Sutter right man for Oilers
Brent Sutter lost the quarter-finals at the world hockey championships Thursday afternoon.
Nine hours later – at 1 a.m. in Helsinki – you have to figure he became the next head coach of the Edmonton Oilers.
Tom Renney’s contract, it was announced, was not going to be renewed.
What was never said was that Renney’s not going to be coming back because he didn’t do what he was asked to do in his term with the team. Renney isn’t coming back because he wasn’t viewed as a dynamic coach capable of the inspirational and motivational leadership to take the Edmonton Oilers to the future.
Brent Sutter was here for the past three weeks allegedly auditioning for the job as the next Oilers head coach. While he failed to get Team Canada to the medal round, Sutter illustrated those qualities in dealing with Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Devan Dubnyk and the other young members of the team throughout the tournament.
In watching Sutter closely throughout the tournament I found a man motivated to prove his worth after his departure from the Calgary Flames, somebody who has a real fire in his belly to succeed and somebody who would bring an extra edge to that rivalry.
Brent Sutter is the right man to replace Renney as head coach of the Oilers.
Tambellini was in Helsinki for the round robin and had Oilers’ president of hockey operations and his boss Kevin Lowe on the inside as GM of Team Canada. If this was an audition for the job, despite the loss to Slovakia Thursday, you’d have to say he had a successful audition.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/2012/05/17/jones-sutter-right-man-for-oilers