Huberdeau Says Agent’s Opinion Doesn’t Reflect His Own On Flames, Sutter

It wasn’t the first time Jonathan Huberdeau’s relationship with Calgary Flames head coach has been questioned. 

It probably won’t be the last, either. 

But the source, this time, was impossible to ignore. When an NHL agent pipes up on social media for all to see, people take notice. The words take on a life of themselves. And it was a juicy set of characters from Allan Walsh — arguably the most outspoken agent in the business. 

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. Also, negativity sucks the joy right out of players. cc: @NHLFlames

— Allan Walsh (@walsha) February 17, 2023

“You guys all know Allan … ” Huberdeau told reporters on Friday, less than 24 hours after a loss to the Detroit Red Wings trigged Walsh’s itchy Twitter fingers. 

“When I woke up this morning, I had a lot of notifications. That doesn’t come from me. Yeah, it’s my agent. But it’s from him. It’s his account. He made that tweet. That doesn’t reflect on me or on the guys.”

To a man, the Calgary Flames players said they were a close group that enjoys playing together. 

It doesn’t mean there’s no truth to the tweet, but it certainly didn’t do Walsh’s client or his teammates any favours to let that one fly. 

Questions had to be asked. Huberdeau wished he didn’t have to answer them, but he answered them as well as anyone could. 

The guy is charming and intelligent enough to run for office. 

“Darryl is Darryl,” Huberdeau said. “Sometimes, you won’t like what the coach does. Some nights, you do like it. You’re never 100 per cent happy with the coaches, with decisions, stuff like that. 

“But me and Darryl have a great connection, a great friendship. He’s good. He wants to win, just like us.”

Winning is the one thing no one is talking about with all the speculation and negativity surrounding the franchise that a year ago was one of the most surprising positive stories that ultimately earned Sutter the Jack Adams Award. 

If the Flames were doing more of that, this tweet never gets typed. Regardless of the point struggles Huberdeau is experiencing.