Hartley wherefor art thou?

[yave1964]

  I developed a VERY grudging admiration for Bob Hartley as a coach over the years, as a judge of young talent and an ability to develop it, he is as good as the game has seen in quite awhile. His first NHL gig was with the Avalanche when hatred ran white hot between his club and my Wings, I rooted against him passionately and despised everything about him and his club as the won the Cup in his third year. During his four full seasons as their coach they made the conference finals every single season.

 

This was an aging team that he took over for the odious Marc Crawford and he developed players such as Hejduk, Tanguay and Drury among others who went on to have long careers and all spoke glowingly of the way he handled them early.

 

  after moving on from Colorado he took the helm in Atlanta and led them to their first last and only division title before moving on, after winning in Cup in the Swiss league in a year of self imposed exile he took over the Flames in 2012-13 during the strike shortened season and watched as they sold off a ton of old vets.

 

  I will be honest, I thought the 2013-14 Flames would be not only bad but had the potential to be historically rotten, the pillars of their past, Iggie, Kipper, Bouwmeester among others were long gone, a roster that looked as if it were made up of Foreign Legion rejects. The unwanted and the inexperienced dotted the team. Instead of being awful they went 35-40-7, not good but certainly not among the worst ever. The following year they made the playoffs and actually won a series before bowing out.

 

  He took Sean Monahan and in essence told him, "I don't care if you are a teen, you have a brilliant future and you are going to take faceoffs against other teams top lines in all situations and learn the craft. If you screw up you will still be out there, just keep hustling and learning." He did the same on the back end with Giordano and Brodie playing them huge minutes and telling them that the lack of talent among the forwards would be supplemented by the skill among the kids on the back end. He did the same with Gaudreau a year later telling him to go wild and to drive other teams nuts with his energy and enthusiasm. The Flames were a pain in the rear to play against on a nightly basis.

 

  Last season Hartley suspended three Flames for a game, Monahan, Gaudreau and top checker Lance Bouma were ten minutes late to practice the day after the Superbowl and took their time dressing. Hartley stewed for a few minutes and then ordered all three off the ice and told them they would not play that night and would not play until they apologized to their teammates. How many coaches have the guts to do that with their rising stars? In the long run, it probably finished him in Calgary which is a damn shame because the thought of him teaching young players Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk is tantalizing.

 

  The Flames let Hartley go, brought in Glen Gulutzan who missed the playoffs in the last week of the season in is two years in Dallas. Gulutzan so far has gotten much less out of the young stars in Calgary than Hartley did. Monahan has 4 points and is minus 9 in 11 games, Gaudreau has 2 total goals, Giordano 1, Brodie has zero so far. Young kids Tkachuk and Bennett have been okay but nothing spectacular.

 

  My opinion is Hartley had the players hustling and busting tail when they feared him but after they became young veterans they started tuning him out, knowing they weren't going to be dealt, knowing they weren't going to be sent down. The Superbowl message he sent was the last bullet in his gun and he fired it, firing Hartley and bringing in Gulutzan who is supposed to be a players coach was a message that ownership/management took the players side against the coach, the wrong message for a young developing team.

  I wish Hartley well, I forgive him for his Avalanche besting my Wings a couple of playoff series while he was in Colorado even. He is an old school coach and I hope he gets another crack somewhere down the line. As for the current mix of Flames, they are now a very talented team of young veterans but I truly believe the inmates have taken over the asylum and they are unlikely to ever do much.

[hf101]

I'm not sure if Gulutzan is the right coach for  this club, but bringing back Hartley isn't either.  I think his ship has sailed.  Hartley motivates his players well, but not a great strategist and details guy. He struggled to adjust his system when it was no longer working because opposing teams had come up with an answer to it.

 

I think Gulutzan needs at least half a season to determine if his fate.  They still are having goalie issues which Elliot was supposed to relieve.  If the compete level stays strong I think Gulutzan finishes the season.

[SpikeDDS]

@yave1964

 

Thank you for highlighting this coach.

 

Maybe you knew this and maybe you didn't, but the great Scotty Bowman said after he retired that Ban Hartley was the best coach he ever coached against. I remember REALLY not liking that, because he coached for the Avs, but I never forgot it, and it made me watch him and ask myself why Scotty would say that about him.

 

I like Mike Babcock, and of course Joel Quenneville, but these two have had GREAT lineups, which still need a good coach's guidance, but don't need as much good coaching. Scotty, if I'm being fair, was the same way. He had good talent, and NO ONE coached better with good talent than Scotty Bowman. But Hartley has not had that since the Avs. And the problem is that other than the Sabres with Lindy Ruff all those years, no one seems to have patience with a coach that is developing young talent unless it EXPLODES like Crosby and company did. Building a franchise with young talent--especially non-generational talent like Crosby, McDavid, or Matthews--takes BOTH time AND good coaching. I don't think he was given a fair shake in Calgary. Sadly, his old-school style wasn't appreciated, but old school coaches are often the most successful, and for good reason.

 

Hockey is a sport where to be excellent, you must have DISCIPLINE, particularly in today's game. Pre-cap, you could amass talent and could for the most part manage the talent more than coach, and you would win. But with the cap, the difference is often discipline. Hartley has it, but a coach like him HAS TO have the confidence of the front office right behind him so players who don't exactly like HOW he does what he does know better than to dismiss what he says or it will be at their own peril. That's really the only way a guy like him can succeed in an endeavor like that.

 

Even Scotty will be forever remembered for knowing when to scratch Brendan Shanahan healthy when his game was off--<gasp> that's right, he scratched a Hall of Fame player at the peak of his career! And it worked every time; Shanny would play lights out for several games upon his return. The only difference is that Bowman was a coaching god, whereas Hartley is not seen that way. That's why he got dumped by Calgary. But now you can see the results of his discipline and development.

 

Honestly, he is my top pick for Blashill's replacement if things don't pan out for him in Detroit. Dave Lewis syndrome might, unfortunately, get the best of Blashill, but I'd LOVE to see Hartley behind the Red Wing bench, working with Larkin, AA and the other kids. And if he started next season, Z will probably still be around and Z understands that kind of discipline, so it could work. We've got a couple other veterans who would back him up too. History ALONE would do it. Lindsay coming into the locker room? etc.

 

I think Hartley may be one of the more underrated coaches in the game.

[OccamsRazor]

What a great play....