Hartley was an ass, with an exceptionally short shelf life. However, I think there are some positives from him:
- He is a great developmental coach
- His teams play an entertaining style of game
- Underrated defensively - he demanded defensive responsibility
- throughout most of his NHL coaching career, he always seemed to have a year where his team exceeded expectations at every stop
- Fantastic with the media
Yep, vets hated him, but I would love to hear what the younger players thought of him too. Guys like Backlund (who I remember Hartley tearing a strip off of Backlund after he didn't cycle back to cover for a pinching defencemen), or Monahan... or vets that were doing well, like Hudler, or Brodie, or Giordano. Vets on the fringe - Hartley seemed to really rub the wrong way, that's for sure, and I think it was probably needless. All the stories I have heard have always been from the older vets who were just hanging on. Not that their opinions don't count, of course. McGrattan didn't like Hartley either, but the then again, Hartley didn't use McGrattan other than for 8 games in the 2014-15 season.
What I do find interesting is how Conroy has referred back to him a number of times since becoming GM, and he has always just said positive things. I think he liked Hartley, but it has only been tidbits here and there. The what is interesting about it is that he brought Hartley up voluntarily, and was never asked about Hartley. I would figure if he didn't like him, he wouldn't have brought him up at all to say good things.
I doubt Hartley ever gets back into the NHL. I do wonder what he could do with a team like Buffalo right now, however He would either really get that ship righted for a season or two, or maybe it would just explode and end up worse than ever.