Barn Burner: Boomer & Pinder with Rhett Warrener - Brett Sutter Talks Becoming Wranglers Head Coach, Upcoming Players & More | FN Back Burner

Episode Date: July 29, 2025

Mike Gould and Ryan Pike are back with another episode of Back Burner!In this one, the guys interview Brett Sutter the new head coach of the Calgary Wranglers. They dive into the interview process and his journey through the AHL to becoming the Wranglers third head coach. See how he envision's the upcoming season and his thoughts on helping players such as, Samuel Honzek and Hunter Brzustewicz, develop and grow. SHOW TIMESTAMPS ⏰- Intro (1:00)- Journey to Wranglers Head Coach (3:30)- Last Season's Experiences (8:30)- Veteran Roles (10:00)- Coaching Staff (11:00)- Honzek & Brzustewicz (12:30)- Upcoming Players & Helping Players Grow (20:00)- Cooley (21:30)- Summer & Family (23:00)- Huska (25:00)- Future (26:30)- Wrap Up (28:00)Subscribe to @Flames_Nation on Youtube🚨➡️ / @flames_nation 🔥 After Burner ➡️ • FlamesNation Afterburner 📲 Follow us:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fnbarnburner/X (Twitter): https://x.com/barnburnerfn?lang=en🎧 Listen on:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/be/podcast/barn-burner-boomer-pinder-with-rhett-warrener/id1648562889Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Mc6Qd5U22R2zbMlQ7RxIiBARN BURNER BLONDE https://originbrewing.myshopify.comFLAMESNATION MERCHhttps://nationgear.ca/collections/flamesnationBARN BURNER SHORTShttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj_bcGtvvo-cW2DHEDZ6dEO5ePDmlhZc9SHOUTOUT TO OUR SPONSOR!!👍🏼 Platinum Mitsubishi: https://www.platinummitsubishi.com/Reach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!Producer: Yasmin Lee#NHLPlayoffs #Hockey #HockeyTalk #Playoffs #StanleyCup #EdmontonOilers #StanleyCupFinal #NHL #CalgaryFlames Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the Flames Nation Backburner Prospect Show. My name is Mike Gould. Joining me, as always, is Ryan Pike. And we are here in the doldrums of July on a relatively nice day in what has been an otherwise soggy summer here in the city of Calgary. And we're here for a very special reason. We'll get to that in a moment. But Pike, first of all, how are you holding up amidst all this rain and cloud cover?

I've been spending my time at concerts and trying to keep my feet dry, so I've been doing the best I can. Pike admitted off, Mike, that he recently went to see Katie Perry, and I can promise for you all watching the show that we've got cooked up today is going to be maybe a little bit better than listening to Teenage Dream, although no offense, Pike. I'm sure you really enjoyed your time. Best way to experience Edmonton is watching a concert. And we should mention off the hop here that, of course, as always, the Backburner Show is brought to you by the good folks up to Platinum Mitsubishi, 2720 Barlow Trail Northeast up in Calgary. Home of the Outlander, the Outlander, PHAV, Canada's best-selling plug-in hybrid vehicle.

Head on up there to 2720 Barlow Trail Northeast for all the 10-year warranties and the economy SUVs you can find. And with that being said, we're going to jump right in with a very, very special guest. Pike, we've been blessed to have some good guests on this show already since we kicked this off, I guess, back in May. We've had some really good folks. And today, I think we've reached a new level. It's going to be an excellent show. And we are so excited to welcome on the third and newest head coach of the Calgary Ranglers. Brett Sutter is joining us today on the Backburner show. We couldn't be more excited. Brett, thank you so much for taking some time out of your summer, your vacation,

wherever you're at to join us here today. And thanks for hopping on. Yeah, not a problem, guys. happy to be here. Pike, when we were deciding how we wanted to approach this, you know, we sort of had, we sort of had Brett as we would love to get this guy because it is, it is just such an interesting story. First of all, being able to have somebody who has the access to the flint or to the ranglers, not only as their new coach, but the access of being around the team for the last three seasons, basically a Wrangler from day one.

