After their third straight season of failing to make the playoffs, the Calgary Flames have parted ways with head coach Brent Sutter. They also announced that the contract of assistant coach Dave Lowry will not be renewed.
The Flames are terming this as a mutual agreement to part company, and that is true in theory as Sutter and Lowry’s contracts expired this season, but make no mistake, the reality is this is an NHL Team deciding to discontinue the employment of their Head Coach and his Top Assistant based on the teams poor performance on the ice. This may not technically and legally be a “firing”, but its as close as possible to one that you’ll find.
Today’s move marks a significant change in the mindset of the Flames Organization. Where do they go from here. Do they re-load, yet again, and make another push for the playoffs in 2013? Do they finally tear their team down and rebuild? Are Jarome Iginla, Mikka Kiprusoff and other long time Flames now on the traded block? Will Olli Jokinen and the other key free agents be back.
Stay Tuned as this story unfolds.
… and thats the Last Word.
