Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
You may have noticed those were all coaches from the last 15-20 years or so. Before that, hard-ass coaches were so common that they didn’t stand out. It’s pretty well acknowledged that the trend in recent decades has been towards more empathetic and positive approaches to coaching. There’s a reason coaches like Sutter, Babcock, and Tortorella are referred to as ‘old-school’ and ‘throwbacks.’ Their approach was the norm back when Howie Meeker was wearing his powder-blue blazer on HNIC.
|
Exactly, which should illustrate pretty clearly why guys like Hartley are unique and why nobody needs to be “kidding themselves” about the “nature” of pro sports to recognize the decades-long trend and note Hartley as the antithesis of it.