The Calgary Flames, after beating the visiting Ottawa Senators 7-3 on Thursday, fired head coach Geoff Ward and hired Darryl Sutter for a second stint on the job.
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The Flames have been an inconsistent team this season, struggling to a 11-11-2 record.
Ward, 58, took over the coaching job after Bill Peters resigned Nov. 29, 2019. His record as head coach in Calgary was 35-26-5. The Flames won a postseason play-in series last summer against the Winnipeg Jets, then lost to the Dallas Stars in a first-round playoff series.
Sutter, who guided the Los Angeles Kings to the Stanley Cup titles in 2012 and 2014, was Calgary’s head coach from Dec. 28, 2002, through July 12, 2006. He was general manager of the team from the start of the 2003-04 season through Dec. 28, 2010.
He guided the Flames to the Stanley Cup Final in 2004, which they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games. Over three seasons as Flames coach, his record was 107-73-15-15.
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In 18 seasons of NHL coaching in Chicago, San Jose, Calgary and Los Angeles, Sutter’s record is 634-467-101-83. His teams have posted a .500-plus points percentage in 15 of those seasons.
Calgary’s next game is Saturday on the road against the Edmonton Oilers.
–Field Level Media