Connect with us

Published

on

The Calgary Flames announced Monday they have fired coach Darryl Sutter after three seasons.

It’s the second time the Flames have parted ways with Sutter, who previously coached the team for three seasons from 2002-03 through 2005-06. He led the Flames to the playoffs twice the first time, including to the Stanley Cup Final where they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2003-04 season.

His most recent stint with the Flames was not as successful as his first with the Flames missing the playoffs in his first and final seasons.

Sutter’s second time with the Flames came after the team hired him to take over the remaining 32 games for Geoff Ward after he went 11-11-2 in the 2020-21 truncated 56-game season.

Sutter guided the Flames to the Stanley Cup playoffs in his second season where they lost to their provincial rivals, the Edmonton Oilers, in the second round.

The Flames had a bit of a different look in what ultimately became Sutter’s final campaign. They lost two 100-point forwards in Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk. Gaudreau left in free agency and signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets while Tkachuk was traded to the Florida Panthers in a deal that saw another 100-point forward in Jonathan Huberdeau along with defenseman MacKenzie Weegar come the other way.

After trading for Huberdeau and Weegar, the Flames also signed Nazem Kadri in free agency after he finished with a career-high 87 points en route to helping the Colorado Avalanche win the Stanley Cup.

Even with Huberdeau, Kadri and Weegar, the Flames still faced questions about if they could consistently score. The Flames were 19th in goals per game but also encountered other struggles such has having the second poorest save percentage in the NHL in 5-on-5 play, according to Natural Stat Trick.

It led to the Flames being a team that struggled to find consistency yet entered the final weeks of the regular season vying for a playoff spot. Even though they finished 6-2-2 in their last 10 games, they fell short of the postseason by two points.

The decision to fire Sutter comes less than a month after the club announced that general manager Brad Treliving, who was in the final year of his contract, agreed to mutually part ways with the organization.

Flames senior vice president of hockey operations Don Maloney, who was promoted to president of hockey operations, is currently serving as the team’s interim GM.

“It became clear to me we needed a new voice,” Maloney said Monday during an afternoon news conference. “Unless you have winning … changes are made.”

Maloney said he interviewed 25 players, assistant coaches and agents of prominent pending free agents to arrive at the decision.

“I do feel like this is the best way for us to proceed as a club,” Maloney said. “It’s an exciting time. We have a good team, we have good players. What we’ve seen the last two weeks watching playoff hockey, anybody can beat anybody at any time. Excited about getting back on the ice next year with a new coach, new general manager and getting back to the playoffs.”

Reuters contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Rich Rod bans Mountaineers from TikTok dancing

Published

on

By

Rich Rod bans Mountaineers from TikTok dancing

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez, like all football coaches, wants his players to show up on time, work hard and play their best.

Oh, and another thing: Don’t dance on TikTok.

“They’re going to be on it, so I’m not banning them from it,” he said Monday. “I’m just banning them from dancing on it. It’s like, look, we try to have a hard edge or whatever, and you’re in there in your tights dancing on TikTok, ain’t quite the image of our program that I want.”

Making TikTok dance videos is a popular activity among high school- and college-age users of the social media platform. Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, Boise State star Ashton Jeanty and Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola are among college football players who have posted dance videos.

Rodriguez is beginning his second stint as Mountaineers coach. He said he has talked to his players about the tendency in society to emphasize the individual rather than the team and that banning TikTok dancing is something he can do to put the focus where he thinks it belongs.

“I’m allowed to do that. I can have rules,” he said. “Twenty years from now, if they want to be sitting in their pajamas in the basement eating Cheetos and watching TikTok or whatever the hell, they can go at it, smoking cannabis, whatever. Knock yourself out.”

As for now, he said: “I hope our focus can be on winning football games. How about let’s win the football game and not worry about winning the TikTok?”

Continue Reading

Sports

Battle, DB star at USC and former Jet, dies at 78

Published

on

By

Battle, DB star at USC and former Jet, dies at 78

LOS ANGELES — Mike Battle, an All-American defensive back and a member of USC‘s 1967 national championship team who later played two seasons for the New York Jets, has died. He was 78.

He died of natural causes on March 6 in Nellysford, Virginia, the school said Tuesday.

In 1967, Battle led a USC defense that allowed only 87 points all season. The Trojans were 26-6-1 and won three conference titles during his three-year career. Battle played in the 1967, 1968 and 1969 Rose Bowl games, all won by the Trojans.

Battle was USC’s annual punt return leader in each of his three seasons and still owns the school record for most punts returned in a season. He was the NCAA statistical champion in 1967, when he had 49 returns for 608 yards, a 12.4-yard average. He also holds the school mark for most punts returned, with 99 during his three years.

He was chosen in the 12th round of the 1969 NFL draft by the Jets and played for two seasons in 1969 and 1970.

Battle appeared in the 1970 film “C.C. and Company,” a biker film starring Jets teammate Joe Namath and actor Ann-Margret.

He is survived by his wife Laura and children Christian Michael, Hunter, Frank, Michael, Kathleen, Murphy and Annie.

Continue Reading

Sports

Stars forward Hintz out a week with facial injury

Published

on

By

Stars forward Hintz out a week with facial injury

Dallas Stars forward Roope Hintz will be sidelined for a week with a facial injury but avoided a fracture.

General manager Jim Nill said Tuesday that Hintz has to keep his heart rate down for 5-7 days to avoid pressure or swelling.

Hintz, 28, was struck in the face by a puck midway through the second period in Saturday’s 5-4 loss at Edmonton. He did not return.

Hintz is tied for second on the Stars in goals (25) and is fourth in points (52) through 59 games this season.

He has 362 points (172 goals, 190 assists) in 451 career games in seven NHL seasons. Dallas drafted him in the second round in 2015.

Continue Reading

Trending