I don't think that you can lay the blame on Hartley's shoes for his last season. Treliving gave him 3 poor goaltending options, and when finally one of them worked (Ramo) this team was quickly on the rise again, and when that goalie got injured, it was over.
Hartley 'deserved' another season on paper. He was a good coach and a good strategist, IMO.
However, I agree with Treliving in having to let him go. I don't think every player hated him - a lot of players spoke well of Hartley, and Gaudreau even went to his hockey camp for kids in the off-season after he was let go - but he was most definitely a bully with motivational tactics that aren't acceptable any longer.
Really good coach with history of making teams better at each stop, but definitely terrible motivational techniques that are deserving of being fired. That's how I see it. I also didn't see it as a 'miracle season' - Flames were legitimately a good team at about the midway point of the previous season as well, and were a good team again when they were able to benefit from average goaltending from Ramo the next.
|