Quote:
Originally Posted by GranteedEV
In Hartley's last year here, the Flames were still tenth in scoring.
Of course they were going to regress
Of course Hartley wasn't the best coach in the league
But he had elements of competency that were observable. I don't think we beat the Canucks in 2015 with Ward, Peters, or Gulutzan behind the bench, even with all fortune that you described. Hartley outcoached Desjardins in that series, simple as that. And then, yes, he got outtalented by the Ducks, there's no denying that, but it's not as if he was making idiotic decisions to shoot this team in the foot. But in each of the other three coach's playoff series (actual playoffs, not "vs a 9th seed missing their top center) our coaches have been thoroughly outcoached. Not outtalented. Just out x's and o's'd (or in Gulutzan's case, just an idiotic loyalty to that Bartkowski pair)
That's the frustration.
That a coach as mediocre as Hartley is the only coach we've had who can hang in there and still play chess with the other team's mediocre coach.
|
I’m not defending Ward, Peters or GG. I’ve been lukewarm to cold on all those hires. And Desjardins was a bad coach, at least that year, we all agree on that. But Hartley IMO would have lost to almost any other team. The Flames lucked out tremendously on that draw. As I’ve said elsewhere, the Canucks had the 4th lowest points of any team in the POs yet they finished second in a really weak division, so they ended up playing the Flames. Their top 3 players were all 33 years old and well past prime. And they were weak in goal. Really - if you were aiming to upset a seed, they were it.