As great a job Hartley did last year, their are numerous decisions he has made this year that have me scratching my head.
I really wonder if Treliving and Hartley are on the same page anymore. I know that on the outside they will say that all decisions are discussed between them, but the way Hartley handled Granlund last night after Treliving made those comments combined with the fact that Hartley seemed insistent on starting Ramo for 12 games straight (regardless of the result) shortly after he was demoted to Stockton really has me wondering what is going on internally right now.
Hartley's decisions have seemed downright stubborn at times and, as a result, he's been slow to react to situations. It's funny, four years ago I really questioned whether Hartley would be a good coach for a rebuild (remembering his use of Jackman as a top 6 forward for a good stretch of games), based solely on my observations that he really struggled to promote youth within the lineup and manage the game appropriately for a rebuild. Then last year he did an amazing job with the young players by playing those players that deserved to play and being patient with those that needed patience (see Colborne). He pressed all the right buttons.
It seems he has slipped back to old habits this year. His continued use of Wideman in the wrong situations, his continued use of Russell in the wrong situations, it taking 9 games for him to demote Hamilton off of the top pairing, his delayed response to promote Hamilton when Hamilton was actually playing well, even his delayed response to pull goaltenders during certain games...all have hurt this team this year and the blame partly should lie on him IMO (and certain players playing somewhat awful I suppose!)
The team is still in rebuild mode, but he's coaching like it's a veteran contender.
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