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JOANNE KORTHCoach Darryl Sutter has Calgary winning with values he passed on from his tough upbringing on a farm: Work hard, pull your weight and no excuses or whining.
CALGARY - Flames coach Darryl Sutter ambled through the Saddledome hallways Sunday wearing blue jeans and a worn pair of cowboy boots. This is the Stanley Cup final, but Sutter would fit in just as easily across the road at the 4-H exhibition.
So, too, would his team.
Rugged, hard-working and no-nonsense, Sutter has shaped the Flames in the stalwart image of a farmer's son. Everyone pulls his weight. Everyone accepts responsibility. No one whines. And there's certainly no shame in a little physical labor.
"I think we've taken on a lot of the traits he wants to see in hockey," defenseman Andrew Ference said. "Whether it's through some of us learning how to do that or Darryl bringing in guys he knows are willing to play the way he likes the game played.
"It's just that hard-working style."
Sutter, 45, is the third of seven brothers, six of whom played in the NHL. The Sutters grew up on a farm outside Viking, Alberta, where the family raised pigs, cows and a few crops. They lived in a tiny, 800-square-foot, four-bedroom house with no indoor plumbing.
Drafted by Chicago in 1978, Sutter played eight NHL seasons for the Blackhawks, five as team captain, during which he established a reputation as one of the league's toughest players. His career was cut short by injuries in 1987, but five years later he was back on the Blackhawks bench.
Rather, behind it.
In his 10th season as an NHL coach, Sutter has the Flames within two victories of winning the Stanley Cup.
Much like the job John Tortorella has done in lifting the Lightning from the NHL cellar, Sutter has stubbornly turned the Flames into a make-no-excuses contender in less than two full seasons.
"All of a sudden you have a coach that comes in and demands a lot out of you, very tough on guys in the room, on the bench and in the media," center Craig Conroy said. "He was building that mental toughness as the year went on. That was part of his game plan for us to be mentally tough and prepared when the playoffs came, because he believed right from the beginning that we were going to make the playoffs."
Sutter, in typical blue-collar humility, made light of his impact.
"It's not rocket science," said Sutter, whose dry sense of humor is enhanced by his slow baritone. "I am not a psychologist. I wasn't there, like a lot of other guys were, when they invented the game. The biggest change you have within our team is they are a team."
When Sutter arrived in December 2002, many Calgary players had grown comfortable with underachievement. Sutter quickly set a new tone, challenging players without regard to their feelings or who else might be within earshot.
"I don't think anybody's really been sheltered from being called out or from having the demands laid upon them," Ference said.
"Everybody's fair game on our team. And that goes to our mentality of everybody being on the same page, expected to do the same things on the ice and have the same strong mentality off the ice. We're really a reflection of his attitudes in the way that we've all bought into his style of success."
Sutter also is a savvy general manager, bringing in key players this season despite the limited resources of a small-market team. One year removed from a dismal 29-win season, Sutter called these Flames the toughest mental team he has ever been around.
"It's steady as she goes with this group," Sutter said. "You go in the room after a game, you can't tell if they have won or lost. That's how they handle it. There's games where we have had our rear ends kicked in the playoffs and we have bounced right back. That's the mind-set of a strong team."
And of a Sutter.