Game Notes: Darryl Sutter’s Return to the Battle of Alberta — Game 26

After dropping back-to-back-to-back games against the Maple Leafs, the Oilers will look to get back on track in this season’s fourth rendition of the Battle of Alberta.

1. The Flames are coming off of a four-game stretch against the basement-dwelling Ottawa Senators that ultimately resulted in this dismissal of head coach Geoff Ward. Their series against the Sens featured two embarrassing losses, the first by a score of 6-1 and the second by a score of 5-1, and though Ward was let go after the Flames won 7-3, these two lopsided losses were the final nail in the coffin.

2. Ward was promoted to interim head coach back in November of 2019 and led the Flames to a 24-15-3 record, good enough to get the team into the expanded post-season last summer. The Flames rewarded Ward by taking the interim tag off and giving him the keys to the ship. After under two months of play this season, they decided to move in another direction.

3. The new face behind the bench for the Flames is an old one. Darryl Sutter coached the Flames from 2002 to 2006, leading Calgary to the Stanley Cup Final in 2004, and he served as their general manager from 2003 to 2010. Aside from their 2004 run, Sutter’s two other seasons behind the bench in Calgary resulted in first-round playoff losses. All told, Sutter has a 107-73-15-15 record as the head coach of the Flames.

4. Sutter’s best run as a coach in the NHL came when he was behind the bench for the Los Angeles Kings. In December of 2010, Sutter resigned as the Flames’ general manager and then joined the Kings mid-way through the 2011-12 season. The Kings had a 15-14-4 record when Sutter took over that season, went 25-13-11 the rest of the way, and then went on to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history despite being the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. Sutter’s Kings reached the Western Conference Final in 2013 and then won the Stanley Cup again in 2014.

5. The hope for Calgary here is that Sutter can do with the Flames what he did a decade ago with the Kings, which is take a middling team and push them over the top. The Kings also pulled the trigger on a huge trade ahead of winning the Stanley Cup that season, trading Jack Johnson to the Blue Jackets in exchange for Jeff Carter, who tied for the team’s lead in goals in the playoffs. Maybe the Flames will also look to shake things up with a big trade this season. I don’t see their current group being anywhere near as deep or talented as the Kings were.

6. Both the Oilers and the Flames are coming into this Battle of Alberta with something to prove. The Flames are playing for a new coach and are embarrassed after splitting a four-game series with arguably the worst team in the league. The Oilers just got hammered in three-consecutive games by the Leafs in what appeared to be a battle for the top of the Canadian Division. This should be an intense, high-energy game.

7. The head-to-head in the Battle of Alberta is critical for both of these teams. Nearly two months into the season, it appears as though there are five teams in the mix for four playoff spots in this division. We can comfortably write off Ottawa and the Canucks also don’t look like a playoff contender. Toronto is clearly the top team in the division, leaving Winnipeg, Edmonton, Montreal, and Calgary in the mix for the other three spots. One of those teams will end up on the outside looking in.

8. As of right now, Edmonton and Calgary are fourth and fifth in the Canadian Division based on points percentage. The Oilers have a four-point lead on the Flames right now though Calgary has one game in hand. The Oilers winning the Battle of Alberta will be critical for keeping the Flames beneath them in the standings.