Brent Sutter Out in Calgary

While the playoffs are going on, the Calgary Flames are out of the playoffs and now their coach is out of the organization.

After failing to make the playoffs for three straight seasons with the team, Brent Sutter is finally out of the C of Red and the Flames are now searching for a new head coach to replace him.

The team said on Thursday that both sides have agreed to part ways, this coming after a meeting between Sutter and general manager Jay Feaster, in which both sides had different opinions on how the team should go and the different options they had of doing both sides of issues.

Under Sutter, the Flames had a 118-90-38 record. It went 37-29-16 this season, which was second only to Vancouver but still failed to get them into the playoffs.

Also announced is that Dave Lowry, an assistant coach for the team and a former San Jose Sharks player, will not have his contract renewed.

Surprising? Not really, in my view. Although I expected this last season when they did really poorly and finished farther out of the playoffs than they did last season. Now my second favorite team will have to search for a new head coach. I don't have any options for who the new head coach should be. If this happened earlier, I would've suggested Randy Carlyle as the next new coach for the team, but since he's already been hired by Toronto, he's out of the picture.

Honestly, I think the Flames need to figure out where their players are at and who should come back to be part of the team. I think Jay Feaster has a lot on his hands this offseason and the way things are going, it looks pretty bright and pretty dull at the same time. The new coach needs to find a way to put his players around him and show them what they are playing for: something they're not playing for this year.

As a fan, I believe in the Flames. I also believe that they'll be able to find a new coach that is strongly suited to lead this team to success. So the countdown for the new coach begins. Who will the Flames pick? And will he lead the team? We'll find out in the coming weeks, puck heads!

Picture of Brent Sutter courtesy of USA Today.

Game 1 Recaps: Coyotes Get the W, Penguins Blow It

Hey puck heads,

I'm sorry I've been gone for so long and such and haven't really been up to date on my hockey knowledge and such. But hey, when you've got college works like papers to write, films to watch, and digital stories to create, well, it gets a bit tricky taking care of that and watching hockey at the same time. That's also why I've been missing a lot of hockey games, especially Ducks hockey games. But they're out of the playoffs now and it gives me more time to write my papers and such. But there are those of you out there whose teams are in the playoffs. By the way, congratulations to Panthers fans. You actually got into the playoffs when I didn't think you would. Yet, you still have a game to play yet in the playoffs but playing the Devils is probably better than playing the Bruins or Flyers. But I'll get to you guys in a second. I want to give short recaps for the games that have happened so far. Let's start with the games on happened on Wednesday.

Flyers 4, Penguins 3 (OT)
Flyers come back from a 3-goal deficit to knock off the Penguins 4-3 in overtime at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh. Jakub Voracek scored the overtime game winner. This is certainly a blow to the Penguins, who I thought had this game in the bag, but thanks to Ilya Bryzgalov and the remarkable offensive play of the Flyers, the Penguins just couldn't keep up to keep the Flyers from winning Game 1.

Predators 3, Red Wings 2
How about a team that I thought would have a solid chance at getting home-ice advantage in this first round? Well, it's not and apparently the Nashville Predators made sure that the Red Wings wouldn't win when the Predators had that home-ice advantage? Predators took it 3-2 and it made the Red Wings look at an uphill battle. Think they'll come back in Game 2? Red Wings aren't quitters, I can tell you that.

Kings 4, Canucks 2
Shocker of the series so far? The LA Kings are closer to knocking off the Vancouver Canucks, but this is only Game 1 of the series and the Kings got the home-ice advantage with a 4-2 win over the Canucks in Vancouver. Dustin Penner scored the winning goal with 3:14 left in the third period. USA Today and ESPN are calling it a "lucky bounce" but I had the Canucks winning the Stanley Cup this year and if they want to bounce back, they'll have to show the Kings who's the tough in the ever-so competitive Western Conference.

Those were the games that happened on Wednesday. Let's look at games from Thursday.

Rangers 4, Senators 2
Not exactly a miracle in New York, but it was enough to at least give the NY Rangers a 1-0 series lead over the Senators. Marian Gaborik and Brian Boyle scored minutes apart in the second period and it helped them take a 4-2 win in Game 1. Ottawa needs a bounce-back in Game 2 if they want to get past the hot NY Rangers, but the way the Rangers are going right now, Ottawa has an uphill battle.

Bruins 1, Capitals 0 (OT)
The Bruins started off their Stanley Cup defense by winning 1-0 in overtime over the Washington Capitals at TD Garden. Chris Kelly scored the only goal of the game Thursday night, while it was the Washington offense that was a no-show. If Washington wants to knock off the defending Stanley Cup champions, they'll have to find a way to beat Tim Thomas. Look at this way, Holtby is certainly proving himself as a reliable goaltender for the Capitals.

Sharks 3, Blues 2 (2OT)
Um...what? The Sharks won in St. Louis? A surprising team throughout the regular season got beat by a team that has failed to perform to the best of its abilities in the playoffs got a much-needed win against a team that performed well pretty much all year. Martin Havlat scored the game-winner in the second overtime. The Sharks now have home-ice advantage. Will the Blues be able to come back? We'll find out.

Coyotes 3, Blackhawks 2 (OT)
So many overtimes Thursday night but this one is spelling a certain chance for a Stanley Cup in the Phoenix Coyotes. Martin Hanzal scored the winning goal in overtime to lead the Coyotes past the Blackhawks 3-2. However, the loss of Radim Vrbata could really hurt the Coyotes offense, especially if Jonathan Toews is returning to the lineup. Could things turn and send it the Blackhawks way? We'll see.

