As questions and talk of changes began to swirl around the Calgary Flames, General Manager Darryl Sutter is resigning, and Jay Feaster will take his place and run Hockey Operations. Sutter was responsible for the turn around earlier in the decade that set the Flames up for a Stanley Cup championship series n 2004, but they fell one game short. Currently the Flames are struggling in just about every category and are currently in 14th place in the Western Conference, and they didn’t even make the playoffs last season.

President and CEO of the Calgary Flames Ken King, apparently requested that Sutter step down, and announced Feaster would be taking his place. In a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, King made the announcement and insisted the Flames were eternally grateful to Sutter. He said “I think one of the most important things that has happened to our organization was eight years ago when I sat in a Fairmont hotel in San Jose and asked Darryl Sutter if he would come to a team that was in a difficult situation, that hadn’t made the playoffs in several years and needed a very special touch that I thought he was one of a very select few people who could bring.”

Sutter came tot he flames in the middle of the 02-03 season, and although they did not make the playoffs, the next year they won the division and fell one game short of being Stanley Cup champs. After the season, Sutter stepped down as coach of the Flames to focus on duties as a GM. Coaching was being handled by  Jim Playfair, Mike Keenan and eventually Sutter’s brother Brent. They made it to the playoffs five straight years, but fours of those years they were eliminated in the first round.
They finished 10th last season, and going into Tuesdays game they had a 16-18-3 record, six points out of a playoff berth. In the off season Feaster assured Sutter he was not there to take his job, but was only brought on as an assistant GM to help him refocus the team. Feaster said it was never his motive to come in, and take someones job. He said  ”I can tell you that the thing that I was so impressed with when we met was Darryl was very comfortable in being willing to bring me on board despite the fact I had managed before, and I know for a fact that there are a lot of colleagues in the National Hockey League as general managers who would not have done that. And so I owe him everything for the fact that I’m back in the game.”

Rumors are now beginning to stir that this might not be the only change in Flames. People are specualting that Brent’s job might be in question too. Feaster did his best to squash the rumors, he said “The coaches are committed, you heard Ken say it, I’m committed to this coaching group, too. I think that Brent has done a very good job, I think he’s a very good coach, and one of the things, if you know my history before, I’m a big believer in working with the coach. And so from a hockey perspective, Brent is going to have a very large voice in my administration.”

Feaster says his work is starting right away, and he plans to discuss strategy with King as soon as they establish their goals. He said “It is my intent to put together a comprehensive plan, both in terms of the short-term, medium-range and long-term plans, and then to present that to Ken and see whether that’s something he appreciates and understands and buys my vision of where we can take this. We will get about that business right away. We certainly are understanding of the situation we’re in as a hockey club right now and the road that lies ahead of us.”

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