Countdown Poll - Flames coaches

[Enoch Root]

So many worthy choices.

But I have to say that no coach that I can ever recall had more of an impact, and did more to define his team, than Hartley did last season.

The only comparison I can think of off-hand, is Scotty Bowman with the late-Seventies Habs.

It's only one year, and they didn't win anything, but what Hartley did last year was mythical. It was pure magic. I would have taken a bullet for that guy!

[pacde]

Badger Bob
Id say hands down but right now I think Bob Hartley is really starting to climb into the same category but still it has to be Bob Johnson

Ill never forget 1986 when the rookies of the Flames took down a team that consisted of Fuhr, Messier, Gretzky, Kurri, Anderson, Tikkanen, MacTavish, Lowe, Smith... all in their prime (with exception to Smith). Oilers were 56-17-7 that season, every inch of the ice was a battle and hockey has never been the same for me since.

[Dion]

Former Flames Perry Berezan talks about Bob Johnson......

You know, the Badger Bob era, the guy, he thought way too much, and he was so far ahead of his time with thinking. You mentioned the line brawl. I remember it was one of the last games we were playing the regular season in Edmonton, and, of course, the visiting team has to put in their starting lineup.

He liked to mess with Sather's head and tick him off by delaying as long as possible before giving a starting lineup, and who does he start? Up front: Tim Hunter, Neil Sheehy, Nick Fotiu. That's the starting three forwards, and I think we had Terry Johnson and Charlie Bourgeois on defence, our five toughest by far guys. 


So from the story I hear when they handed that over to Sather, Sather went ballistic when he saw because he delayed giving it to him. So Sather got it and went ballistic. Of course, he starts all his toughest guys, and what do they do? They dance right away. But that kind of stuff, can you imagine a coach doing that now? You'd be suspended.

Badger Bob was complaining that Glen had a better view from his bench in Edmonton because he had a higher step to see the game from. So Badger complained to the media that Sather was cheating by having a higher bench. He just did whatever it took to get in the craw of Glen, and he was looking for cracks. I mean, there weren't very many cracks in that whole team, that armor of the Oilers at that time. They were just too good. So Badger's way was to slowly poke you until you broke, and it was neat. 


http://flamesnation.ca/2012/3/23/ber...tle-of-alberta

[tvp2003]

Went with Badger Bob. Darryl a close second. Hartley could have them both beat in a few years.

One of my favourite Bob Johnson articles, penned by George Johnson: http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/column...rge&id=3252251

[Yanda]

Thanks Bingo for all the polls AND for having more than 1 poll today. Let us discuss Hockey like Men!!

[Yamer]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

It's a great day for hockey.

Yep.

Sig says it all...

[Calgary4LIfe]

Badger Bob - there simply wasn't a better strategist in the history of the Flames' coaching staff.

Sutter will be next for me - one might argue that he had an Iginla in his prime, and a God-like Kipper, but he forced that team to play his crazy work-ethic style all the way to the finals.

Hartley comes a close third - he is much like Sutter in how he gets his players to compete in every shift.

The rest will be a bit more difficult to gauge. I myself used to hate Brian Sutter. I do, however, think that he was the wrong type of hire for the existing team when he first came on board, but when he was canned I felt it was a 'Sutter team', and that team generally worked hard.

Macneil was so underrated and an afterthought, but I do think he did an excellent job.

King - possibly the most brilliant mind in hockey - probably in the realm of Scotty Bowman, Badger Bob Johnson and Canada's enemy #1 - Tikonov - but he simply couldn't get that team to work as hard as they could have. Tactically, he was awesome - but he just couldn't get them to buy-in like I think a coach should have.

Terry Crisp will be the hardest to rank. He won a cup. The only cup in Flames' history. How can we not rank him as the best? How did he get canned so quickly? I just think perhaps he was a bit too sour. I just don't know where I will end up ranking him. Probably the biggest enigma to me.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Dion

Former Flames Perry Berezan talks about Bob Johnson......

Yeah, can you imagine someone being crazy enough to do something like that today? The other coach would probably be so mad that he'd attack the team in the hallway during the intermission.

It's like Hartley is The Badger reborn.

It also amazes me that since they moved to Calgary, Hartley is only the second coach to make it to his fourth season as head coach with the team. Badger Bob was here for 5 seasons.

[FlatLandFlamesFan]

Man tougher than I initially thought , what Hartley did last year was second to none.
but Badger was so far ahead of his time in coaching.
Lord we had some coaches who's time here was horribad

[N-E-B]

As I stated in the captains thread, I'm fairly young still. For me there's only two logical choices, Sutter or Hartley as I unfortunately wasn't alive in the 80's yet. Really really really tough call but I'm going with Hartley.

[H2SO4(aq)]

Sutter wins for me. what he was able to do with that 04 team is truly amazing. Its a shame he ruined his legacy here as a gm, but as a coach he was fantastic.

[dissentowner]

Badger Bob was good but it is Hartley and imo it is not even close.

[albertGQ]

Crisp won our only Stanley Cup and won both President's trophies. In back to back seasons as well. Followed up those two seasons by finishing 3rd overall in 89-90

Has to be Crisper.

[JiriHrdina]

Johnson. Made the team believe they could beat the Oil

[Jay Random]

The Oilers absolutely owned Johnson's Flames for almost four years. It wasn't about what Johnson made them believe; it was that after years of patient building by Cliff Fletcher (culminating in the two spectacular trades that brought in Mullen and Tonelli) they finally became a team that could beat the Oilers.

Let's not devalue the accomplishment by reducing it to the level of a Jedi mind trick.

[transplant99]

Johnson...slam dunk, no-brainer IMO. He changed everything.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

But I went with Bob Hartley, because he changed the culture and work ethic of the Flames like no other coach in team history, and few in the league. From 27th place to the second round of playoffs, and as a bonus, wrecked the career of John Tortorella and exposed the decline of the Vancouver Canucks. A lot of CPers howled about nepotism when Feaster hired him, but he's made Boblievers of us all.

I thought that was Giordano after Iginla failed?

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by flameswin

I thought that was Giordano after Iginla failed?

Don't pin that on me. I voted for Lanny in the captains poll.

*shrug*

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

Don't pin that on me. I voted for Lanny in the captains poll.

*shrug*

Haha, wasn't a shot at you, I was just making a point that the majority were so sure that it was a direct correlation between Iginla leaving and Giordano taking over that led to our new identity, but then we move on to coach discussion and go through the immense impact Hartley has had on the change in this organization and you start to realize that maybe things aren't as cut and dried as some would like to sell you on.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

Let's not devalue the accomplishment by reducing it to the level of a Jedi mind trick.

Cripes I don't think I was doing that. These polls are causing some odd reactions by some.
Of course it was about bringing the talent, but even with the talent in place - Johnson was such an optimistic, positive guy that he also instilled a sense of confidence in the team that they could topple the might Oilers.
I don't think that is a "Jedi mind trick" - just good leadership.