Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
Between stepping in as an interim head coach, helping to represent his team at the 2025 AHL All-Star Classic, and launching a clothing line, well, Brett Sutter’s “retirement” has hardly been a quiet one.
Sutter concluded his 17-season pro playing career last July, announcing his retirement after two seasons captaining the Calgary Wranglers and immediately joining the team’s coaching staff as an assistant. With an experienced hand like Trent Cull as head coach and long-time NHL defenseman Joe Cirella as another assistant coach, Sutter could step into his new role surrounded by ample know-how.
And the plan unfolded even better than anyone with the Flames organization could have hoped for, as the Wranglers won nine consecutive games and eventually built a 19-5-1-0 record in December.
But this is the AHL, where flexibility is a must-have and the ability to adjust is vital. On Dec. 22, the Flames announced that assistant coach Brad Larsen was going on an indefinite leave of absence. So they brought Cull up to the NHL club to fill in for Larsen, appointed Cirella as the interim head coach for the AHL club and added Martin Gelinas to join Sutter as an assistant.
And the Wranglers kept moving forward, clinching the honor of sending its coach to lead the Pacific Division at the All-Star Classic and padding its first-place cushion. But on Jan. 31, the team announced that Cirella had undergone routine eye surgery, and he would be unable to participate in the All-Star event in the Coachella Valley.
So just half a season into his coaching career, Sutter – who ranks fourth all-time in AHL history with 1,090 games played and was a team captain for 10 of his 17 seasons – took over the Wranglers’ reins for two weeks.
“Kind of like being a player,” he reasoned, “that next-man-up mentality. I was lucky enough to learn a lot from those guys early in the year, and I am doing my best to pick everything up as quickly as I can.”
Coaching is still new, especially when taking over mid-stream as the season’s intensity starts to pick up even more, but Sutter is trying to take the same approach that he utilized as a player. And as much as playing the game is part of the famed Sutter family’s identity, so is coaching; Brett’s father Darryl won two Stanley Cups as head coach of the Los Angeles Kings, and his uncles Brent, Brian and Duane have all have worked as NHL head coaches as well.
Sutter guided the Wranglers for four games – and ran the Pacific Division All-Star bench – during his brief tenure before Cirella resumed his duties this weekend. Calgary’s lead over the rest of the division is down to just two points, with Colorado, Ontario, Coachella Valley, San Jose and Abbotsford in close pursuit. And starting with last night’s overtime loss to the Reign, 18 of the Wranglers’ final 25 games are against those teams.
Still, there has been some time for something beyond hockey. The Wranglers have announced a collaboration with Sutter and PLYR Athletics to launch the new limited-edition Legacy #7 clothing line, which includes a snapback cap, a hooded sweatshirt and a long-sleeve crew-neck shirt. Ten percent of sales from all items will go to Brown Bagging for Calgary’s Kids, an organization that helps provide food for children in need. The Calgary Flames Foundation has already donated more than $380,000 to the cause through the years.
In their third season based in Calgary, the Wranglers are working to further solidify themselves in the city’s sports family. The clothing line will allow Sutter and future Wranglers to generate support for causes personal to them. As with Sutter’s #7 jersey number, those other players will be able to use their own respective number as part of their own clothing line.
In the meantime, the work continues for Sutter as he starts to learn this coaching business. It’s an industry where even 10- and 20-year veterans are constantly learning and trying to pick up new techniques. Today’s game is about reaching players on a personal level, something that he had to do as a captain.
“Everyone’s got different buttons to push,” Sutter said. “Everyone learns a different way.”
Figuring out how to push those buttons is a process, though.
“It takes work, right?” Sutter said. “You’ve got to really buy in every day and spend long hours to make sure you’re doing your best for your team. It’s been a great experience.
“Just keep getting better every day… That’s the goal, and it’s no different than being a player in that regard.”
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.