Cam Tait Feature Story
Brent Sutter always meets the awaiting media after a hockey game the same way — no suit jacket and no expressions, even if his team skated off the ice with a 18-2 victory.
Same thing happened Saturday night. So when the microphones and bright lights were turned on, we knew what the first question would be: “What did it feel like back behind the bench of the Rebels?”
Just for a split second, and nothing more, there was a brief hint of a smile before Sutter answered the question: “I might not have as much hair as I had before and it’s grey, but we played a good game.”
And, for the most part, the Rebels did. They came back from a 1-0 first period deficit for a 2-1 win over the Swift Current Broncos. Red Deer needed such a gritty performance, considering their last outing was an 8-1 setback eight days previous against the Rockets in Kelowna.
For Sutter it was his first win as Rebel coach — as intrepid radio man Cam Moon pointed out with no more than, say, three seconds of thought — since Game 6 of the 2007 first round of the Western Hockey League playoffs against those pesky Medicine Hat Tigers. Sutter left Red Deer as coach a few months later for a five-year tour of duty: two with the New Jersey Devils and the last three winters in Calgary with the Flames.
He parted way with the Flames at the end of last season and decided to devote more time to the Rebels. In the early fall, he took over the role of general manager, and — just last Wednesday — he announced he would be the team’s head coach, taking over from Jesse Wallin.
Sutter ran his first practice at the Centrium Thursday. We’re hearing he was “hard” on the team, encouraging players to play up to their potential.
And to remember the trademark Sutter hockey: hard work.
In his first game, Sutter was standing on the Rebel bench well before the anthem was sung. When the puck was dropped, he paced back and forth, stood up on the bench and made several personal visits to players when the returned from their shift.
He worked both sides of the bench, and was seen in animated discussions with his defensive corps.
“Go, go, go,” Sutter would yell when he saw a player skating with the puck, entering a zone where Sutter saw an opportunity. When the periods ended, he was the first back walking back into the Rebel dressing room, head down, expressionless, but juggling thousands of thoughts of what he just saw.
And he won’t change much Sunday night when the Rebels host the Prince Albert Raiders at 6 p.m. Two wins in two nights, perhaps?
Sutter may be stoic. But, surely, a victory against the Raiders would bring more than just a hint of a smile.
By Cam Tait
