Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
Hartley's likely done at the end of the season as it's not typical that a head coach survives a new GM hiring and Hartley hasn't established himself as a coach that deserves another season with a bottom 6 and likely bottom 5 finish this season. Yes the talent is poor but he hasn't done enough to likely convince a new GM not to bring his own guy in. Playing hard is great and all but just steering a bad team to an expected bad finish IMO isn't what I would call positive or trending anywhere up.
I'm hoping that the Predators tank and Trotz becomes available. He seems like a perfect coach for a rebuild. It's probably a long shot that he would get relieved of his position but every head coach has a shelf life and it's possible that organization needs a new direction.
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So all coaches for teams at a certain point in the rankings, we'll use your example of bottom five, should turf their coaches? That seems to be what you're saying. If you finish bottom five you don't deserve another year, even if you have the worst roster.
I see positives. We all knew rankings this year would be low and mean almost nothing. I think if we see some positives and growth that's really all you can ask for. Sports are result oriented, of course. But, in all truthfulness we've met or exceeded our expectations, or the results we were looking for. Putting up an arbitrary line in the standings doesn't make much sense to me. Sure if your on the cusp looking for the next level, or mired in a long slump. But not in our situation. If we know we just started a rebuild, why would be surprised by a bottom five finish, or deem it not good enough?
Secondly, I worry about sending the wrong message to the players. Don't want them ruling the roost, AND we need to give them a little consistency right now. It's already been suggested that the constant coaching changes has hurt Calgary to a certain extent. Why make it worse? Let's keep the team on the same page for a while.
Lastly why get in that cycle? Fire Hartley for being bottom five this year. Fire the next coach for being bottom five next year. Where does it end?
I do think the writing may be on the wall for Hartley though. I do agree that a GM will probably want to bring in his own guy. And I'm not entirely confident Burke is sold on Hartley either,. But I don't agree that Hartley hasn't shown he is a good (or good enough) coach to any incoming GM. If what your saying is that a new GM might use that reasoning (low finish in in standings) to bring in his own guy, I understand it, but I think it's a mistake, and would really only be used as an 'excuse' for the GM to bring in a guy he wants more. I don't the rankings are a good indication of expectation, or the job Hartley's done. I do hope we keep him, and I think it would be a mistake to fire him in the offseason.