1991-92 St. Louis Blues Rich Sutter jersey

Today, we conclude our profiles of the six Sutter brothers to have played in the NHL.

Rich Sutter also kept with the Sutter family tradition of playing junior hockey for both Red Deer and Lethbridge, as did all of his brothers before him.

Drafted 10th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins, Rich became the sixth and final Sutter brother to play in the NHL when he made his NHL on January 1, 1983. Rich would never become a regular with Pittsburgh, playing just 4 games in 1982-83 and 5 more in 1983-84. An early season trade in 1983 would unite Rich with his brother Ron in Philadelphia, necessitating full names on the backs of their jerseys due to their common first initial.

The Sutter brothers at home on the family farm posing in their NHL jerseys - note Rich in his Penguins jersey from early in his career, with whom he would only play nine games

Rich would then be traded to the Vancouver Canucks, where he would play for four seasons prior to being traded to the St. Louis Blues in March of 1990. He would be reunited with twin brother Ron upon his arrival in St. Louis, which would last until he was claimed by Chicago in the 1993 Waiver Draft where brother Brent was waiting for him!

Rich and Ron Sutter reunited in St. Louis

Early the following season, Chicago would trade Rich to the Tampa Bay Lightning in February, but his stay would be short, as after just four games he would be sold to the Toronto Maple Leafs three weeks later, where he would finish out his career with a final 18 regular season games and four playoff games.

His final career totals were 874 games, 149 goal and 315 points.

Rich Sutter

When Ron played his final game for the Calgary Flames on March 31, 2001, it ended a streak of 24 years, 3 months and 27 days of the Sutter family having at least one player active in the NHL, dating back to Brian's debut in December of 1976, The streak included five seasons, from 1982-82 to 1986-87, with all six brothers active in the league at the same time.

The Sutter family display at the Hockey Hall of Fame

Today's featured jersey is a 1991-92 St. Louis Blues Rich Sutter jersey. Coming full circle back to St. Louis where we began with Brian Sutter's featured jersey. Once again twins Ron and Rich were teamed together, which made the rare use of full names on the back necessary once again.

In addition to Rich and Ron playing together at teammates twice, Duane and Brent were Islanders together and Brent and Rich spent a season playing for Chicago.

Darryl, Duane, Brent and Rich all saw tours of duty for the Blackhawks at various times, but with only Brent and Rich there at the same time.

This jersey is evolved from the Brian Sutter jersey shown earlier this week, as the "Blues" word mark is removed from the front for the 1987-88 season and sharp-eyed viewers will notice the sharp edges of the logo have now been rounded off.

photo courtesy of Classic Auctions

Today is the final installment of the four part documentary of the hockey playing Sutter brothers.

1985-86 Philadelphia Flyers Ron Sutter Jersey

Today, we continue our look at the six Sutter brothers to have played in the NHL.

The Sutter Brothers

The next Sutter to arrive on the scene was Ron Sutter, the fifth of the brothers, who made his NHL debut on November 28, 1982, Ron was the highest drafted of all the Sutter brothers at 4th overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1982.

He added to the family legacy when he was named captain of the Flyers in December of 1989 through the end of the 1990-91 season, the third of the Sutters to wear the "C" along with Brian and Darryl.

Ron would play eight seasons with the Flyers, followed by two and a half with the Blues, a half season with the Quebec Nordiques, a half season with the Islanders and a stop in Boston with the Bruins,

He would then find a home with the San Jose Sharks for four seasons before closing out his career with the Flames in 2000-01. In all, Ron would play 1,093 games with 205 goals and 533 points.

Ron Sutter

Today's featured jersey is a 1985-86 Philadelphia Flyers Ron Sutter jersey. This style of Flyers jersey arrived during Ron's first season in Philadelphia and remained in use during his entire stay in Philadelphia and beyond, lasting until the change to the new Reebok Edge jerseys in 2007 and would likely still be in use today if not for the change in manufacturer.

This jersey is a prime example of the use of Ron Sutter's full name on the back (FNOB for all you fans of Uni Watch), made necessary when twin brother Rich arrived in in Philadelphia where they played together from 1983 to 1986.