And Brett, I guess just the first thing that I want to ask to you is how did this all come about? It is unusual in a sense for somebody to be an AHL head coach of the team that they captained not even two full years ago. But it seems like everybody is super excited, us included. And just what was this process like this summer? Yeah, I think, you know, it was a long stressful process. But I think the first thing was Brad Pascal asked me if it was something I'd be interested in. if I wanted to throw my name in the hat, so to speak.

So that kind of kick things off. And obviously it was something that I was really interested in, having a deep connection with the city and the players here and caring a lot about them. So happy to get the opportunity to not only join the interview process, but end up getting the job and just excited to get things started here. What's the interview process like? Because I know you're probably a unique situation that, you know,

you went through a hiring process a year ago, so it's not really brand new to you, but just in terms of, you know, how many rounds was it? How, what kind of questions do they ask you? Who'd you interview with? Can it give us some insight? And sort of from your perspective, how it all unfolded from that side of things? Yeah, a lot of it was with Brad Paskill and me and him have a great relationship. And then as things moved along, then the flames management get involved. And you're sitting in the room with Craig and Don and Pete and the rest of the guys there. So I think it was a great process. You know, they were very transparent right from the beginning of what they wanted

and what they seen as what a good HL head coach was going to be. And I just put my best foot forward. And like I said, I'm fortunate to get it. And I'm fortunate that those guys put their trust in their face. in me. I'm just curious, who called you to tell you got the job? Like, how did you find out that it was yours? It was, it was Brad, yeah. I think he strung me along a little bit, kind of, kind of put my put a knot in my stomach a little bit. He's got a unique sense of humor. He likes playing those games with all of us coaches here. So obviously, a very exciting moment for myself and my family.

And yeah, like I said, I just can't wait to get things going. felt like when the Wranglers came to Calgary, they needed a real center force behind them. And obviously the coaching staff at that time was a very strong coaching staff. And you are now the third in I think three or four years. And the previous two have gone on to the NHL. They've done quite well. And now for you, I mean, what does it feel like to be stepping into the shoes that have been vacated by guys who you played under in Mitch and, well, I guess not Trent, but who you have this relationship with and who have been successful in their own time here in Calgary? Yeah, I think you pick things up from those guys to begin with.

You know, I'd played against Mitch, great competitor, and then getting a chance to play under him before he moved on to the NHL. I think you're starting to pick things up of ways that you liked how he ran things and his personality and his day-to-day routine. And then with Trent, I got to be his captain for my last year playing. And then the opportunity to coach underneath him. and I thought he was awesome for me. You know, he was always a question away or a little bit of advice.

And he kind of gave that trust in me right away to, here's the forwards, here's the power, play, run with it. And I think when you have someone that gives you that faith and then that trust, you know, your confidence grows right away. And he's been incredible. Even since I got this job, I've called him a few times to pick his brain and then to ask him some questions on stuff heading into camp here. So like I said, fortunate that those guys paved away from me here at the rank.

and then kind of just look forward to carrying on and grow in that culture that we've started to build here the last few seasons. Being the captain, I mean, it's obviously a hugely pivotal role. And you were brought in for basically from day one, like it were, like it was, with this team looking to build a foothold in this market. And I don't want to say that you're necessarily, you know, what we look at back at being like a player coach type thing. But was this something that you always kind of knew that you wanted to do, even, you know, in your final years? I mean, not a lot of guys are captains of three American Hockey League teams. And it's just from the outside, it seemed like a logical step. I'm just curious if you felt that way while you were still playing.

Yeah, you know what? You want to stay in the game. I really tried not to look too far ahead, to be honest with you. I so thought that was a selfish thing for my teammates and for myself. If I didn't just kind of embrace the day-to-day grind and try to be the best player and captain that I could be at the time. So when the day finally came, when I realized I probably wasn't going to get to play again, and I got the opportunity to coach, especially with this organization, it was something I couldn't pass up.