Those were your recaps for Wednesday and Thursday. Tonight, Game 1 of the Devils and Panthers, Game 2 of Flyers-Penguins, Game 2 of Red Wings-Predators, and Game 2 of Kings-Canucks. Hope you all enjoy the great Stanley Cup Playoffs, puck heads! See you on the puck side!

Team Canada GM is Yzerman Again

Who wouldn't think of a better fit for Team Canada than the one and only Steve Yzerman? Nobody, that's who.

At a news conference Monday in Calgary, Hockey Canada announced that Steve Yzerman will return as Team Canada GM for the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. They also announced the full management staff that will be led by Yzerman, who is currently the general manager for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Edmonton Oilers president Kevin Lowe, Detroit Red Wings general manger Ken Holland, St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong, Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson and Hockey Canada vice-president Brad Pascall were also announced as part of the Team Canada management staff.

"The opportunity to work with Hockey Canada again is something I'm really excited about," Yzerman said. "I really, really enjoyed the experience in the past, and really look forward to the next few years. And hopefully all goes well and the National Hockey League players will be participating in Sochi as well."

Like Wayne Gretzky before him, Yzerman will run the team in back-to-back Olympics. Below is what Gretzky texted to ESPN.com

"Right guy for the job, great choice."

I wouldn't agree more with Wayne Gretzky. From now on, Yzerman should be the only choice for Team Canada because no one has his determination and his actions that helped Canada beat the US in the Vancouver Olympics just a few years ago. Yzerman, like Gretzky, knows how to put together a winning team and it's going to be interesting to see how Yzerman manages to put together this team again in time for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Yzerman is always a perfect choice for any team, but being the GM of Team Canada is truly a fantastic job and one that's worth praise, since he has been able to put together winning Olympic teams. Team Canada is proud to have this guy on board, and the hockey world should be proud of the job he is doing for the hockey world and especially for Team Canada and Canada itself.

NHL Trade Deadline: Jeff Carter's a King

Did the LA Kings just get better and better? Fans just got a surprise acquisition from a team in the low-part of the division. That team being the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Jeff Carter is finally heading to LA in a trade that sends Jack Johnson and a draft pick back to Columbus. That means he'll finally be reunited with Mike Richards but not in Philadelphia where they first became a good pair on the ice. He was traded after just 39 games and not including the ones where he was injured, but he is definitely making some headway after helping the Kings win their first game with him. Dustin Brown got a hat trick in that game as well, but nothing's as important right now as Jeff Carter.

I think the Kings needed to find some way to score goals, but now with Jeff Carter, that doesn't seem like much of a problem now. After all, he's repaired with Mike Richards after their hot one-two punch in Philadelphia before they blew up their core teams and shipped them to the Western Conference.

Unfortunately, now with Carter, the Kings need to find some way to gain some success from that Philadelphia connection. They have 129 goals in 61 games, which is ranked 30th in the NHL.

"You look up and down that lineup, they've got some great players," Carter said to ESPNLA.com. "I think it's just a matter of time before things start going their way."

As I said, they're going to need to do this quick. If they have a shot at making the playoffs, they're going to have to do some ground-work and make it back into the playoff picture. Their next two games should not be too tough for this team, although they are on the road and that might factor into how well they play. They're at Nashville and at Minnesota before a home tilt against the Ducks. So if they want to pick up points, I think their next three games are going to be relatively easy ones for them.

Jeff Carter an impact in LA? I think so. But do others think so? We'll just have to wait and see. He's already played in one game and was a factor in them winning. But what about two or three or more? Well, let's just watch and see how far this Kings team can go with Jeff Carter as their new man on the ice.

Vermette Headed to Phoenix

It's been a while since I did my last post. Actually, it's been almost a full month, but we're back into the swing of things as the trading deadline heats up but one team has already got a fighting chance to stay in the playoffs thanks to a new acquisition.

The Phoenix Coyotes have acquired Antoine Vermette from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for several draft picks as well as minor league goalie Curtis McElhinney, whom I didn't know was on the Blue Jackets. But that's off the story for the moment.

"We are extremely pleased to acquire Antoine," Coyotes general manager Don Maloney said to the media. "He is a smart, skilled, two-way center who will be a great addition to our lineup."

If the Coyotes make the playoffs, the conditional fifth-round pick they gave away will become a fourth-round pick. This comes in the wake of the stories that are buzzing around the Blue Jackets that captain Rick Nash and center Jeff Center would be traded and that they were looking for potential buyers. Instead, the Jackets dealt away Vermette.

Anticipation of more players leaving Columbus? Absolutely. The Blue Jackets have the worst record in the NHL and they are looking for ways to build their team again. But this hasn't happened since they went to the playoffs a few years ago. Steve Mason has been erratic in goal and the trade for Curtis McElhinney might signal that backup goalie Curtis Sanford is indeed out, who becomes a free agent this summer.

The Coyotes are getting the best deal out of this because Vermette has proven himself as a valuable player to any club. Unfortunately, his production was down this season and he was looking for a way to build it up again. Well, now that the Coyotes are streaking right now and with the addition of a new player, it sounds as if they're right on target to make the playoffs yet again and he's on the right target to prove he's another valuable player to a team.

What will happen in Phoenix? Vermette brings luck? Will it help the Blue Jackets survive and maybe win a few games before the entire season's over? The rest of the season will have our answers for us. As far as I know, Phoenix is on that right track to become a playoff contender yet again. And for the Blue Jackets, well, it's time for another rebuild.