Matthew Tkachuk stuns with story on former Flames’ coach Darryl Sutter

When Matthew Tkachuk played under head coach Darryl Sutter in Calgary, the Flames star forward was often criticized by the bench boss. When Darryl Sutter left the Flames, very little positive was said about his relationship with the players at the time. Reports even emerged in the summer of 2023 that the Flames launched an internal investigation into Sutter after he allegedly made physical contact with a player during a game. The news came after many players commented on Sutter’s temper and questionable attitude throughout the 2022-23 campaign.

When Tkachuk was traded to the Florida Panthers in the summer of 2022, the following training camp saw Sutter insult his former player when comparing him to then-Flames’ Tyler Toffoli.

“One guy has won Stanley Cups,” Sutter said. “Been a big part of long playoff runs.”

Now, things are different. Tkachuk not only took part in the Stanley Cup Finals in the summer of 2023, while Sutter lost his job, he then won the championship this past June in seven games over Calgary’s top rival the Edmonton Oilers.

However, when Tkachuk was on the air of the Cam and Stick podcast, he revealed how one of the first people to reach out to congratulate him on winning the Stanley Cup was Sutter.

It was well-known across the league that Sutter was a passionate coach that wanted to get the best out of his players. With Tkachuk’s revelation, we can see that it is probably in part because he cares so much.

When it comes to another former player of Sutter, Johnny Gaudreau, who tragically passed away with his brother last week, Sutter gave moving tributes to the star player, who was above all an even better human being.

A summer prior to Sutter’s firing, Gaudreau signed as a free agent with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Of course, Johnny Hockey never said anything bad about his former head coach who guided him during two seasons.