And you don't really plan too far ahead in the sense where, you know, I didn't have a plan in place where, you know, two years, three years, four years down the line, I want to be a head coach and so on and so forth. You just want to become a really good coach. And that was the first step last year and try to get better every day in that sense. And, you know, luckily enough that I'm saying. sitting here today and then I head coach and I'm looking forward to it. Last year was kind of a wild year for you. I'm trying to figure out like if you were going to try to get as much experience in one

year as an assistant coach, I can't think of a more interesting way to do it. How do, from your perspective, how did it all unfold? And I guess what did you learn during your pretty eventful season as an assistant coach? Yeah, I think you're always learning. things in this league, it's always full of surprises. You know what? I was really proud of the players the way they handled it last year. They really had three head coaches in one season and we had a ton of movement within our

roster and I thought they took it all in stride. No matter who was the guy calling the shots, they gave us a ton of respect and I thought they really bought in. And I know we kind of faded the second half the year a little bit there, but I don't think it was from lack of trying or lack of effort or a lack of passion from those guys. So it was a crazy year. I learned a lot as a coach, you know, getting to be the new guy, assistant coach, getting a little chance to be the head coach there, getting to go to the All-Lster game.

There was a lot of really neat experiences, and I thought it made me a better coach and a better person along the way. I'm curious, you know, we heard a lot this season on the NHL side. You know, Ryan Huska gave his veteran group a lot of credit for sort of doing a lot of things to reinforce what he was trying to lay down. you know, from your perspective, as someone who was one of those veterans with the Wranglers, your last couple of years on the ice, what was the role of some of your veterans? I know, you know, you had Clark Bishop as your captain, you had Alex Gallant, who was still

around from when you were playing, like, who were the key guys to help, I guess, reinforce the coaching staff's message? And I guess, how do they do it? Yeah, you know, it's a huge part in the AmeriCleague, right? Like, there's a big age gap. There's lots of players coming from Carlin'clock. and junior that's used to play in, you know, huge minutes or being star players. And sometimes they're asked to come play different roles or maybe play less minutes than

they're used to. So it's those old guys in the room that they really hammer down the message and hammer down, you know, what we're trying to accomplish as a team. And we're, we're fortunate here. We've got a great group coming back next year. You know, you look at Captain Bishop there. And then you got Al Galant and Marty Furk and Dryden Hunt. And we got, we got great leaders in that room. And I don't think there'll be any issue. that we know they're going to carry our message in and deliver it the way it needs to be done and kind of lead the way for those young guys. Tell us a little bit about how your staff is shaping up because you brought on David Lipton.

And, you know, what are your expectations for the ways that rules will be delegated in your first full season? Yeah, so Joe, obviously, another guy leaned on heavily last year. He does a tremendous job with our defense minister, plus our young defenseman. he's going to handle that end of the bench and penalty kill something we've had a lot of success with the last few years. And then Cibrook-law will come in part-time and help him with that, which will be great. Another voice in the room, you can never have too many of those. And then Lyfty's going to take my responsibilities over from last year and he'll take over the forward side and the power play. And then I'll kind of assist him with that in the transition.

And then obviously, you can't forget about Ska. as the goalie coach there, he's got a huge job. He's got some good young prospects coming in, so have his work cut out for him, and that'll be great. And then Chandler, he gets his hands in everything, Chandler Bigger. So he's kind of the glue in that coach's room and keeps things light for us and keeps things detailed and organized. And I like our staff.

I like the way it's shaping up. I think we've got some passionate guys, some guys that care about winning culture, but also care a lot about development and making these young men good players. and that's important. Absolutely. And I think the guy on the farm team right now who has obviously started last year in the NHL has been a topic of discussion for a long time.

It sort of reminds me a little bit of when I was first getting into watching the flames and the young guy who came up was you and you were wearing number 42. And now I think of Sam Hansick who made that jump at the start of last year. And there's been a lot of talk about him being a winger or a center. How do you view this guy? We talked about the veterans, but as a younger player who's just bursting in, where do you anticipate that you want to start with this guy? And also, just how do you want to help him as he goes into his second pro season? Yeah, well, I think, first of all, for all these guys that are first year pros, like, it's a big jump for him.

