A similar scene has played out plenty of times in the Calgary Flames’ locker-room — whenever somebody is summoned from the farm team, the other recent AHL grads will rush to offer congratulatory fist-bumps and welcome-to-the-big-leagues well-wishes.
What’s different in this latest case is the call-up is a coach.
The Flames announced just before the holidays that Calgary Wranglers bench boss Trent Cull is joining Ryan Huska’s staff on an interim basis. The 51-year-old Cull will fill the skates/shoes of assistant coach Brad Larsen, who has been granted an indefinite leave of absence for family reasons.
“The first guys that were giving him knuckles this morning were all the guys that he’s had over the last year-and-a-half down with the Wranglers,” Huska said before the Flames departed on a two-games-in-two-nights trip to San Jose and Las Vegas. “He’s worked very hard to get where he’s at. He’s done an excellent job with that team. And I think he is the best choice for us to bring up in this situation.”
Cull has posted an impressive 55-37-10 record as head coach for the Wranglers, but a better measure of his impact in the organization is the number of guys who were anxious to greet him prior to Friday’s practice at the Saddledome.
He helped to prepare Matt Coronato, Martin Pospisil, Dustin Wolf and Connor Zary to prove they were ready to be full-timers with the Flames.
He worked this fall with Walker Duehr and Jakob Pelletier, who each needed to rediscover their games — and their confidence — in the minors so they could earn another look at the top level.
There is a direct connection between Cull and nearly one-third of the lads on the active roster.
“I’ve always said that I’m like a proud papa when I’m sitting at home watching the games on TV,” Cull told Postmedia. “I’m just a fan like everybody else and rooting for the Flames and rooting for the boys that I’ve had in my locker-room even more maybe, just because I know them and have so much invested in them.”
For the foreseeable future, this proud papa will be watching from an even better vantage point — the Flames’ bench.
According to Huska, the interim assistant will be asked to lend a hand with both the forwards and defence. The plan is that he will soon be handed the keys to the penalty-kill.
Cull expressed optimism the transition should be smooth because of the way Huska treats the farm-club skippers during training camp, including them in all the on-ice sessions and the team meetings, “So most of these guys have seen my pretty face around here before.”
“(Larsen) was a presence for us in the room. He has some swagger, and he’s been a head coach prior, and you could see that in him,” said Huska, whose staff had been shorthanded for the two weeks before the festive break. “I feel, with my time around Trent, he has that as well. I do think that’s important for someone to walk in the dressing room and have a presence about him. And from his time with the Wranglers, from his time in the American League, from his short time in Vancouver, he’s shown that.
“I’m excited to have him around. I know he’s going to be a real strong addition to our staff.”
Ah yes, that short time in Vancouver.
Cull got a raw deal in his only previous stint as an assistant coach in the NHL.
During the 2022-23 campaign, he lasted 46 games on the Canucks’ bench before he was dismissed alongside his boss, Bruce Boudreau. There had been rampant speculation that Rick Tocchet would replace Boudreau, leaving Cull to wonder about his own future. About six months after being canned by the Canucks, he landed the gig with the Wranglers.
Asked about the significance of getting another shot on the biggest stage, even if it’s just on an interim basis, Cull told Postmedia: “It has not been my focus, maybe because of that experience (in Vancouver).”
“I’m very appreciative,” said Cull, who played a decade in the minors and has coached for the past 20 years in the OHL, AHL and NHL. “But for me, it’s just about whatever I can do to help. That’s how it’s put. For me, it’s not a promotion or this or that, because of the circumstances. It’s just how can I come in and fill in and maybe take some of the load off Husk or some of the staff, because they’re down a guy.
“I’m not worried about the outcome, I guess probably because of what happened to me. I really enjoy coaching in the American Hockey League. I love it. Love being a head coach, too. So I’m just kind of taking this all by stride and see where it goes.”
Even if he wasn’t motivated by the possibility of scoring a call-up of his own, the rest of the Wranglers grads were thrilled to welcome Cull to the big club.
“I think he just brings a great sense of enthusiasm,” said Flames fourth-line centre Kevin Rooney, who briefly toiled with the Wranglers last season as he returned to action after shoulder surgery. “He has a real positive demeanour but he also knows when it’s kind of crunch time and he can push the guys. Now, as an assistant coach, I think he’ll bring a lot of knowledge and just be another voice we can kind of lean on. Because with the absence of Lars, you don’t always want to go to the head coach with every question you have. I think Culler can kind of fill those shoes.
“He’s obviously done a really good job with the young guys in the organization, so we’re looking forward to having him up here.”