Hopefully this guy can run a PP and utilize our players to their strengths. Hopefully he can teach some of our dmen to hit the net as well
He is really good with up-and-coming forwards, ones who play on the powerplay as well. See Kovalchuk, Heatley ect.
I think Bartschi will do well with him. I imagine the Offensive side of our D will improve, but I am concerned about his ability to get the most Defensively out of what is at best an average D-core like Sutter did.
He is really good with up-and-coming forwards, ones who play on the powerplay as well. See Kovalchuk, Heatley ect.
I think Bartschi will do well with him. I imagine the Offensive side of our D will improve, but I am concerned about his ability to get the most Defensively out of what is at best an average D-core like Sutter did.
Hopefully Feaster has some moves up his sleeve to improve our backend. IMO, it is our biggest problem right now. The 2nd biggest problem I see is the size of our roster.
Obviously the #1 centre has always been in the spotlight. But I find it very unlikely that we will improve that through any means other then the draft.
Only have until the offseason to see what kind of affect he might have on Feaster, as well as waiting until next season to what kind of Flames team shows up.
Hartley seems more of a "win now" choice than a choice you would make if you were looking to rebuild. So, I'm guessing Iggy/Kipper are staying, not that I thought they were going anywhere anyway.
I don't really have the hockey smarts to weigh the pros and cons of head coaches but this shouldn't be a disaster. After all he has taken a team to the Stanley Cup so he should be qualified for the job. Yeah it was years ago and yeah it was a more stacked team but still. Winning is winning. Really all I'm asking is a consistent Calgary Flames next season.
Hartley seems more of a "win now" choice than a choice you would make if you were looking to rebuild. So, I'm guessing Iggy/Kipper are staying, not that I thought they were going anywhere anyway.
the goal of a coach should always be to win now.
if you ignore the 6 games he coached in Atlanta in 07/08 (which hardly counts as a season), Hartley has had 1 losing season in his entire coaching career. The Thrashers are the only team he ever coached that not only missed the playoffs but didn;t make it beyond the 1st round of the playoffs. His coaching record is phenomenal. Hell any coach with an overall record of 137-118-8-23 with the lowly Thrashers deserves more respect than Flames fans seem to give him.
Also look at some of the rookies he has coached in his career:
Hejduk - 14g/48pt
Chris Drury - 20g/44pt
Alex Tanguay - 17g/51pt
Martin Skoula - 3g/16pt
Marc Denis - 9-8-4, 2.54gaa, .917sv%
Radim Vrbata - 18g/30pt
David Aebischer - 12-7-3, 2.24gaa, .903sv%
then in Atlanta he was around for year 2 of Heatley & Kovalchuk and played a huge part in turning them into stars.
role players like Hinote, Yelle, and Nieminen also became who they were because of Hartley. then others like Greg de Vries (he actually managed 35 points under Hartley!) had career offensive seasons under Hartley.
you mix that with him and his teams being no nonsense, and its a great recipe IMO
I'm taking a wait and see approach to this one. I remember thinking Brent Sutter was an awesome hire at the time and we know how that turned out. Bob Hartley seems to me like a decent choice, being how he's won on different levels.
I liked it when Playfair was hired = fail.
I liked it when Keenan was hired = fail.
I liked it when B. Sutter was hired = utter fail.
I didn't like it when Bob Hartley was hired = win?
I was meh when Playfair was hired, I was okay with Keenan being hired, I hated Brent Sutter was hired. I love the Hartley hiring, the more I read about him and the more things I look up, the better it looks.
He has had huge success through his entire coaching career, he is also excellent with young players and veterans alike. He is a guy that seems like he plays players in a role they can be successful in irregardless of age.
and he isn't going to be afraid to send Jackman (or another tough guy) out there to teach someone a lesson if they do something to one of our skill players.
I was meh when Playfair was hired, I was okay with Keenan being hired, I hated Brent Sutter was hired. I love the Hartley hiring, the more I read about him and the more things I look up, the better it looks.
He has had huge success through his entire coaching career, he is also excellent with young players and veterans alike. He is a guy that seems like he plays players in a role they can be successful in irregardless of age.
and he isn't going to be afraid to send Jackman (or another tough guy) out there to teach someone a lesson if they do something to one of our skill players.
The bolded is very important. If he can improve our PP, then this team could at the very least have a legit shot at the playoffs.
Honestly our PP was so bad under Sutter I cannot imagine that it can get any worse.
I'm not a fan of the ZSC Lions (more like the opposite), but i live in the area: What that guy did in one year (pretty good team, but with lots of internal troubles and a goaltender problem) was just absolutely amazing. he lit the fire under certain mighty and well payed player's butts, did a great job with the youth, coached a young shaky goalie into an actually solid one and won the title (beating the regular season winner and last years champion in the process).
I dont know too much about the Flames, but as far as i can compare your situation to the ZSC, this doesnt seem to be a bad move. Will miss his emotions on the bench
To be honest this is a great hire. He's a very up-tempo, 2-3 man forechecking, with a lot of back-checking and physical play.
The problem with Hartley is that he screams at players, and it might give results initially, but it can wear thin over time. Realizing that the window for competing for the Flames is growing shorter, Hartley will have just the right "expiry date" for this club.
