Darryl Sutter dunks on his own rookie forward following rough debut
Jakob Pelletier made his long awaited NHL debut Saturday for the Flames. Selected 26th overall in the 2019 draft, Pelletier has been on a tear in the AHL with the Calgary Wranglers this season. He has 34 points in 31 games, including 15 goals.
Following the Flames 6-3 afternoon win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, Darryl Sutter was asked what he thought about the debut of Pelletier. Sutter responded by picking up the game-sheet, looking it over and proceeding to ask "what number was he?" to the media. He continued saying, after he read Pelletier's stats, "21-years-old, still a long ways to go." For those wondering, Pelletier had 0 points, 1 hit and 1 shot in just under 7 minutes of ice-time.
Understandably, coaches are not going to remember every little detail about a new player, but at the very least, they should know their name and number. In this case though, Sutter should have had a better answer to the questions about Pelletier's debut given how he is one of the Flames' top prospects. Whether Sutter just had a memory lapse or not, it's a tad disrespectful to Pelletier.