To begin today's video segment, this announcer really earns his pay. Listen and see if you can follow along!

Next, the third of the four part series on the Sutter brothers.

1981-82 New York Islanders Brent Sutter Jersey

Today we continue our look at the six Sutter brothers to have played in the NHL.

While some of the Sutter brothers were still active as players, others had moved into management

Brent Sutter, was drafted by the New York Islanders in 1980 and, while he spent the vast majority of his season with the Lethbridge of the WHL, became the fourth Sutter brother to play in the NHL when he made his debut on February 25, 1981 when he joined brother Duane in the Islanders lineup, the first time two of the Sutters were teammates in the NHL.

Duane and Brent played together for the Islanders from 1980-81 to 1986-87 - note the one color name on Duane's jersey while Brent's was two colors!

He split the following regular season between the Broncos and the Islanders, but by the time the playoffs rolled around, junior hockey was in his rearview mirror and Brent was part of the Islanders third consecutive Stanley Cup championship, a feat he and the Islanders repeated in 1983, which saw Brent score 21 points in 20 games.

Brent with one of two Stanley Cups he would win with the Islanders

Brent would go on to play 12 seasons with New York before a trade early in the 1991-92 season sent him to the Chicago Blackhawks where he would play seven additional seasons.

His finest season was by far in 1984-85 when he scored 42 goals and 102 points, a shocker since his next highest season totaled just 68 points!

His career would finish with 1,111 games played, 363 goals and 829 points to lead all the Sutter brothers in games, goals, assists and points.

Joining Brian, Duane and Darryl, Brent would be the fourth of the Sutter brothers to become a head coach. He began his coaching career after he purchased the Red Deer Rebels, the junior club each of the Sutters had played for on their way to the NHL. He was not only the Rebels head coach, but their General Manager as well.

During his second season behind the bench in 2000-01, Brent guided the Rebels to the Memorial Cup championship. After seven seasons, which also included coaching Canada to gold medals at the World Junior Championship in both 2005 and 2006, Brent joined his siblings as a head coach in the NHL when he took over behind the bench of the New Jersey Devils for two seasons before leaving to become head coach of the Calgary Flames, where he worked under his General Manger brother Darryl for half of his three seasons with the Flames.

Brent Sutter

Today's featured jersey is a 1981-82 New York Islanders Brent Sutter jersey as worn during his rookie season in which he won the first of two Stanley Cups in his career. Notice the inconsistency in the fonts between his #21 jersey with serifs on both digits when compared to Duane's #12 jersey from the same season as we featured here.

While in this case both jerseys have two color names, Brent's name lacks the period after his first initial, while Duane's has a period. This is the kind of detail differences which both confuse and perplex collectors of game worn jerseys, while also being quite helpful in dating and photo matching jerseys at the same time.

photo courtesy of Classic Auctions

Today is the second installment of the four part documentary on the Sutter brothers.

1979-80 Chicago Blackhawks Darryl Sutter Jersey

Today we continue our look at the six Sutter brothers to have played in the NHL.

The Sutter brothers on the family farm with the Stanley Cup, with the three cup winners Duane, Brent and Darryl above

Darryl Sutter would make it three Sutters in the NHL with his debut two weeks after Duane, when he overcame his 11th round, 179th overall selection by the Black Hawks in the 1978 draft. Darryl would spend his entire career with Chicago, playing eight seasons in all, including being named the team captain in 1982 through the end of his career in 1987.

Darryl would complete his career with 406 games played, 161 goals and 279 points.

Darryl Sutter

He too, would go into coaching, returning to Chicago for the 1992-93 season. He would also coach the San Jose Sharks six seasons after three in Chicago, three more with the Calgary Flames, including a trip to the finals in 2004, and, after five years away from begin a head coach while serving as the Flames General Manager, he took over halfway through the 2011-12 season for the Los Angeles Kings, which ended with Darryl guiding the Kings to the Stanley Cup.