I thought as the year went on, especially the second half the year, I thought Sam took huge strides in some of those areas we were asking him to get better at. I think he's going to be an NHL player. I know that people out there have given him a hard time, but the production of it for him is going to come. He can skate really well. He's a big body. He's long. I see him having a really good two-way game.

Second half of the year, his penalty killing took off for us. So I think because he gets bigger and stronger and he gets confident and comfortable at the pro level that he's going to be able to hang on to pucks more and make some more of those skilled plays that people are hoping for. I thought he acclimated pretty well to the program. And like I said, I think the second half the year, he really started to see that some of those things that he needed to get better at

to take the next step, he really started to grasp. Great stuff. I'm going to stay on that theme of it, these 20-year-old kids jumping into the American League. I found myself really impressed by Hunter Bustevich over the course of the year. I know he had the benefit of a really steady, consistent defense partner in Yanke's that stuff. But just it, what kind of growth did you see for Bruce Devich from October to the end of the season? Yeah. Well, Brew, by the way, he started, I seen he was on the ice today.

So that's great news after getting hurt in playoffs. It's nice to see he's going to have a nice long runway here before training camp to get back up and running. But tremendous kid. Like wants to learn. A great teammate, kind of the ultimate guy's guy in that locker room. And so he fit right in in his first year pro. And I think for him, you always knew the offensive side would be there. He's really good at hanging on to pucks and making those composed skills, slip plays that aren't natural for a lot of guys. I think his biggest jump came from his defending and his checking side of it.

And that might not be the sexy way to say it. But at the end of the day, he was killing plays. And that led to a lot more time with the puck for us and for him. And I thought he took huge strides in that. area. And we won't put you on the spot by asking about any of the potential new faces, but I'm just curious, sort of from, I guess, a big picture standpoint, you know, what excites you about this group? Because I know, you know, you obviously have a lot of familiarity with the guys who were coming back from last season. And, you know, a lot of guys that, as you mentioned,

that, you know, it was kind of a really interesting year in a lot of levels, sort of a lot of different things going on within the club. What excites you about the group of guys you? you have there and might have there this year? Yeah, you know what? We're young, but they're really good players. So I think the exciting part is as you get those guys improving, your team really improves. So I'm excited to dig in with these guys,

really get to know them as players and as people. And I think you see the Griddons and the Sunniabs and the Basha's and the Morans. Like you see these guys, they were all really good players at the junior and college level. So how quick can we get you up and in the pro game, how quick can we get you comfortable in our system and contributing at this level? And I think that's where most of your growth should come from in the American League.

If you can get these kids to be better players, then your team becomes a better team. And I think that's got to be our goal coming into the season. It's really exciting. I mean, I remember when the Wranglers first came to Calgary and this on paper looks like it might be as a strong a team as we've seen just early, of course, early on. The players who I'm maybe the most curious about and to hear your take on are the ones who we've seen for a while now and who are getting to the point where they might be ready to make the next step. They might be, you know, where they are. And there's three guys, three defensemen who were picked in 2020 who seem to sort of be at those similar points. And Pike, you already mentioned Kuznetsov.

We've seen a lot of Elias Solov at the next level, or at least a little bit. And Jeremy Porre. And what is your message for these three defensemen who are, you know, who, who. have now been in the organization for five years now, who have been good American League players as they try to get to the next level. I think the thing for them is really, I hate to say, don't get comfortable, but like now's the time to really make the mark. Coming to camp with the purpose, I know they're going to go home and then train hard, but, you know, for guys that, like, solo and Kuzi that are going to are pushed to make that NHL club, like, you're right

there. So just go and be the best version of yourself. And I really thought JP took big strides the second half the year and in some hard areas that we asked him be better at. And I know he's really motivated to go back this summer and to show us all that he did that. So I'm excited for all three of them. And I think, you know, as you get into your, you know, third, fourth year in the league, that's when you're expected to take the step and push for spots. And I'm excited to watch them do that. Well, and you can just never have too many defensemen, especially at this level.

