The Calgary Flames fired their head coach Darryl Sutter after failing to make the playoffs. The Washington Capitals are also searching for a new coach after mutually parting ways with Peter Laviolette. Sutter is looking for simply a job.
That job should not be with the Capitals. I do think the Caps did lack chemistry but I doubt the locker room was toxic. The lack of chemistry came due to injuries and poor lineup decisions.
Even if this guy makes good lineup decisions rumor on the street has it that he created a toxic locker room environment with the Flames. That is NOT the route you want to go for Alex Ovechkin’s last ride and the LAST thing any Caps fan would want.
According to Eric Francis of Sportsnet, Sutter created a “culture of fear”. He disrespected the media and made players like Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri uncomfortable.
So here’s an example of his pettiness towards the media. At a press conference after Jakob Pelletier’s NHL debut, something media and bloggers alike were clamoring for, all he did was ask what jersey number he was and read the stats before taking the next question.
Imagine being that kid. I mean Laviolette benched dudes like Connor McMichael but never stooped to THAT level. He was cool with the media except when he would overuse his “working through some things in the room.” It was funny the first time then got old.
After the disrespected shown by Sutter not only to the media but to the poor kid, team president John Bean started watching him like a hawk. Oh yeah he also loved playing call ups (sarcasm). Even worse he refused to even at the request of the GM to actually play prospects.
Sutter had just signed a two year extension last summer that was more than eight million. Laviolette wasn’t going to come back when extension talks stalled in November and the team kept losing.
Now imagine if Sutter did this to guys like Dylan Strome or Sonny Milano or God forbid Hendrix Lapierre or Connor McMichael. I would stay off of twitter for the night (I still love y’all Caps twitter). So yeah let’s not go this route. Plenty of other coaches out there.