Calgary Wranglers coach Trent Cull has received a call-up of his own.
The Flames announced Sunday that Cull is joining the big-league bench staff on an interim basis. He will serve as one of Ryan Huska’s assistants.
The news comes as Brad Larsen remains on an indefinite leave of absence for family reasons. Cull, 51, will help to fill his role.
Also as part of this shuffle, Joe Cirella will assume duties as interim skipper for the Wranglers, while development coach Martin Gelinas will be lending a hand as one of his assistants.
“Our priority is to provide Brad and his family with continued support during this period when they need it most,” said Flames general manager Craig Conroy in a statement Sunday. “While Brad remains with his family, we have made these interim adjustments to our coaching staff to ensure our team and development program have the resources required to excel. Our organizational bench strength allows us to confidently make these moves without interruption to performance.”
Cull has spent the bulk of his career at the AHL level, although he was an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks for part of the 2022-23 campaign. The Wranglers dropped a 3-0 decision Sunday but still roll into the holiday break at 20-9-1 and are sitting in top spot in the Pacific Division standings.
Larsen, who was hired as an assistant coach in June, has been away from the Flames since Dec. 8. Cull will now join a staff that is helmed by Huska and also includes Dan Lambert, Cail MacLean, Jason LaBarbera and Jamie Pringle.
“Certainly my heart, and I know a lot of people are thinking about Brad Larsen and his family and making sure that hopefully everything is OK with them,” Cull told reporters at the Saddledome after Sunday’s loss to the Henderson Silver Knights. “And then for me personally, if I can help those guys out in any way and maybe take a little bit of a load off, hopefully that’s the role I’ll fill.”