FanHouse Brandon Sutter

The naming of Brent Sutter as head coach of the Calgary Flames was not a surprise. The June 23 announcement made headlines, but was also a poorly-kept secret in most hockey circles.

From the moment he resigned in New Jersey, Sutter was expected to join brother Darryl, the Flames' general manager, in coach-less Calgary. Once Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello gave permission for Brent to make that move, it was quickly announced. After about a month on the job, Sutter took some time to talk to FanHouse about his move back to western Canada.

It's a common thread in a media world driven by the Internet and round-the-clock television news: 24 hours a day to fill, not nearly enough worthy material with which to fill it. The sports media is no exception, especially when there's a big event everyone is fixated on (SEE: Draft, NFL).

But here's a note to journalists looking for angles to exploit in preparation of the NHL playoffs -- the Hurricanes' decision to call up Brandon Sutter, son of Devils coach Brent Sutter, from the AHL in advance of the two teams' first-round playoff series should not be one.

I don't know what the Thrashers give-a-crap level was at, but the Penguins certainly kicked their give-a-crap level up a few notches as they snapped a five-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over Atlanta. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 28-of-29 shots, while Petr Sykora scored a pair of goals in the win.

Not only did Pittsburgh ends its losing streak, it also ended an 0-for-32 power play drought by going 2-for-6 with the man advantage.

It was a costly win of sorts for the Penguins, as Ruslan Fedotenko and Pascal Dupuis left the game with injuries and did not return. Both players had been playing, perhaps, their best hockey of the season in recent weeks.

Fedotenko appeared to suffer a hand injury when he punched out Colby Armstrong in the first period. It was perhaps the shortest fight of the season, as it consisted of one Fedotenko punch to the jaw, and Armstrong attempting to throw one when both players were on the ice. Fedotenko could be seen shaking his hand as he went to the penalty box, and then headed directly to the locker room and did not return.

Alex Goligoski was again a healthy scratch, as head coach Michel Therrien used the same lineup he used in New York the night before, with much better results. Evgeni Malkin recorded three assists, while Sidney Crosby scored his 16th goal of the season.

Ilya Kovalchuk scored the lone goal for Atlanta late in the third period, ending Fleury's shutout bid.

On Monday night when the Penguins hit the ice against the Rangers, the game featured the brotherly matchup of Jordan Staal vs. Marc Staal, an event that gets mentioned no fewer than 100 times whenever it takes place. The same thing happens when Jordan and/or Marc take on Eric Staal in Carolina, and may God help us when Jared Staal makes the the NHL. The somewhat over the top promotion of the matchup even results in extracurricular activities from the viewers at home.

Anyway, there's another family reunion of sorts on Tuesday night, when the New Jersey Devils take on the Carolina Hurricanes. The Devils, as you may know, are coached by Brent Sutter, while his son, Brandon, happens to play for Carolina. It's the first time the two have ever faced off in a game, and Brent isn't exactly looking forward to the challenge of coaching against his son, even though he played against his five brothers time-and-time again in the NHL. As Colin Stephenson of the Star-Ledger reports, (Brent) Sutter thinks this is a completely different challenge:

"It's an awkward thing,'' Sutter said, turning serious. "It's a unique thing... as a dad, I'm very proud of him, as I am of all my kids. It's different than playing against a brother. It's just different. It's your own son.''

Brandon was the Hurricanes No. 1 pick (11th overall) in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, and has recorded one goal and five assists in 32 games for Carolina this season. He's also managed to come back from a devastating hit by New York's Doug Weight earlier in the season.

Fire & Ice has more on the father vs. son tilt.

18 days after a hit from Doug Weight sent him to the hospital and crashing out of the lineup, the Carolina Hurricanes have activated forward Brandon Sutter from injured reserve list. Sutter has missed eight games due to a concussion thanks to the Weight hit. To make room for Sutter, the Hurricanes sent forward Dwight Helminen back to Albany of the AHL.

There's no word yet on whether or not Sutter will be in the lineup tonight as the Hurricanes host the Washington Capitals with first place in the Southeast Division on the line.

Like it or not, Weight's devastating hit on Sutter has reignited a serious debate in the NHL over how to regulate hits to the head. For some, but not all hockey fans, it's perplexing to see Weight's hit on Sutter go officially unpunished, while other hits that seemed to cause far less damage have resulted in significant suspensions.

We've seen a number of vicious hits in the NHL recently, and Saturday night on Long Island another was added to the list, as Doug Weight of the Islanders knocked Carolina Hurricanes rookie Brandon Sutter unconscious with a legal, but devastating hit with 10:52 left in the third period of a 4-3 Carolina win. That's Sutter pictured at right after he regained consciousness and skated off the ice under his own power.

Here's Hurricanes beat writer Chip Alexander from the News and Observer on the incident:

Sutter had his head down and was reaching for the puck when Weight popped him in the head with his shoulder. Sutter appeared to be knocked unconscious and was on the ice for several minutes before being helped off.

[...]

He did not travel with the team and was kept in in New York overnight for observation.

Most of the Carolina players called it a clean hit by Weight, who was not penalized. Vicious, but clean.

Video of the hit is after the jump.

Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.

With the Nashville Predators nipping at their heels, and Peter Forsberg starting to get into the groove, the Vancouver Canucks have picked the worst time to go into the tank.

After a give-the-points-away 3-2 loss to the Flames on Tuesday, the Canucks gave away another two points as the Avs pounded them 6-3. This was a game in which the Canucks had a 2-1 lead and looked halfway decent at one point, but then decided to stop putting out an effort altogether.

With the Avs win, and the Wild beating up on a red-hot Edmonton Oilers squad, the Northwest Division is providing hockey fans with one hell of a race. Every game is important, and every game provides a seemingly massive swing in the standings and the emotions of fans.

As of this morning, both Nashville and Edmonton have realistic playoff hopes if they can run the table and get some help from the hockey gods.

	Team	GP	PTS
1.	Detroit	77	108
2.	San Jose	76	100
3.	Minnesota*	78	91
4.	Anaheim	78	96
5.	Calgary	77	90
6.	Dallas	76	89
7.	Colorado	78	88
8.	Vancouver	77	86
9.	Nashville	77	84
10.	Edmonton	78	83