Quote:
Originally Posted by EddyBeers
...I am fine with them losing this year and being entertained. That is because I believe that Sutter got more wins out of this team than was actually there, they outperformed what their actual abilities were last year...
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I always thought that B. Sutter was a good coach, and I constantly defended him while he was in Calgary. In a sense, you might be right: B. Sutter quite possibly got more from his Flames teams than the sum of the parts individually had to offer. But when I heard his interviews, interviews with the players, interviews and comments after he and the Flames mutually agreed to part company, I could't help but feel that the problem with Sutter's Flames was not his coaching methods, but rather his delivery. The did not execute, and he could not seem to get them to execute with any consistency under any circumstances. For whatever reason, the players were not all that interested in what Sutter was preaching, and in the end, that is definitely a coaching issue.
With Hartley, and in the first several games of this season, this is certainly an area in which I think we have seen the most dramatic change, and this seems like an extension of Hartley's personality. He has an infectious enthusiasm and optimistic persona that endears people to him: his players appear to
want to do what he is asking them to do like they haven't wanted anything in the past three, four, six(?!) years. So, while we can debate the effectiveness of Hartley's game plan and his system when it is compared to Sutter's, I don't think there is any denying that his presence and his leadership is paying big dividends right now. They don't show up in the results, but this team is eminently more watchable, and unlike B. Sutter's teams most nights, they look engaged and well positioned to compete and to win. Bingo keeps saying that this is part of the process, and right now I think the team is in the process of finding their "identity"—taking on the characteristics of their coach. This could prove to be very beneficial down the road. We may not see the results now on the scoreboard, but I think that the shift in attitude, desire, and excitement that we see on the ice bodes well for the future.
In short, I think Hartley understands his players much better than Brent ever did, and it absolutely makes the team much more likeable than it has been in years.
The loss is disappointing. But I'm nevertheless finding it difficult to be all that upset. I'm just excited to see the next game, moreso than I have been in a long time.