Sutter skates in 1,000th AHL game

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … Calgary Wranglers forward Brett Sutter is skating in his 1,000th regular-season American Hockey League game tonight as the Wranglers host the Ontario Reign at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alta.

Sutter is the eighth player in the league’s 87-year history to reach that milestone, joining Willie Marshall (1,205 career games), Fred Glover (1,201), Bryan Helmer (1,117), Harry Pidhirny (1,071), Mike Nykoluk (1,069), Jody Gage (1,038) and Rob Murray (1,018). The other seven players are all members of the AHL Hall of Fame.

A 35-year-old native of Viking, Alta., Sutter returned to Calgary this season, rejoining the organization that selected him in the 2005 NHL Draft. After four major junior seasons in the Western Hockey League, Sutter made his professional debut with the AHL’s Quad City Flames on Oct. 6, 2007. He has gone on to skate for Quad City (2007-09), the Abbotsford Heat (2009-10), the Charlotte Checkers (2010-14), the Iowa Wild (2014-16), the Ontario Reign (2016-22) and the Wranglers (2022- ), collecting 181 goals and 259 assists for 440 points entering tonight.

Sutter was the recipient of the AHL’s Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award in 2018-19 as the player who best exemplifies the qualities of sportsmanship, determination and dedication to hockey. He is a nine-time team captain in the AHL (including this season in Calgary), and was selected to captain the Western Conference team at the 2018 AHL All-Star Classic.

In addition to his AHL career, Sutter has played 60 games in the National Hockey League with Calgary, Carolina and Minnesota. He is one of three members of the Sutter family to play at least 1,000 professional games, joining his uncles Brent and Ron.