Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick M.
And, how would the fanbase have reacted to Hartley's sitting Jerome for floating? They'd have demanded his head.
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That was the problem in a nutshell as Iginla was bigger than the coach. Hartley couldn't bench Iginla nor could Brent even if they wanted to. They were preaching responsible play but at the same time they knew they couldn't enforce it on certain players. That's a tough way to operate and one of the reasons this franchise really struggled after Darryl Sutter stepped down as he was the one guy that seemed to be able to push Iginla's buttons and give him the hard love he needed at times.