Filed under: Flames, NHL CoachingWhen you're speaking with Brent Sutter, there's no sense dancing around the hot topic. I could have asked the Calgary head coach about the Flames' development camp that begins on Monday, open and free to all fans. I could have asked him about the positive emergence of Mark Giordano as a standout NHL defenseman. I could have even asked him about the somewhat surprising return of playmaking forward Alex Tanguay, whose career has been trending downward since his 81-point season with the Flames in 2006-07.
But the blunt Sutter is well aware of all the talk -- and yes, the giggles -- surrounding his team's re-signing of much-maligned center Olli Jokinen.
"I was made well aware before the free agent market opened that it was a possibility," said Sutter, whose brother Darryl is the Flames' general manager. "I stood with Darryl's decision. To me, it was pretty straight-forward. Our responsibility to our fans and to ourselves is to make the hockey club as strong as we can. If you looked at the players available as free agents this summer, and where we had a need, Olli was one of the strongest centers out there. He is a player that we know and we like. I'm glad to have him back."
When Brent Sutter puts it that way, it doesn't seem so comical. For all of the 31-year-old Jokinen's warts -- he has virtually no playoff record to speak of -- he had 15 goals and 50 points in a down season for him. Attempt to resist all the easy pokes aimed at the Finn, and yes, $3 million a year for the next two seasons is not an insane price for a 50-point center who has averaged over 20 minutes a game the last seven seasons.
On almost every other topic surrounding his Flames, Sutter -- clearly without intention -- included some variation of the phrase, "He has to be better" in his answers. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Commentsadio shoes
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