Speculation: Bob Hartley - Do you want him back?

[Jihadi Flames Fan]

This guy makes Mike Keenan look good. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I miss Butter!

We need a coach that can develop young players and also put a structured system in place.

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[tmurfin]

Personally, yes. Wasn't given a whole lot to work with, talent wise and time wise. Either way he's not going anywhere

 

[tyflames]

I say no. Clean everything out and get a new start

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

Hartley is better suited for a team that is looking to compete. The guy is a good coach. I would've liked to see him coach in 2008. Not now.

 

[Beats By CoRD]

Can't see why not. Give him another year.

 

[Backlund]

I don't see why not. He wasn't given a whole lot to work with this season and seems like he would be decent at developing young players.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

Clearly Sutter *didn't* want to stick around for the rebuild.

Only a moron would miss him.

 

[Unlimited Chequing]

A definite yes. For me, it's a no brainer. We've seen glimpses of what his coaching is capable if he has a roster he can work with and buys into his system. If Feaster can work on shedding the unnecessary weight and bring in some fresh, young, fast guys the team will thrive under Hartley's coaching.

 

[Calculon]

On the one hand, he was given a roster that had one natural centre on it for a large part of the season early on. On the other, he has to coach a defense with Wideman in it and a very poorly playing Giordano.

This isn't on him. But I wouldn't be surprised if he's questioning why he left Switzerland for this.

 

[MarkGio]

Hell yes. Bouwmeester, Stajan, Backlund, Stempniak, Comeau, and Cammy all looked better under Hartely. He had crappy goaltenting and nothing down the middle. I give him all the credit in the world

 

[Bosnian Beast]

Lets give him a full season before we start jumping on the "fire Hartley" bandwagon, eh?

 

[DouglasQuaid]

Lets give him a full season before we start jumping on the "fire Hartley" bandwagon, eh?

Did we give that to Brent?

 

[Bosnian Beast]

He had three seasons here. I wasn't on the "fire Butter" wagon until last season, and I'm sure many others weren't, either.

 

[Unlimited Chequing]

On the one hand, he was given a roster that had one natural centre on it for a large part of the season early on. On the other, he has to coach a defense with Wideman in it and a very poorly playing Giordano.

Yeah that is one thing I partly blame for the unsuccessful season. We never did address the centre position, but instead tried getting a bunch of wingers to fill in the spot. Not to mention some untimely injuries/missed games by key guys at the start of the season. Don't forget we've been a defense minded team for years and for Hartley to come into a shortened season with no pre-season, that's got to work against him.

Hell yes. Bouwmeester, Stajan, Backlund, Stempniak, Comeau, and Cammy all looked better under Hartely. He had crappy goaltenting and nothing down the middle. I give him all the credit in the world

I'd also add Tanguay to that list. He's been doing what other coaches have been trying to get him to do for years: shoot at the net.

 

[DouglasQuaid]

He had three seasons here. I wasn't on the "fire Butter" wagon until last season, and I'm sure many others weren't, either.

Fair enough. There were some who thought the team would be instantly better with him though, and after that first half season wanted his head.

Maybe this is me just trying to say "see, he wasn't the problem"

For the record I have no problem with Hartley. There's no way he had time with this season to bring in his system. At the same time, going through a rebuild... is he really the guy to do it?

 

[Gritty]

The GA are disgustingly high! Worst defensive system i've ever seen. (not exaggerating either).

I say new GM / Coach. Make it a full out rebuild.

 

[Volica]

May as well, no one else is going to turn this bunch around lol.
Scotty Bowman; God of Coaches, couldn't do **** all here lol.

 

[Devilspuppet666]

i want him or ward... long term i'd take ward

and i dont think feaster is in the flames long term plan

 

[flames123]

On the one hand, he was given a roster that had one natural centre on it for a large part of the season early on. On the other, he has to coach a defense with Wideman in it and a very poorly playing Giordano.

This isn't on him. But I wouldn't be surprised if he's questioning why he left Switzerland for this.

Are we watching the same games?

 

[tmurfin]

Are we watching the same games?

He's starting to find his game, but for the majority of the season he wasn't very good..

 

[tfong]

I like

 

[Double Dion]

The problem is not the coach. Just like it wasn't when Brent was here. Brent was a Sutter though, so of course everyone hates him even though he's a better coach than Hartley. Why move the coach unless he struggles with developing young players?

 

[TkachuksMouthguard]

I dont blame Heartley at all for this crappy season. I actually like his style and demeanor, bring him back!

 

[LukeD]

I'll say yes. There were some positives this year, but he really didn't have a lot to work with.

 

[The Hendog]

The GA are disgustingly high! Worst defensive system i've ever seen. (not exaggerating either).

I say new GM / Coach. Make it a full out rebuild.

We are dead last in GA per game now and completely agree this is the worst defensive system I have ever seen the Flames play. And yet there is still a lot of love on HF for Hartley and I don't really understand why. Yes his offensive style of play is more exciting than previous years with the Sutters etc. but when your system has you giving up 3.5 goals per game on average, it is going to be tough to win a lot of hockey games no matter how good your offense is. The top scoring teams in the league aren't even that close to averaging 3.5 goals per game so what makes them think the Flames can score like that?!? And as you can see from the last two games against the oilers, when the effort level isn't there under Hartley's system, the team gets blown out. And in my opinion a blow out hurts a lot more and is just more embarrassing than playing a tight game with a good defensive system that you still might loss but it will be close like under Sutter. Not saying that I want to go back to Sutter, but it seems like we need some sort of middle ground and I don't think Hartley can bring that.