Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
Given the amount of ice time and responsibility Hartley has given Monahan this season, and Brodie last year, it's hard to conclude that he hates skilled young players.
Having said that, if Baertschi really isn't ready for the NHL, just send him down to the minors. And if he sulks about it, then we know that it's an attitude problem on his part, and not a coaching issue.
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Eh, he started the season last year with Brodie a scratch, only for him to be one of the brightest spots in the lineup after he got in. I don't know what Horak did, but he was (admittedly, barely) an NHL'er before Hartley arrived on the scene. Blair Jones is good enough to make this roster if Galiardi can, so is Ben Street for that matter. The roster isn't good enough to justify scratching Baertschi without demoting him to the AHL. While he plays a different role, I think this season he's been better than Galiardi, Jackman, McGrattan and Glencross (maybe Backlund as well).
I don't think Hartley 'hates young skilled players', I think he's not a very good coach, relative to his NHL peers, who likely coached himself out of the NHL because of a combination of personality and lacking results. He's the Jay Feaster version of Mike Keenan.
I don't think he should be canned because the Flames are losing or because he's mistreating Baertschi or other such notions, it's that I don't think he's an NHL quality coach (especially for a team like what Calgary has right now) and I'd like to see the team get similar results with a more structured, teaching coach than one who appears to, from the outside, hold some more accountable than others and who appears to lack the defensive necessary to help shield some roster players.
Now that the team has seemingly committed to a rebuild, I would like to see them not half-ass it and bring in support characters to help teach and mould the roster, not a guy who was hired to coach a bunch of veterans into a last-gasp playoff run, or an assistant who was here during the last competitive hockey the team played a decade ago. I'm sure Gelinas is just fine as a guy and a coach, but living in Calgary during the offseason shouldn't be part of the criteria for the interview process.