RED DEER, Alberta — Brent Sutter, the former NHL star who coached the New Jersey Devils and Calgary Flames, has quit as coach of the Western Hockey League team he owns.
Sutter has run the Red Deer Rebels for 20 seasons and coached them for 15. He remains the club’s president and general manager.
“At this time, I feel this is the right thing for our organization,” Sutter said Saturday in a statement. “Being involved in the game as long as I have both as a player and head coach, I’ve never looked at the game selfishly. The most important thing has always been what’s best for the hockey club.”
The Rebels are 6-6-2 in a WHL season shortened and delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The team’s players are living in their home rink. Assistant coaches Ryan Colville and Brad Flynn and assistant general manager Shaun Sutter will take over the coaching for the rest of the season.
The 58-year-old Sutter is from Alberta. He won two Stanley Cups as a player with the New York Islanders and coached the Devils and Flames from 2007 to 2012. He guided the Rebels to WHL and Memorial Cup titles in 2001 and coached Canada to the gold medal at the men’s junior hockey worlds in 2005 and 2006.