When it comes to life in the NHL, the road can be long. With many a winding turn.
For two Sutter brothers – Darryl and Brent – the road led to Calgary. Darryl as general manager of the Flames, Brent as coach.
Things did not end well.
Last December, with the Flames on their way to a second straight playoff miss, Darryl “stepped down.”
But there was more to the GM’s ouster than the poor results on the ice. Somewhere along the way, the working relationship between the brothers had become untenable.
How untenable?
According to the Calgary Sun, the brothers didn’t speak to each other for more than a year after Darryl left -- a period of silence that was “prompted by anger, frustration and personality clashes that dotted their working relationship as GM and head coach.”
The good news is that the healing process has begun. On Sunday, the brothers spoke on the phone.
“We had a good chit-chat — it was good,” Brent told the Sun.
“We talked about their team, about our team … never once did we talk about anything personally. We talked about the kids. We were all over the map with it. That was the first time I talked to him. It was nice.”
Darryl, of course, is now the head coach of the Los Angeles Kings. Brent is still behind the Flames’ bench.
Saturday in Calgary, the Kings will play the Flames.
They should totally play this song.