Earlier this month, the Calgary Flames announced that assistant coach Brad Larsen would be away from the club indefinitely due to a family matter. On Sunday afternoon, the club announced some changes in the coaching staffs for their NHL club and its American Hockey League affiliate to adjust for Larsen’s absence.
Calgary Wranglers head coach Trent Cull will be joining the Flames’ staff as an assistant coach on an interim basis. Wranglers’ assistant coach Joe Cirella will be the AHL club’s interim head coach. Flames player development staffer Martin Gelinas will be joining the Wranglers staff on an interim basis as an assistant coach.
Cull, 51, is in his second season as head coach of the Wranglers. Prior to joining the Wranglers, he spent part of the 2022-23 season as an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks. Before his jump to the NHL, he was head coach for five seasons in the AHL (one season with Abbotsford, four with Utica), an assistant for eight seasons in the AHL (all with Syracuse), head coach for three seasons in the OHL (Sudbury) and assistant coach for two seasons in the OHL (Guelph).
Simply put: he has a lot of coaching experience.
“They just reached out a few days ago and talked about it,” said Cull following Sunday’s Wranglers game. “And it’s really unfortunate because certainly in my heart, and I know a lot of people thinking about Brad Larson and his family, making sure that hopefully everything is okay with them. And then for me personally, if I can help those guys out in any way and maybe take a little bit of the load off, hopefully that’s the role I’ll fill.”
Based on his role as AHL bench boss, Cull has a lot of familiarity with several players on the Flames. Six players from the Flames lineup in Saturday’s game against Chicago spent time with him with the Wranglers over the past two seasons: Dustin Wolf, Matt Coronato, Walker Duehr, Jakob Pelletier, Martin Pospisil and Connor Zary.
Cirella, 61, has been with the Flames’ AHL affiliate since 2018-19, serving as the assistant coach primarily running the defencemen and penalty kill units. Prior to joining the Flames organization, he spent 15 seasons in assistant coaching roles in the OHL (with Oshawa, Peterborough and Soo) and spent the 1997-98 season as an assistant with the Florida Panthers. Cirella played parts of 15 seasons in the NHL.
Best known to Flames fans for his role as “The Eliminator” during the 2004 Stanley Cup playoffs, the 54-year-old Gelinas has been in the Flames organization in various roles since 2012-13, serving originally as an assistant coach and later in player development. Gelinas played parts of 19 seasons in the NHL and won a Stanley Cup with Edmonton in 1990.
The Flames return to action after the Christmas break on Dec. 28 in San Jose. The Wranglers return on Dec. 30 when they host the Abbotsford Canucks at the Saddledome.
