The thing I like about Hartley this year is that he stuck to his plan. Even though he was getting so much flak for how he treated the kids at the start of the season, being perceived by fans and media that he didn't like young players, you see now that he was more or less teaching them that you need to earn it... work hard. Your not going to be given a spot, you need to earn it.
Love how positive he is all the time, and he doesn't air the teams dirty laundry in the media regardless of how much the try and push him. And even if he does admit a player has a tough night, he always ends it with what that player does right.
A story a friend of mine told me back when Hartley was caoching junior hockey in Quebec: My friend was in Quebec checking up on one of his team's prospects and he meets Bob in the office they sit down and start to talk. Then there was a knock on the back door of the office, and it's a kid no more then 8 or 9 years old, and he hands Hartley a piece of paper. Hartley smiles takes the paper, and thanks the young man. My friend asked what was on the paper, and Hartley smiled at him and told him that he had the kid go and measure the curve on the sticks of the opposing team. During the game, with about 5 mins left, tie game, Hartley calls over the ref and has him measure the stick of a certain player... Hartley's team got a powerplay, ended up scoring on that powerplay, and won the game.
I love Bob Hartley
