Quote:
Originally Posted by Hustle
It's not one of those things that you can necessarily quantify but I really do think that Hartley's attempt to make this organization more family orientated while keeping things light-hearted and fun is going to be beneficial for us in the long run. I'm thankful for all the Sutter's did for Calgary (moreso Darryl) but this place was a total pressure-cooker over the last few years... a changed approach could help mitigate some of the terrible mental issues this team has had recently.
As for Irving... the kid has been wanting a shot for a while and now he's got it. Hopefully he can hold the fort until Kipper comes back. Hopefully the rest of the team actually plays for the backup.
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Yup, completely agree.
The Sutter era (03-11) can be characterized as viewing the team as just not working hard enough and needing to be chastised and treated like an unruly teenager. The whips-and-manacles approach was necessary when Darryl first got here, and maybe the team treated playing for Playfair with a bit too cavalier an attitude after Sutter went upstairs, but since Keenan came in the dominant message we heard from coaching and management is that everything will get better if we just work harder and stop making so many mistakes. Keep it simple, work hard, and don't screw up.
The fans adopted the same view of the team and the atmosphere has been pretty negative for a long time. People weren't hoping for them so much as they wanted to jump on them and criticize a poor effort and criticize mistakes.
The response to this attitude was to grip the stick too tightly, avoid creativity, and be negative and self-critical. It wasn't a fun team to watch, not just for the style of play, which was predictably "workmanlike" (read: uninspired and boring), but just because you could almost see the miasma of negativity every time they stepped on the ice.
I think Hartley's response to a few mistakes and a few bad performances this year has been very telling. He's remained 100% positive, focused on the good things to take away from the game, and treated the group with respect and confidence. Confidence and creativity has been creeping into this team gradually since the drop of the puck this season, and the game plan is becoming ever-more consistent.
As many others have said, I'm finding myself really looking forward to just watching this team play. Win or lose. Chicago was heartbreaking but I loved it.