So it's going to be fun to watch for sure. The other 2020 pick that I'm kind of curious about was your leading score last year in Rory Cairns. And just, I think there has been a consistent pattern, at least in my perspective, of this guy just sort of exceeding expectations to a certain degree. And it feels like if he was to continue to do that, the next logical step would be the next level. But where do you see this guy five years out from where he's been drafted and now coming off the best pro season of his career? Yeah, I mean, arguably our best player last year. I think he just, he does whatever he's asked. He's committed to getting better.

He's a great teammate. I really am excited to see where he can take his game. Now he's got the confidence in this league and he know he can do it. I know he's going to push hard to get to that next level. He just thinks the game so well. You know, it's talked a lot about, you know, maybe not being the most fleet of foot, but I think his brain more than makes up for all that.

and you know such a smart player he's got a nose for the net he's always around it he's finding pucks pucks are finding him and those are the players that you like to have on your team they're always sniffing for it and like i said he's he's another one of those guys that's really motivated this summer to come into camp and show that he's knocking on the door and and i'm excited i'm really curious another big picture question for me i'm really curious we always talk we always hear about sort of I guess the tension between winning and development at the American League level. Because I know, you know, we always say, like, you want to give young players a chance to sort of play those really important games. But, you know, sometimes, you know, you got to live with

some learning moments, let's say, early in the season to get them there. I guess, as someone who's been through the process, you were a 20-year-old kid figuring out the American League. How do you, I guess, help those guys live with those mistakes? learn through those mistakes and sort of grow because I think as you mentioned with when talking about Sam and Hunter, just the idea of, you know, in October, they had some, some nights that might have been a bit of a challenge, but it seemed like they, those guys were able to learn from those challenges and sort of take those lessons and grow. So I guess how do you ensure that the young guys, when they have those sort of tough nights, can learn from them and take the right lessons

from them. Yeah, I think that's where your trust and your communication comes in, right? You have a relationship with those guys so they know you're not picking on them, so to speak. You're going to go and you're going to teach them, and there might be some hard lessons along the way that they need to learn. But I think as long as you paint a clear picture of, you know, this is where you're at, this is where you need to be. This is how we're going to get you there. Then everyone can follow the game plan and you just keep, you know, you just keep moving up that ladder. And they're all competitive guys. They want to get better.

They want to listen. That's the best part. They're all pushing to get to that next level. And I think as long as you put the plan in place for them and they trust you and believe in you and vice versa, that they'll do it. Last year, it was so interesting to watch the sort of first half, second half dichotomy. And it felt like a lot of it boiled down to your goaltender. Devin Cooley had an amazing, remarkable first half of the season, which was putting them on track to set records in a lot of American League categories. And it just, obviously, there were

various factors at play in the second half, but there's been so much discussion in this city about the goal-tending situation, not just in the American League, but in the NHL as well. And bringing in Ivan Prozvot, but Cooley, of course, being a guy who is projected to be in that mix, how do you view Devin Cooley at this point going into the second year of his contract and coming off a year that's, you know, for us, it would have been difficult to see everything that went on there. But how do you sort of parse through all that? Yeah, I mean, I still have a ton of confidence in Cools. I've seen how good he can be when he's on and how much he cares

and the work that he puts in every day. So I have no question of mind that he's doing the things he needs to do this summer to get back to that level. And he's working with the goalie coaches here and then SCAPS and these guys. And I think come training camp, he's going to be right. ready to show that he's back to that level. And like I said, you watch that first run that he went on. He was amazing.

There was a lot of nights we really didn't deserve to be in games, and he was winning out for us. So he'll get back there. No, there's no doubt in my mind. And I know he believes he can do that and knows he can do that. And it should be a good show along the way. What does the rest of the summer look like for you? Because I know, obviously, you know, we're going to,

we just had development camp a couple weeks ago. Pretty soon you're going to blink and, you know, we're going to see guys doing captain skates, guys getting up and running back in Calgary. And before too long, it'll be, you know, that second week of September and we'll be watching prospect games already. So how do you, as a first year head coach, what does the rest of the summer look like? Yeah, actually just finished up most of the work around the office here this week. So I'm going to take the next 10 days, go home, see some family, spend some time with my mom and dad,

my brother and nieces and nephews back home. and that'll be great. My kids love going back to the farm and hanging out and getting to be dirty kids for a while. So I'm excited to go there for a bit. And then by the time I get back, it'll be mid-August and we'll be ready to ramp things back up before we start getting our staff here and start having our meetings and getting things in place for Rookie Camp. Well, and obviously, we can't talk about, we can't talk about, you can't talk to Brett Sutter without talking about, you know, how have you leaned on your family?

