Nazem Kadri throws an arrow at Darryl Sutter

Last season was a difficult one for the Calgary Flames.

Despite an excellent team, they failed to qualify for the playoffs.

This led to the dismissal of head coach Darryl Sutter.

Admittedly, Sutter was not a unanimous figure in the dressing room.

Jonathan Huberdeau was the first to launch an arrow at his former head coach.

Huberdeau had mentioned that they would all be able to play with more freedom offensively under new coach Ryan Huska.

Nazem Kadri did the same, also mentioning that they were less free with Darryl Sutter behind the bench.

Nazem Kadri believes fans will see a new-look Flames team this upcoming season. 👀 https://t.co/m1cqIlPtwN pic.twitter.com/j19AaQYzQN

– theScore (@theScore) August 9, 2023

“For whatever reason, we were a little restricted last year, so I’m just looking forward to starting over and starting the season strong.” – Nazem Kadri

Calgary is a big market and it’s a city with a lot of media pressure, a bit like Montreal.

With all the media coverage in Calgary over the past few months, it’s clear that there was mutual agreement on Darryl Sutter’s opinion.

After all, being Huberdeau, I would have said the same thing. To go from a 115-point season to a 55-point one, there’s something wrong, and I think it was behind the bench.

With all these promises to perform better next year, the Calgary Flames will have to live up to the expectations they’ve set for themselves.

Especially coming from Kadri and Huberdeau, the two offensive pillars along with Elias Lindholm, they’ll have to perform right from the start.

They won’t have much room for error with a new coach, and if the start of the season isn’t fruitful, we can expect DG Craig Conroy to make a lot of moves.

In fact, Noah Hanifin, Elias Lindholm and Mikael Backlund are all rumoured to be on the Calgary trade block. All three players will become unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2024.

Sutter’s mentality seemed a little too backward for today’s field hockey.

Personally, I’m not really a fan of Sutter and I’m happy for Huberdeau and Kadri, who should have more productive seasons under Huska.

He wasn’t the best with the youngsters. Jakob Pelletier can attest to this, as Sutter forgot his name at the press conference following the young Quebecer’s first game.

In short, this coaching change should do the Flames’ locker room some good.

Let’s hope they can perform up to expectations.

Gossip

– Good news for BPM Sports listeners.

– Incredible young Spaniard.

MAGNIFICENT! Alcaraz pulls off the coup of the tournament! 😱 pic.twitter.com/VWK3DpzEIR

– TVA Sports (@TVASports) August 12, 2023

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– A question to ask yourself.