarin’s goals.

Jonathan Quick made 29 saves in his season debut. Victor Mancini also scored.

The Rangers have won the last five meetings, including twice this week. New York had a 4-1 home victory over Detroit on Monday night.

Moritz Seider and J.T. Compher scored for Detroit. Red Wings goalie Cam Talbot was pulled in the second period after allowing five goals.

KINGS 4, CANADIENS 1

MONTREAL (AP) — David Rittich made 26 saves a night after being benched in the second period in Toronto, helping road-weary Los Angeles snap a three-game losing streak with a victory over Montreal.

Los Angeles improved to 2-1-2 on a season-opening, seven-game trip necessitated by arena renovations.

Rittich rebounded after allowing four goals on 14 shots in a 6-2 loss to the Maple Leafs. Alex Laferriere, Mikey Anderson, Andreas Englund and Adrian Kempe scored.

Justin Barron scored for Montreal (2-3-0). Sam Montembeault stopped 28 shots. He made a save on Kevin Fiala on a penalty shot.

BLUES 1, ISLANDERS 0, OT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Joel Hofer made 34 saves and assisted on Jake Neighbours’ goal at 2:04 of overtime in St. Louis victory over New York.

Hofer had his second career shutout in his and the team’s second overtime victory of the season.

Philip Broberg carried the puck into the New York zone and made a centering pass to Neighbours for the winner.

Islanders goalie Ilya Sorkin made 29 saves.

Blues defenseman Nick Leddy sat out because of a lower-body injury, the first game he has missed this season. Leddy played in all 82 games last season.

OILERS 4, PREDATORS 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Brett Kulak scored twice and Connor McDavid added his first goal of the season to lead Edmonton to a victory over reeling Nashville.

Jeff Skinner also scored and Calvin Pickard made 25 saves for the defending Western Conference champion Oilers, who have won consecutive games after beginning the season with a three-game skid.

Filip Forsberg and Jonathan Marchessault scored and Juuse Saros made 32 saves for Nashville (0-4).

Forsberg’s goal midway through the first period gave Nashville its first lead of the season. That lasted less than six minutes before Kulak tied it.

Kulak sealed it with an empty-netter in the final minute for the defenseman’s first career two-goal game.

BLACKHAWKS 4, SHARKS 2

CHICAGO (AP) — Tyler Bertuzzi and Nick Foligno each scored a power-play goal, and Chicago beat San Jose.

Taylor Hall and Jason Dickinson also scored for Chicago. Connor Bedard and Teuvo Teravainen each had two assists.

Hall, who missed most of last season because of right knee surgery, put the Blackhawks in front 4:20 into the first period. It was Hall’s first goal since Nov. 5 and No. 267 for his career.

Tyler Toffoli and Fabian Zetterlund scored for San Jose, which trailed 3-0 early in the second. William Eklund and Mikael Granlund had two assists each.

The Sharks dropped to 0-2-2 under Ryan Warsofsky, who was promoted to head coach in June.

Petr Mrazek had 20 saves for Chicago, and Vitek Vanecek made 23 stops for San Jose.

KRAKEN 6, FLYERS 4

SEATTLE (AP) — Eeli Tolvanen, Jordan Eberle, and Shane Wright scored three goals in less than three minutes in the second period and Seattle held off a Philadelphia rally in a victory.

Tolvanen’s goal broke a 2-2 tie at the 14:57 mark. Eberle made it a two-goal game with a goal at 17:44. Eight seconds later, Wright scored to give Seattle a three-goal lead.

Jared McCann tied the game at 2-2 with the first of Seattle’s four second-period goals.

Cam York and Jamie Drysdale scored to pull Philadelphia within 5-4 in the third period, but Oliver Bjorkstrand responded with a goal to push Seattle’s lead to two with just over five minutes left in the game.

Scott Laughton scored twice for the Flyers in the first period, while Brandon Montour scored one in for the Kraken.

Chandler Stephenson had an assist in his 500th NHL game. Seattle’s Philipp Grubauer had 21 saves.

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Canada’s Dabrowski, New Zealand’s Routliffe out of Japan Women’s Open after walkover

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OSAKA, Japan – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe are out of the Japan Women’s Open tennis tournament.

Spain’s Cristina Bucsa and Romania’s Monica Niculescu advanced to the final on Thursday by way of walkover.

The fourth seeds were supposed to play the top-seeded Dabrowski and Routliffe in the semifinals.

Bucsa and Niculescu will next face third-seeded Ena Shibahara of Japan and Laura Siegemund of Germany in the final.

Dabrowski and Routliffe defeated Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Eri Hozumi in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday to advance.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Mountain West commissioner says she’s heartbroken over turmoil surrounding San Jose State volleyball

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mountain West Conference Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said Thursday the forfeitures that volleyball teams are willing to take to avoid playing San Jose State is “not what we celebrate in college athletics” and that she is heartbroken over what has transpired this season surrounding the Spartans and their opponents.

Four teams have canceled games against San Jose State: Boise State, Southern Utah, Utah State and Wyoming, with none of the schools explicitly saying why they were forfeiting.

A group of Nevada players issued a statement saying they will not take the floor when the Wolf Pack are scheduled to host the Spartans on Oct. 26. They cited their “right to safety and fair competition,” though their school reaffirmed Thursday that the match is still planned and that state law bars forfeiture “for reasons related to gender identity or expression.”

All those schools, except Southern Utah, are in the Mountain West. New Mexico, also in the MWC, went ahead with its home match on Thursday night, which was won by the Spartans, 3-1, the team’s first victory since Sept. 24.

“It breaks my heart because they’re human beings, young people, student-athletes on both sides of this issue that are getting a lot of national negative attention,” Nevarez said in an interview with The Associated Press at Mountain West basketball media days. “It just doesn’t feel right to me.”

Republican governors of Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have made public statements in support of the cancellations, citing a need for fairness in women’s sports. Former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee in this year’s presidential race, this week referenced an unidentified volleyball match when he was asked during a Fox News town hall about transgender athletes in women’s sports.

“I saw the slam, it was a slam. I never saw a ball hit so hard, hit the girl in the head,” Trump replied before he was asked what can be done. “You just ban it. The president bans it. You just don’t let it happen.”

After Trump’s comment, San Diego State issued a statement that said “it has been incorrectly reported that an San Diego State University student-athlete was hit in the face with a volleyball during match play with San Jose State University. The ball bounced off the shoulder of the student-athlete, and the athlete was uninjured and did not miss a play.”

San Jose State has not made any direct comments about the politicians’ “fairness” references, and Nevarez did not go into details.

“I’m learning a lot about the issue,” Nevarez said. “I don’t know a lot of the language yet or the science or the understanding nationally of how this issue plays out. The external influences are so far on either side. We have an election year. It’s political, so, yeah, it feels like a no-win based on all the external pressure.”

The cancellations could mean some teams will not qualify for the conference tournament Nov. 27-30 in Las Vegas, where the top six schools are slated to compete for the league championship.

“The student-athlete (in question) meets the eligibility standard, so if a team does not play them, it’s a forfeit, meaning they take a loss,” Nevarez said.

Ahead of the Oct. 26 match in Reno. Nevada released a statement acknowledging that “a majority of the Wolf Pack women’s volleyball team” had decided to forfeit against San Jose State. The school said only the university can take that step but any player who decides not to play would face no punishment.

___

AP college sports:

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