In one of those “never to happen again” events, the Sutter family from Viking, Alberta put six of their sons into the National Hockey League. A little Sutter hockey trivia: All six were drafted out of the Lethbridge Broncos of the WHL. All played for either the St. Louis Blues or Chicago Blackhawks during their NHL careers. Four of the six were first round picks. Recently, the Staal’s have come close but have run out of bodies. Check out the rookie cards of these six Sutter brothers that not only played a few games in the Big Show but thrived.
Brian Sutter was the first. The St. Louis Blues took him in the second round of the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft. He played his entire career with the Blues, retiring after the 1987-88 season. For his final nine years in St. Louis Brian was the team captain. The Brian Sutter rookie card appears as number 319 in the 1978-79 O-Pee-Chee set and is valued at $8.00.
Darryl Sutter was a lowly eleventh round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks at the 1978 draft. He played his first games with the NHL club in 1979-80 and captained the team for his final five seasons. He played his entire NHL career with Chicago from 1979-80 to 1986-87. Perhaps better known for his head coacing ability, he has been the bench boss of the Blackhawks, San Jose Sharks, Calgary Flames and, now, the Los Angeles Kings. The Darryl Sutter rookie card is number 65 from the 1981-82 O-Pee-Chee set and is value at $1.50.
Duane Sutter was the seventeenth overall pick of the New York Islanders at the 1979 NHL Entry Draft. He played in the NHL from 1979-80 to 1989-90 with the Islanders and Blackhawks. He was part of the Islanders Stanley Cup dynasty of the early 1980’s. The Duane Sutter rookie card is number 211 in the 1981-82 O-Pee-Chee set and is worth $1.00.
Like brother Duane, Brent Sutter was also a seventeenth overall pick of the New York Islanders, but the following year, 1980. Brent spent from 1981-82 to 1997-98 in the NHL with the Islanders and Blackhawks. He captained New York for parts of five seasons from 1987-88 to 1991-92.
He played four times for Canada on the world stage and has coached the World Junior squad twice. 2011-12 was his third year as head coach of the Calgary Flames. The Brent Sutter rookie card is number 216 in the 1982-83 O-Pee-Chee set and is the second highest valued Sutter RC at $3.00.
Rich Sutter was a tenth overall pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1982 but played just nine games with the club. Rich played 874 regular season games in the NHL between 1982-83 and 1994-95 with the Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues, Chicago Blackhawks, Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Rich Sutter rookie card is number 169 in the 1984-85 O-Pee-Chee set and is valued as a common card ($.20).
Rich’s twin brother Ron Sutter was also taken in the first round of the 1982 NHL Entry Draft. The Philadelphia Flyers took him fourth overall. For two years, 1989-90 and 1990-91, he was the Flyers team captain. Ron played nearly 1,100 regular season games in the NHL over a career that spanned from 1982-83 to 2000-01. Along with the Flyers, Ron also played for the St. Louis Blues, Quebec Nordiques, New York Islanders, Boston Bruins, San Jose Sharks and Calgary Flames. The Ron Sutter rookie card is number 170 in the 1984-85 O-Pee-Chee set and is valued at $.75.