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Perhaps, Ryan Huska had already watched footage of the post-game presser.

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Or he just knows his boss really, really well.

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This has been a historic stretch for Calgary Flames skipper Darryl Sutter, who joined an exclusive club of coaches when he registered his 700th career regular-season victory and also climbed into the Top-10 on the NHL’s all-time wins list.

“I would guess that Darryl would probably tell you those 700 were because he coached good teams, good players and good organizations,” said Huska, an assistant on Sutter’s staff at the Saddledome. “And that it had nothing to do with him.”

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Close.

Except Sutter didn’t say quite that much.

“It means a lot,” he offered after a season-opening success story against the Colorado Avalanche. “It means I’ve coached four good teams.”

Of course, the guy who calls the shots and pushes the buttons deserves more than a little credit.

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“I think they go hand-in-hand with each other,” Huska nodded. “There’s a standard that he holds his teams and organizations accountable to, and that’s one of the big reasons I think his teams are always hard to play against and that gives him all those chances to win those 700 games along the way.”

Sutter is only the 11th coach in NHL history to clear that particular bar. There are Hockey Hall-of-Famers in his rearview mirror, have been for a while.

He made it 701 by coming out on the smiling side of a 4-3 result in Saturday’s Battle of Alberta. In doing so, he bumped Mike Babcock down a peg on the all-time wins counter.

“It’s pretty incredible when you think about it,” said Paul Baxter, Sutter’s assistant coach on two previous stops, of this latest milestone. “To have grown with the game and not relinquish any of the character aspects that he excels at, I think that’s pretty special.

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“He’s not a pretender. That’s one of the reasons why his teams are contenders, because Darryl has never been a pretender and he’s a fantastic leader. I think you see that a lot with his teams — they play for real.”

The Flames, hardly known for storming out of the gates during the pleased-to-meet-ya stages of a new campaign, are off to a 2-0 start for the first time since way back in 2009.

Sutter, it goes without saying, isn’t about to take his foot off the gas.

The Jolly Rancher is notorious for his demanding style, his attention to detail. While others will sometimes sugar-coat, especially for public consumption, he rarely spares even a granule.

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As Baxter, who coached against Sutter in the International Hockey League and then was by his side for a total of six seasons in Chicago and San Jose, put it: “Darryl doesn’t talk a lot, but he says a lot.”

That’s what workhorse defenceman Rasmus Andersson was getting at this past week when he told reporters: “The thing with Darryl is he’s honest with you. If you can’t handle the truth, it sucks for you.”

When the Flames talked Sutter off the farm in March 2021, some wondered if the game had passed him by, if his hard-driving approach was too dated.

He has certainly proven otherwise. At 64, he just signed a multi-year extension. By the time that deal is done, he should have 800-and-some wins on his resume. The ultimate goal, of course, is his third Stanley Cup ring.

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“People always say, ‘Oh, Darryl is old-school,’ ” said Flames associate coach Kirk Muller. “Yeah, he’s old-school in terms of principle on certain things, but he’s open-minded on the game. There are certain things that don’t change. He doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel. But he is also open-minded to say, ‘OK, there are some new things that you have to incorporate into the team,’ and I think he has that ability to say, ‘OK, here is the group of guys that we have. We need to make some adjustments in order for us to be successful.’ I think that’s one thing that not enough people realize. Yeah, he’s old-school, but he’s also not stubborn. If you have an idea, as a staff guy, he’ll say, ‘Present it and if there’s merit to it, I’ll take it.’

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“And if you watch us practise, it’s always high-tempo, short practices. That’s not old-school. Everything he does is geared towards saving energy for the players. We’re not out there for 45 minutes-plus, ever. So he understands today’s players with old-school foundations. I think that’s a strength.”

One of many strengths.

“The way he sees the game live, it’s almost like he has the ability to watch it in slow-motion,” Huska marvelled. “In that regard, he’s at a different level than anybody I’ve been around. He just has that ability to see where everybody is and what’s going on — and that’s without having to go look at video. He knows what’s happening, so he can make adjustments and changes on the fly.”

“Behind the bench, I’ve never seen anybody who is able to grasp every little item that is going on,” echoed Baxter, a familiar name for fans in Calgary thanks to two stints at the Saddledome — first as a player, later as an assistant coach. “Whether it’s on the bench or on the ice, he has a complete mastery of identifying what is happening and what is needed.”

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The Flames will try to extend their start-of-season winning spree in Tuesday’s tango with the Vegas Golden Knights (7 p.m., Sportsnet West/Sportsnet 960 The Fan).

Sutter will be shooting for No. 702.

“He always says, ‘Life is more important than hockey,’ ” Muller stressed. “I think that’s how they grew up as a family on the farm. And I think every player who plays for him … He pushes them hard and all that, but at the end of the day, he could be their first phone call, for any reason. I think that speaks volumes.”

THE 700 CLUB

The NHL’s all-time wins leaders among head coaches …

Scotty Bowman, 1,244
Joel Quenneville, 969
Barry Trotz, 914
Ken Hitchcock, 849
Lindy Ruff, 782
Al Arbour, 782
Paul Maurice, 777
Alain Vigneault, 722
Peter Laviolette, 718
Darryl Sutter, 701
Mike Babcock, 700

* Prior to Sunday’s action around the NHL

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