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Hard-nosed coach Daryl Sutter dismissed Johnny Gaudreau's achievement of reaching 100 points in the NHL regular season, saying it won't matter if the player and the Calgary Flames don't translate their success into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Flames, 15/2 to win the Stanley Cup, had a six-game winning streak snapped on Thursday by the Vegas Golden Knights but maintain a healthy lead of the Pacific Division with a 45-20-6 record and 101 points.
Gaudreau reached and then surpassed 100 points for the first time in his career on Tuesday with two assists in a 5-3 win over the Seattle Kraken.
Saying afterwards he didn’t care about the individual achievement, Sutter’s comments appeared tough on the star player, however, Gaudreau clearly knows it came from a caring place.
In a recent interview, the dynamic winger spoke positively about Sutter, saying he performs best under coaches who demand a lot from him - the same way he was brought up by his Dad, who he believes shares a lot in common with Sutter.
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Gaudreau has 34 goals, 67 assists for 101 points which ranks fourth in the NHL.
He is the third-fastest player in Calgary history to hit the mark in a season, behind Kent Nilsson (64 games played) and Bob MacMillan (68 games played with the Atlanta Flames).
Sutter is in a second spell as coach of the Flames after taking over from Geoff Ward in March of last season.
In his first reign (2002-2010), Sutter led Calgary to the Stanley Cup Final in 2003/04, where they were beaten in seven games by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Sutter said to the media about Gaudreau's achievement: "I don't care. Does that win a Stanley Cup? I'd rather have the guys that win the scoring race in the play-offs."
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