Hartley has been a mixed bag. A lot of players are enjoying bounce back offensive seasons under him but in similar fashion to the Keenan years it's been at the cost of pretty shoddy defensive play which has led to substandard goaltending play. The Flames have taken advantage of loose teams and mediocre goaltending but agains top teams like the Ducks, Kings they are very easily handled.
That said we all know the issues are deeper than coaching with this team. The makeup is flawed due to the lack of proper center ice men. There is complacency in the locker room from the captain down which pretty well leaves all the motivation tasks on the coaching staff alone. Darryl Sutter seemed to be able to keep the focus and motivation but he knew that there would be a shelf life having to day in and day out prod these guys to keep going. That's a big problem as coaches like Blysma and Quenneville can focus on technical coaching more and motivating less because they know their captains are supremely motivated and ensure that complacency doesn't set in.
Not hating on Iginla but the Flames need a new captain. A captain that has more hunger that is willing to take players to task.
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