Ex-Flames player Toffoli explains mind games Sutter would play on Markstrom
The stories from Darryl Sutter’s recent tenure with the Calgary Flames seem to be never-ending at this point.
The most recent player to spill the beans on Sutter was Tyler Toffoli, who was a guest on the most recent episode of Spittin’ Chiclets. Unlike others on the Flames, Toffoli has spoken in the past about how much he likes Sutter and continued to say the same during this discussion. That said, he divulged some stories about why things may not have worked out for Sutter and the Flames this past season.
One of those stories focused on Jacob Markstrom, who struggled immensely this past season after having a Vezina Trophy-like campaign in 2021-22. According to Toffoli, Sutter would try to play mind games with Markstrom, which evidently didn’t pay off.
“It’d be like 0-0, and [Sutter] would come in and tell [Daniel Vladar] to get ready to go in. We’re looking, it’s 0-0, and he’s like, ‘Marky’s not ready to play tonight,'” Toffoli explained. “There’s a reason it’s 0-0; he has ten saves, and we haven’t touched a puck this whole period. It’s just little things like that. It’s all mind games. He’s just trying to get guys going.”
Toffoli went on to sing Sutter’s praises again later in the interview but admitted that he was one of the former head coaches ‘guys’ and, as a result, didn’t get treated as bad as others. That certainly makes sense, given that the 31-year-old had a career year, scoring 34 goals and 73 points in 82 games.
After the season had ended, Toffoli reportedly became upset with how little discussion management had with him regarding a contract extension and informed the Flames he would like to be moved elsewhere. He was traded shortly after to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Yegor Sharangovich and a third-round draft pick.
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