(Photo: Rob Wallator)

By Troy Gillard and Dan Hermanutz

Another milestone

Brent Sutter reflects on 1,000 games as Rebels head coach

Feb 13, 2020 | 12:55 PM

It’s another milestone in the coaching career of Brent Sutter.

The long-time Red Deer Rebels boss coached his 1,000 WHL game Wednesday versus the Vancouver Giants.

Sutter took the coaching reins after purchasing the team in 1999 and, outside of a five-year NHL coaching stint, has held them ever since.

“Time has flown by, it’s gone by quickly to be quite honest,” Sutter told Cam Moon in an interview on 106.7 The Drive. “I’ve been here a long time, I’ve coached a lot of games, and there’s certainly been some good times and some not so good times.”

Through Sutter’s fifteen complete seasons as Rebels head coach, the team has only failed to reach the playoffs twice.

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“Those first few years, I remember when I bought the team in ’99, I got crucified for saying that we we’re going to win a Memorial Cup within three years. I was like oh boy, the heat’s on now. Then we won it in the second year and then the next three years after were pretty good rides.”

After winning the Memorial cup in 2001, the team followed it up with two more trips to the WHL Finals and an Eastern Conference Final appearance.

Sutter says the hockey world has most certainly evolved over the past two decades.

“The biggest change is in the mindsets of players. Back in the day, you never worried about eighty percent of your players, they just got it and they knew how to motivate themselves, and there was always twenty percent that you were dealing with and trying to get them over that hump and being mentally strong enough,” he said.

“Now it’s the opposite, twenty percent you don’t worry about and eighty percent you’re trying to help them through all that. Our job here is to try and get guys ready for professional hockey.”

Sutter takes pride in the fact that the Rebels have produced over dozens of NHL players, as well as even more professional hockey players in other leagues, during his time at the helm.

“The process of becoming an elite franchise, not always an elite team, but a franchise where you are looked up to across the hockey circles, and with the players that get drafted, go to CIS or really top schools. At the end of the day it is all about the players.”

When looking back at his 1,000-game WHL coaching career, Sutter doesn’t reflect on winning the Memorial Cup in 2001, hosting in 2016, all the playoff series, none of that. He focuses on the mentorship aspect of his role.

“At the end of the day it’s about the players and giving them a chance to grow not just as hockey players but as people. I look back at those times probably more than anything. Yeah, the winning part is awesome because we all love to win, but you learn as much from individuals as individuals learn from themselves through the tough times.

“Am I a different coach than I was twenty years ago? Absolutely. You have to adjust with the times.”

Sutter is just the eighth coach in WHL history and 19th in Canadian Hockey League history to coach 1,000 games.