there's so many incredible coaches in your family who have coached in Calgary, who have coached in Red Deer, who have coached all over the continent. Where are you getting advice? Are you getting advice from other family members, your guidance going into the season? Yeah, I mean, my dad's always there if I have questions for him. I'll be honest, he tries to take a back seat and not get involved, which is great.

But I know he's always there if I need anything. I have any questions along the way. He's always open to talk about that. For me, I leaned a lot on coaches that I had along the way, guys that I really respected playing for guys that have been through it before. And even through the interview process, I talked to a lot of those coaches and said, you know, like what can I expect? What do I need to be ready for?

And they were more than happy to be open about those situations. So no different than playing. The coaching world is a small world. And it's great to have those relationships and those contacts. And it was great to lean on some guys that I really love. plan for along the way i know that you have a pretty good relationship with ryan huska from uh few days uh in the organization as a player uh based on your experience of your predecessors have you gotten in a zero already about not taking your best players uh during the season or do you think that's

just that's just sort of the the the lot of the a hl coach in the city route now eh no you know what you want them to take your best players because they've earned it and that's part of the fun of it uh You know what? As an American League coach, sometimes it stings. Sometimes when you look down your bench and you don't see some of those guys in the lineup. But at the end of the day, that's where you want them to be. And then that's the exciting part of it. They've worked hard for it and they deserve it. Husk and his staff have been unbelievable. Right from day one when I got into coaching there, they've always been a text or a call away. And anything we have, any questions that we have from the Wrangler staff as far as systems or things that they've been changing, they're always very open to us and welcoming. and they've been awesome to us, and I can't say enough about it. All right.

I'm going to put you on the spot very briefly. Going into training camp this summer, or this fall, I should say, what is the number one position that you were the most excited for seeing just all the various different battles unfolding, not just for the flames course, but for your team primarily? Where do you see the biggest opportunity for competition on your roster? I mean, the most competition, I won't speak to the flames. I'll speak just to the Wranglers, but most of these kids coming in

our winger's here. So we're going to have a ton of competition on the wings. And I'm really excited to see how that all shakes out. You know, I'd love if some of these young kids come in and really fight hard to play top six and to play power play and the play penalty kill and to put me in a spot where I can't say no. And that's the goal. So it's going to push our old guys to get better. They might not like it every day. But that's part of the American League. So I'm excited. I'm excited to dig in those guys, like I said, and get to know them. And that's going to start right from recic camp and they'll be earning their way onto the team well and of course this is a job that always has an eye on the future and uh be honest how much of the appeal of the job is centered in

the fact that you know if you do enough good enough job you might stick around in time for the new building to open up right next time yeah you know what the i've seen some specs uh looks beautiful uh we've got a tour of the other locker rooms last season it was amazing um you know obviously obviously I think it's incredible for the city. I can't stand here and the Oyther's fans from back home talk about their building all the time. So yeah, no, I'm jacked up for it. I think it's going to be great.

And I know the players are certainly excited. Awesome. Pike got anything else? That's all I got. That's awesome. Brett, thank you so so much. It's been a pleasure. And enjoy the rest of your summer wherever you're at.

Yeah, thanks, guys. Appreciate it. Thanks for the time. See in the fall. That is Brett Sutter on the Platinum Mitsubishi, back burner guest hotline. Pike, that was fascinating. I mean, you know,

how many guys have the playing resume of a breathsetter? I mean, I was looking through the list and bugging Andrew Kytis at inside AHAHL hockey, all the new head coaches and especially all the young head coaches. I think he's age-wise, the third youngest AHAB bench boss next year.

