I don't see how anyone can blame Hartley after less than 40 games. And any games from here until the end of the season are pretty much write-offs given that we just had a firesale.
I would have loved to see Hartley with the teams Brent Sutter had (Iginla and Kipper being 3 years younger, Phaneuf, Bouwmeester who played better under Hartley, A younger Jokinen at centre).
A lot of things went wrong this year. Backlund getting hurt, Cervenka not panning out at centre, Kiprusoff playing like absolute garbarge when he wasn't hurt (sorry to the apologists, but he has been poo this season). Not to mention a lockout and no real training camp for a new coach to even get a feel for his team.
I don't think any coach could get better results under these conditions. Given how Hartley worked with young players in Colorado, I think he is worth keep for another season at least.
__________________
"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
|