Quote:
Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina
Hartley's time with the Flames is romanticized because he got them to win a round, which is very rare around these parts, and always had a clever quip for the media.
But he was a bully and I don't have much time for people like that.
Doesn't mean Tre has made the right choices since. But just because he chose the wrong next coach, doesn't mean it wasn't the right decision to fire Hartley.
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There are 82 games in the season before the playoffs. During that season Hartley got the team playing the most exciting hockey I can remember this franchise producing in decades, before the playoffs even started. It ignited rejuvenated interest in the team.
What he was like in the room, I don't know, and it may be that he deserved the axe for it, but in an ocean of disappointing and often boring hockey over the last decades, that season was a refreshing gift of fun. As someone who watches hockey for entertainment, of course I'll remember that fondly.