And in terms of, you know, high, high end pro experience as a coach amongst the, the leanest resume, but I don't know if you're going to find someone that has, you know, the hockey bonafides of, you know, being a captain in junior, being a captain at three different AHA markets. And, you know, everywhere he's gone, you hear people talk about, you know, the quality of the person, the quality of the player. And, you know, Brett Sutter, the player and Brett Sutter the person to this point has gotten a lot. of guys in the NHL. And I think if you're looking for a certain skill set to get guys to where you want to be, you know, I can't think of a more, more suitable candidate for the head coaching

job. So I'm I'm really fascinated to see how it's going to go this year. Well, and going back to even the time in Stockton, we've been spoiled by some excellent head coaches and assistant coaches with the farm team going back to you look at Ryan Huska. He's with the flames. Cal McLean has made it to the NHL. Mitch Love was a great head coach who's made it to the NHL. Trent Cole, I can't believe I totally forgotten that Brett played for Trent Cole. In the Pacific Division era for the Flames Minor League Club, since the migration westward of the Pacific Division teams,

we've seen, you know, he's coach number four, and Kail McLean is in the NHL, you know, Ryan Huska, obviously is in the NHL, Trent Cull, you know, I should use number five, Mitch Love. So, I mean, you know, it's the, it's, it's a market where, you know, there's, there's, I think we've got to the point now where there's a high standard of, you know, flames, you know, Calgary hockey fans between, you know, the hitmen, the Wranglers and the Flames, you know, they demand a lot of their teams, but they're also a group that sort of, if you give them a lot, they'll, they'll give you a lot too. And, you know, we've seen.

seen some really good hockey from the Wranglers last couple years. I'm really fascinated how the season is going to go because, you know, as he mentioned, there's some really, really interesting young guys coming back is first or second year pros. There is a lot of guys who are potentially dipping their toe into pro for the first time. There's a lot of really, even the veterans, I mean, the guys who are about to close out their entry level years. I mean, you know, William Strong Grand is a fascinating player. Rory Karen's just going into his post-entry-level years, is a fascinating player. Up and down the lineup, I think, you know,

you can find three, four, five stories deep, pretty much every position at, you know, really fascinating people. And, you know, then, you know, you have David Loveton moving into, moving into, you know, HL coaching from the Western League plant. You know, you spent a year with the Hitman

and the Hammond were real good last year. I think we don't talk enough about how good they had been last year. They were real good. And, you know, I think it's going to be really, really fascinating mix of people this year. No kidding. And I think having the Wranglers in Calgary has just been such a huge boon. Unrelated aside,

for those who don't know, I've called a couple games with David Lifton's son, Thor. Isn't that a fantastic game? Thor Lippeton. Good player, too. So that pretty much wraps things up for today's edition of the Backburner show. Once again, we want to say thank you so much to Brett Sutter and for the Calgary Ranglers

for allowing us to have them on. Just a really terrific interview and go back and listen to it Again, if you're listening to it here. Yeah. And honestly, I mean, we, again, like we sort of mentioned during the show, like, we didn't want to even do a whole lot to bring up the new guys, because we want to be fair to Brett, but it's not just the existing returning class of the veterans on AHA deals or two-way deals and the guys in entry-level deals, but the guy's just coming in.

I said it, and I meant it during the show, this might be the strongest crop for a Wrangler's team that I've seen in since they've come to Calgary. It's going to be a real exciting year. So, Pike, anything you want to add just before we wrap up? No, that's all I got. Well, for those of you watching, enjoy the rest of your summers. We should be back probably maybe a week or two into August. We're going to have some good guests.

We're going to work on topping this one because maybe we'll be able to do it. Probably not. But we've got a couple of people in the can who we're looking to have on. So stay tuned for that. Once again, we want to thank Platinum Mitsubishi up 2720. Barlow Trail Northeast, go check out all their vehicles of the 10-year 160,000 kilometer power train warranty. And before we sign off, I just want to say a quick thing.

My grandmother passed away last night. And I just want to say to you, Grandma Frankie, thank you so much. And this has been your edition of the Backburner.