As much as we all love Conroy's personally, I think most of us do not realize how big of an asset he really is behind the scenes.
There is one story from one of the pre-game STH sessions that really shows a portion of it for me.
My wife asked about Wideman's resurgence this year. Conroy explained what happened at the beginning of the year. Wideman was just scratched and he was talking to Conroy about how he could get back into the lineup. Wideman felt that if he was paired up with a player like Russell it would play to his strengths and allow him to excel. Conroy then discussed it with Hartley and advocated trying Wideman with Russell. He did, and then Wideman really started playing very well.
When Conroy told the story, he was really gushing on how great it was that Wideman was looking to make himself and the team better and how great it was that Hartley was willing to listen to an idea from a player (through him) on how to make the team better. Both of these were great, but the fact that Conroy facilitated the process really shows the value that he brings to the team.
This story really impressed me regarding both Conroy and Hartley. How many of these types of stories happened this year behind the scenes? Would Hartley won the Jack Adams without the help of Conroy?
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