Brett Sutter Shines in 1,000th AHL Game

Calgary Wranglers captain Brett Sutter hit an incredible milestone of 1,000 games played in the AHL on Wednesday night. It was a reason to bring some extended family into town — just in time for Christmas — and to reflect on his career against his former team, the Ontario Reign. Sutter is just the eighth player in AHL history to hit this incredible milestone. He celebrated his 1,000th with a huge 5-2 win and the game-winning goal.

Sutter came back to where it all began in Calgary, Alberta. The Viking, Alberta native was fortunate enough to be drafted by a team in his home province in the 2005 NHL entry draft. He was selected 179th overall in the sixth round by the Calgary Flames. 

Sutter played 18 games with Calgary over the years and actually scored in his NHL debut with the Flames in the 2008-09 season. Since then, he has racked up 60 NHL games over seven seasons. 

His AHL career was split by a few squads. First, the Quad City Flames for two seasons, then the Abbotsford Heat for a season (as a teammate to current Flames center Mikael Backlund), then the Charlotte Checkers for four seasons, then the Iowa Wild for two seasons before he went on to play the bulk of his AHL career for the Ontario Reign for seven seasons (five of which, he was the captain of the team).

This was the road that led Sutter to the Wranglers. He was picked up in the summer by the Flames where he could join the organization his father Darryl coaches in and make history in a different way as the first-ever Calgary Wranglers captain. 

He was honored in arguably the best way ever with a nice salute to his previous team. The schedule lined up that Sutter hit 1,000 games the exact same night the Ontario Reign was in town. It probably wasn’t too hard of a loss for the Reign. Yes, they blew their lead, but they also got to honor their former captain in their own way. At the end of the game. there was a line of Sutter’s former teammates taking turns to catch up and congratulate him.

Sutter’s 1,000th game ended with him earning a goal and an assist, the first star of the night, and three shots on goal. His stat line sits at a total of six goals and 12 assists through 26 games, quite a pace to be on being a 35-year-old veteran in the league. His peers, family, and former coaches have had nothing but nice things to say about Brett as a person and a professional hockey player. 

He’s still got game left in him and will undoubtedly make the AHL history books and Hall of Fame when his career comes to an end (hopefully, not anytime soon).