Brent Sutter with Darryl in Calgary?

To no one’s shock it looks like the worst kept secret in the NHL is about to come true. After Brent Sutter decided to resign as the New Jersey Devils head coach this off season rumors began flying that this former owner, coach, and general manager of the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League would in fact be the next Calgary Flames coach. Sutter who got his NHL coaching shot from Devils GM Lou Lamoriello on July 13, 2007 put together an impressive 97-56-11 over his two- year tenure. His downfall was that the Devils fell drastically short of expectations in the post season where in both years they failed to make it past the first round. Earlier this summer when Sutter’s brother Darryl who is the GM of the Flames fired his former coach Mike Keenan and right away speculation began growing that he would hire Brent. During his press conference to announce stepping down Sutter said that he was leaving New Jersey for family reason and to be closer to his family farm in Alberta. If Calgary is indeed going to make a pitch and hire Sutter then they must get permission from Lamoriello as Sutter has one year left on his current contract with the Devils. A Toronto media outlet called TSN however confirmed on Saturday that the two Sutters are in the finals stages of negotiations and that an announcement will be made very soon. Prior to joining the Devils Sutter spent eight years with the Rebels. This past season the Devils lost in seven games to the Carolina Hurricanes.