Darryl Sutter offers playful jab at media after Flames clinch playoff spot

The Calgary Flames clinched a playoff spot on Saturday, much to the delight of head coach Darryl Sutter.

Calgary dominated Arizona with a 9-1 victory on home ice over the Arizona Coyotes, officially punching their ticket to the postseason before the game with Edmonton’s 4-0 win over Vegas.

But the big Flames win was secondary to Sutter.

“I don’t really care about the game,” Sutter said postgame. “We made the playoffs with two weeks left in the season. Our goal was to make the playoffs and get home ice. Give the players lots of credit.”

Sutter’s playoff berth is his third with the Flames, and first in his second stint with the team after making the postseason in 2004 and 2006. It’s the first time he’s made the playoffs since the 2015-16 season, while coaching the LA Kings.

But while Sutter might have believed in his group, he didn’t exactly feel like the local Calgary media did the same.

“[I’m] not [sure that] anybody in this room that would have said that [we’d be in a playoff spot] six months ago,” Sutter quipped.

It’s true, expectations were unclear for the Flames heading into this season, coming off a 26-27-3 season in the NHL’s all-Canadian North Division where they finished in fifth place, four points out of a playoff spot.

For now, the Flames hold a seven-point cushion atop of the Pacific Division with seven games remaining.

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