[soulchoice]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

I think you have to give Hartley credit for more than just "motivation"

- he was outstanding at line matching, line blending, shortening his bench, reading the hot hand and double shifting them
- he was strong with details. Even more recently, Giordano credits Hartley with teaching him details he never learned under previous coaches.
- he ran high intensity practices, which set the bar for how the team would approach games
- he didn't have overt vet/star favouritism. Even benched Gaudreau and Monahan, batted heads with Raymond and Sarich, pushed Backlund... he really got the most out of individuals, and when he didn't it was because they were cooked

Even if Gulutzan had better systems (and special teams), Hartley was the superior bench guy IMO. This is a guy who coached against Scotty Bowman and soaked in all the things he saw Scotty do.

My fave coach in the league is Joel Quennville... he has the systems of a Gulutzan, but runs his bench to perfection like Hartley. You need both, but given the dilemma of only choosing one... you gotta go with the guy who runs his bench well.

Hartley was also incredible at his ability for figuring out the goalie utilization from my recollection. Knowing when to start one tender over the other. Especially during the playoff win year.