Rory Kerins has taken over as the third captain in Wranglers history, and Calgary made the call right away with the new season just getting underway.
The announcement came at practice on Thursday, and Kerins was handed the job alongside alternate captains Sam Morton, Ben Jones, Dryden Hunt and Alex Gallant. Morton and Jones wore the As in the season opener, while Hunt and Gallant were part of the leadership group last season.
It’s a new look, but the Wranglers have a clear template for what this role is supposed to look like. Brett Sutter was the first captain in team history before retiring from playing three seasons ago after more than 1,000 AHL games and moving into coaching.
He spent 2024-25 as an assistant and interim head coach, then became the full-time head coach in 2025-26. This season is his second full year running the Wranglers bench.
After Sutter stepped away as a player, the captaincy moved to Clark Bishop, his regular linemate. Calgary waited about a month before naming Bishop captain, and there was some thought the club might take the same route again this year. Bishop wore the C for two seasons before signing with the Syracuse Crunch over the summer after spending more than half of his pro career in Calgary.
Kerins fits the kind of story that tends to carry real weight in a room. He started out in the ECHL, earned his way into a regular AHL role, climbed to All-Star AHL status and has also spent time with the Flames. Along the way, he’s built the kind of reputation teammates notice.
Sutter was among those teammates before he became Kerins’ coach, and he had plenty to say about the new captain’s rise.
“Rory’s worked really hard for us these last few years. He’s continued to grow as a leader.
He’s continued to get better as a player and I think that’s kind of what you want to epitomize as a Captain. Someone that’s always trying to be better, whether that be on the ice or off it.
And I think he’s going to be a great Captain for us.”
Sutter also pointed to the day-to-day habits that made Kerins the right choice.
“He’s one of those guys that just continues to work. Continues to do the right things.
Whether it’s off season, whether it’s a practice, whether that’s games. He’s just someone that’s all about doing team first and that’s the kind of guy we want to drive this team.
We wanted that kind of middle age group to take a step in our leadership this year and we thought he’d be a great guy along with Sam Morton to kind of head that up for us.”
Kerins didn’t have much time to sit with the news before getting back into game mode, and he admitted the moment hit him hard. Looking ahead to his first game as captain, he said:
“Honestly, that was probably the most nervous I’ve been for a game in a while. Obviously, I hold myself to a high standard. I didn’t think I was great tonight but we got the win and there’s hockey tomorrow for me so I’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”
When his name was announced with the leadership group, he called it:
“It was one of the most proudest moments of my career. I’d say.”
He added:
“It’s an honour to lead these guys and I’ve been here for a while and you know, I love playing for this team. I’m gonna do my best to be a leader and just have a good year.”
The Wranglers will keep rotating the letters among the other four players through the season, just as they have in past years. This is the first season they haven’t named a defenceman as an alternate captain, though Jake Livingstone could still fill that kind of role if injuries or call-ups create the need. Livingstone wore an A in their first exhibition game this year.
For now, Calgary sits at 1-0-0, and Kerins has the season ahead of him as the face of a new leadership group.
In Other News...
Flames Loss In Vancouver Exposed A Familiar Problem Again
The Flames left Vancouver with another reminder of how thin the margin can be in a tight, physical game. The Canucks did not exactly light up the scoreboard, but they did enough in a patchy contest to keep Calgary chasing, with Vancouvers calm work in goal helping stabilize a game that never found much flow.
For Calgary, the frustration came from a familiar place: a game that was there to be grabbed, then slipped away as the tone turned heavier and the details got messier. Vancouver brought the kind of edge that can tilt a night like this, while the Canucks still had to survive through a power play that never really found its rhythm. [Read more 🡒]
Flames Send An Early Message With Lineup Changes After Ugly Opener
After a 6-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken to open the season, the Calgary Flames wasted little time making a point about accountability. On the road against the Vancouver Canucks, the club went with two lineup changes and handed season debuts to Brennan Othmann and Joel Hanley as part of an early response to a rough start.
Ryan Huska said the adjustment came down to puck management, a clear sign the staff is looking for cleaner decisions after the opener went sideways. The shuffle gives Calgary a chance to reset quickly, and it also sends an early message that the margins for error are going to be thin as the Flames try to get back on track. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks Suddenly Have A Goalie Decision They Did Not Expect
Leevi Merilinen has given Vancouver something it did not necessarily expect this early in the season: a goalie who has looked poised in limited action. Claimed off waivers from the Ottawa Senators, the 23-year-old has stepped into two games and handled the assignment with a 1.32 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage, numbers that suggest the Canucks may have found more than just a stopgap while Thatcher Demko was out.
The bigger question now is what happens when Demko is ready to return. Vancouver will have to sort through its goalie picture at a time when Merilinen has made a strong early case to stay in the mix, and that kind of unexpected depth can quickly turn into a roster puzzle. For a team that had been watching him since the summer, the timing has only made the conversation more complicated. [Read more 🡒]