Brett Sutter has history with coach in Calgary … no, not that guy

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Everybody around training camp at the Saddledome wants to ask Brett Sutter about the big-league skipper, and understandably so. Darryl is his dad.

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Brett, a gritty forward who has signed an AHL-level contract and seems like an obvious choice to captain the Calgary Wranglers, has a history with his minor-league coach too.

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During his first stint with the organization, way back when the Flames’ farmhands were based in Moline, Ill., he dropped the gloves for a dance with a dude named Mitch Love. Yeah, his new boss.

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“That was a long time ago. I think that was one of my first seasons and one of his last,” Brett reminisced. “I played against him a lot over the years, a little in the Western League and then pro, and he’s a warrior, a competitor. And that’s the kind of guy you want to play for. From what I gather from some of these other guys, he’s tell-like-it-is. He will tell you what you need to hear and not what you want to hear, and that’s exactly what you want from a coach.”

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His pops has that same no-nonsense style, and Brett certainly isn’t expecting any sugar-coating from the reigning winner of the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s coach of the year.

Both Sutters have shrugged off the suggestion that this is something special, to have two members of this famed family at Flames training camp — dad calling the shots on the bench and his oldest son firing shots at the opposing net. In fact, after Brett scored in the home half of Sunday’s split-squad against the Vancouver Canucks, Darryl deadpanned: “We’ve been doing it for 50 years, all of us, so what’s the difference?”

“It was just business as usual, to be honest with you,” agreed Brett, who buried another during Wednesday’s date with the Edmonton Oilers. “I’d actually scored once before with him on the bench in L.A. in pre-season. It was cool, but it was just good to be back and be playing in the Saddledome again, good to have the kids there. 

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“Honestly, once you get to the rink and the game gets started, you don’t really think about it too much. You’re kind of in your own little zone, and so is he. So you just stay in your lane.” 

Brett, now 35 and with three children of his own, told Postmedia last winter that, “if my body allows it, I’ll play until I have four flat tires and somebody steals the spare.”

While it’s too soon to say if he might eventually follow his father into the coaching biz, his leadership is a big part of the appeal for the Wranglers.

The expectation is that he’ll be an important tone-setter for the AHL outfit, a follow-me type for a cast of talented young forwards that should include the likes of Jakob Pelletier and Connor Zary.

Those guys were Timbits when the Flames selected Brett in the sixth round of the 2005 NHL Draft. They were still in elementary school when he debuted in Calgary’s colours in 2008.

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Brett has totalled 60 skates in The Show but isn’t likely to add to that tally. With his current contract, he isn’t even eligible for a call-up.

The veteran left-hander from Viking, Alta., spent the past seven campaigns with the AHL’s Ontario Reign, the top affiliate for the Los Angeles Kings, before signing a one-year contract with the Wranglers in the summer. This will be his 16th pro season. He’s logged more than 1,000 games.

“It’s pretty special, making our home in Calgary now and the community being a big part of our lives,” Brett said. “It’s pretty special for the family to be back here and the kids going to school. And putting that jersey on again, it’s pretty special after all those years.

“L.A. was a big part of our lives for a long time and an organization that treated us great but the opportunity to come home and play in this organization and be close to family and friends and be back in Alberta, it was really exciting for us. It’s been a good decision so far.”

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Decisions are looming at the Saddledome.

Training-camp cuts will be coming soon.

All of Brett’s could-be teammates are wondering — what is the key to impressing his old man?

“Just be yourself and don’t try to do too much,” he stressed. “You know, he’s pretty cut-and-dry on what he expects from each player. So find what suits your game best, play it the best you can and be yourself.”

As for earning the respect of his new boss with the Wranglers, that shouldn’t be a problem for Brett. He and Love go back a long ways, trading haymakers before they ever exchanged hellos. That was in 2009, when Love — honoured last season as the top coach on the second circuit — piled up 214 penalty minutes on behalf of the Houston Aeros.

So we gotta ask … Who won the scrap?

“Mitch was a tough customer,” Brett said with a smile. “As a young guy, I was pretty happy to come out of it just doing alright.

“Those guys you battle on the ice, those are usually the guys you want to play on the same team with. I’m sure this will be the same thing.”

wgilbertson@postmedia.com

Twitter: @WesGilbertson