Coach Sutter lifts the Stanley Cup

Today's featured jersey is a 1979-80 Chicago Blackhawks Darryl Sutter jersey as worn during the early portion of his career prior to being named captain of the Blackhawks in 1982. This now iconic style was first introduced in 1955 and remains essentially unchanged since, often finishing on top of "Best Jersey" lists.

photo courtesy of Classic Auctions

Today we begin the four part series, "The Boys Who Loved Hockey" about the Sutter brothers.

1981-82 New York Islanders Duane Sutter Jersey

Today we continue our look at the six Sutter brothers to have played in the NHL.

The Sutter brothers

With the path to the NHL now having been established by brother Brian, Duane Sutter also travelled from Red Deer to Lethbridge on his way to the NHL following his selection by New York Islanders 17th overall in the 1979 NHL Draft.

Sutter's arrival on Long Island on November 30th, 1979 corresponded to the rise of the Islanders dynasty, as they would win the Stanley Cup in each of Duane's first four seasons, highlighted by his 21 points in 20 playoff games in 1983.

Duane hoisting one of his four Stanley Cups

After eight seasons with the Islanders, Duane was dealt to the Chicago Blackhawks, where he would play three more seasons to close out a career which totaled 731 games, 139 goals and 342 points.

Following his playing career, Duane would also become a head coach for a time following in the footsteps of his brother Brian once again, spending parts of two seasons behind the bench of the Florida Panthers.

Duane Sutter

Today's featured jersey is a 1981-82 New York Islanders Duane Sutter jersey as worn after brother Brent joined the Islanders, necessitating the use of his first initial "D" on the back. The Islanders would go on to win their third of four straight Stanley Cups this season.

This style was first worn in 1978-79 when the orange stripe moved to the bottom of the jersey and the sleeves gained white stripes to go with the orange ones, making the arms and waist now match. This style was worn through the Islanders dynasty and beyond until being replaced by the unloved Fisherman style.

photo courtesy of Classic Auctions

Today's video segment is Duane flattening Dave Hannan of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Next, Duane doesn't take grief from anyone, fans included!

Finally, Duane and the Islanders win their fourth consecutive Stanley Cup in 1983.

1984-85 St. Louis Blues Brian Sutter Jersey

There have been several instances of brothers playing in the NHL, such as Bobby and Dennis Hull, Maurice and Henri Richard and Phil and Tony Esposito, but even the largest families top out at three brothers, such as Peter, Anton and Marian Stastny or Aaron, Neal and Paul Broten, but 30 years ago on this date in 1983, Rich Sutter became the sixth of the Sutter brothers from Viking, Alberta to play in the NHL.

The Sutter family, father Joh, mother Grace and brother Gary (in the cap), who stayed at home on the farm rather than pursue a hockey career, although it's been said by the others he was the best hockey player in the group

The story of the Sutter brothers in the NHL began with Brian Sutter, drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the 1976 NHL Draft after playing for the Red Deer Rustlers of the Alberta Junior Hockey League before moving on to the Lethbridge Broncos of the WHL. He would split his time between the Kansas City Blues of the CHL as well as making his debut with St. Louis on December 4, 1976, ushering in an era of the Sutter family in the NHL.

Brian would spend his entire career with the Blues, playing 779 games over 12 seasons with a high of 46 goals in 1982-83 and 83 points the following season. Entering his fourth season, Brian was named captain of the Blues, a position he would hold for nine seasons until his retirement due to a nagging back injury. The Blues would raise his #11 to the rafters on December 30, 1988 in recognition of his contributions to the franchise, which continued as he took over as the Blues head coach for the season following his retirement!

Brian Sutter

Today's featured jersey is a 1984-85 St. Louis Blues Brian Sutter jersey. This style of jersey was first used during Brian's 9th season with the Blues and was only used for one season. It featured the addition of the world "Blues" across the chest and a darker shade of blue than previously used.

The following season the waist stripe would move up off the bottom of the jersey to now have a white stripe below it as well as the addition of red trim on the striping along with a simplified font for the numbers and a change to one color block lettering for the names on the back. 

Today's video section begins with Brian exchanging blows with Randy Carlyle.

Next, Brian KO's Paul Baxter with one punch, earning himself a trip to the penalty box.

Finally, an overview of the hockey playing brothers from 1994.