Brian Louis Allen Sutter (born October 7, 1956) is a Canadian former ice hockey forward and former head coach in the National Hockey League (NHL). Brian is the second oldest of the famous Sutter brothers and the oldest of the six that played in the NHL. He is also the only one to have his number retired by an NHL team.

Career

Player

Sutter was drafted by the St. Louis Blues during the 2nd round (20th overall) in the

1976 NHL Entry Draft The 1976 NHL Amateur Draft was the 14th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the NHL office in Montreal, Quebec, on June 1, 1976. It's notable as featuring one of the weakest first rounds in draft history, as only two players ( Rick Green and Bernie F ...

. He played for the Blues until

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, when a nagging back injury forced him into retirement. In 12 years with the Blues, he played in three NHL All-Star Games –

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

, and

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. For the last nine years of his career, he was the Blues' captain. His jersey, #11, was retired by the St. Louis Blues on December 30, 1988. Mikemilburyfacingoff

Coaching

Immediately after retiring, he was named the Blues' head coach (1988–1992). In 1991, he won the

Jack Adams Award The Jack Adams Award is awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) coach "adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success." The league's Coach of the Year award has been presented 47 times to 39 coaches. The winner is selecte ...

as the NHL's best coach. All told, he spent the first 16 years of his adult life at ice level with the Blues. Sutter subsequently held head coaching positions with the Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames, and Chicago Blackhawks (2001–2004). On June 21, 2005, the Blackhawks hired Dale Tallon as their new general manager; Tallon and the rebuilding Blackhawks decided not to renew Sutter's contract. During the 2006–07 season, Sutter coached the Bentley Generals of the

Chinook Hockey League The Allan Cup Hockey West (ACHW) (formerly the Chinook League) is a multi-tier Canadian Senior ice hockey league based in Alberta, on hiatus as of 2021. The ACHW is one of two Allan Cup-eligible ice hockey leagues currently operating in Canada; t ...

, leading the team to its first berth in the Allan Cup, Canada's senior men's hockey championship. Sutter was named the head coach of the Western Hockey League's Red Deer Rebels on July 12, 2007, replacing his younger brother Brent, who left the Rebels to become the head coach of the NHL's

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

. On March 24, 2008, the Rebels announced that Brian Sutter had resigned as head coach of the team, citing personal reasons. Sutter returned as head coach of the Generals for the 2008–09 season, leading them to its first Allan Cup title in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

. In August 2012, Sutter left the Generals to become the new head coach of the Innisfail Eagles, also of the Chinook Hockey League.

Personal life

Sutter and his wife Judy have two children, a son Shaun and a daughter, Abigail.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Coaching statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutter, Brian 1956 births Boston Bruins coaches Calgary Flames coaches Canadian ice hockey left wingers Chicago Blackhawks coaches Edmonton Oilers (WHA) draft picks Ice hockey people from Alberta Jack Adams Award winners Kansas City Blues players Lethbridge Broncos players Living people National Hockey League All-Stars National Hockey League players with retired numbers People from Beaver County, Alberta Red Deer Rebels coaches Red Deer Rustlers players St. Louis Blues coaches St. Louis Blues draft picks St. Louis Blues players Brian Canadian ice hockey coaches