(Supplied)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

a hockey career for the ages

Brian Sutter retires from Eagles, named to inaugural Blues Hall of Fame

Oct 6, 2022 | 10:09 AM

It’s been an eventful week for Innisfail’s Brian Sutter.

Speaking to rdnewsNOW from his tractor Wednesday, Sutter reflected on recent news he’s leaving the Senior AAA Innisfail Eagles, and the recent revelation he’ll be an inaugural inductee to the St. Louis Blues Hall of Fame.

The eldest of the six Sutters to play in the NHL also opined on brother Darryl recently being ranked second handsomest bench boss among the league’s 32 teams.

“It was pretty special taking the Innisfail Eagles from AA to AAA. We helped put Innisfail on the map as a top AAA team, not just in Alberta, but in Canada, and that’s not easy,” says Sutter, serving as Eagles head coach until 65.

Sutter was 32 when he began a four-year tenure as Blues head coach after 12 there as a player. He’s been with the Eagles for over a dozen.

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“The decision simply came down to grandpa wanting more time with his grandkids. AAA hockey is a huge commitment, especially with all the travel.”

Brian Sutter with his grandkids. (Supplied)

Saying yes to the grandkids one out of 10 times isn’t good enough, he admits.

“It’s time for other people to step up, and we’ve put the Eagles in a good position,” he says. “The only time I ever missed a game or practice was when St. Louis invited me to coach an alumni game, and I still didn’t feel it was fair to the Innisfail players who were driving long distances to be at games and practices.”

Will he miss it?

He already does, he says, reminiscing about the Allan Cup title that got away in 2019.

Sutter and the Eagles had just lost 5-2 to the Lacombe Generals in Lacombe when he told rdnewsNOW the experience was a life lesson.

“Some of the greatest in sport have told me over the years that winners don’t always play on winning teams, and that was a classic example. We had a lot of character people and deserved to win that game,” he says now. “Disappointing, yes, but I don’t lose sleep over it, and I’m extremely proud.”

From 1976 to 1988, Sutter amassed 303 goals, 333 assists, and 636 points in 779 regular season games, all for the Blues. Throw in another 1,786 penalty minutes, and you have quite the icon for a St. Louis franchise that, unfortunately for Sutter, remained without a Stanley Cup until 2019.

Sutter was selected 20^th overall in the 1976 NHL Entry Draft, not to mention 36^th overall that same year in the WHA Draft by the pre-NHL Edmonton Oilers.

An animated Brian Sutter following his team’s opening night loss at the 2019 Allan Cup. The team would advance to but lose in the final to Lacombe. (rdnewsNOW file photo)

This past weekend, the Blues announced their new Hall of Fame, which will have 10 automatic inductions, Sutter included alongside the likes of Al MacInnis, Bob Gassoff, Bob and Barclay Plager, Sid Salomon Jr., Brett Hull, Bernie Federko, Chris Pronger and Dan Kelly.

A vote is taking place to add several others.

“It’s obviously a huge honour,” says Sutter. “Our family was lucky because we’ve always had two homes; one in Alberta and the other in St. Louis. It’s pretty close to our heart.”

The team went through several owners during his 16 years in Missouri, Sutter bringing up the almost relocation to Saskatoon in 1983.

“A handful of us stayed there to keep hockey there,” he says. “In fact, St. Louis is as big a reason as anyone why Calgary won a Cup; with Doug Gilmour, Rob Ramage and Rick Wamsley, all who came from St. Louis. Calgary paid them when we couldn’t afford it.”

The Blues had winning seasons during the 70s and 80s, but unfortunately couldn’t contend with the Canadiens, Oilers and Islanders of the world, he points out.

“All the guys on the automatic list are dear friends, and the only one not there during my time was Al MacInnis. Amazingly at one point, Calgary and Edmonton went from the highest payroll to the lowest, and who winds up in St. Louis? Al MacInnis. Bernie Federko — we played a lot of shifts together, and for eight or nine years with him, there weren’t many guys between him and guys named Lemieux and Gretzky who were getting more assists,” he recalls.

“Hully (Brett Hull) I coached. He and I are real close. Gassoff was one of the greatest human beings God ever dropped on this Earth. [Dan] Kelly was a great announcer. Mark and Bobby were great friends,” he says. “All of that said, I consider myself a lucky person.”

As for the Gambling.com study on handsomest NHL head coaches, Brian is well-aware of the list, and got a chuckle at his brother’s runner-up status behind the Oilers’ Jay Woodcroft.

“Somebody must’ve been drinking a lot of strong dirty whisky to put him up there in second. I thought that was quite the compliment for him,” he quipped. “Really though, I hope Darryl gets the job done in Calgary. He knows how to do it.”

“But I know one thing,” adds Sutter. “I always laugh because there are always two or three of our Eagles guys who I think about when the going gets tough for the Flames, because they could step in anytime. That’s how good our AAA players are.”