Let's talk about: Bob Hartley

[Fire in the disco]

All hockey sensibilities and systems aside, the guy seems generally happy and supportive. It looks to me like Hartley has brought back a sense of optimism and player morale looks to already be following suit. Hartley seems more like a leader than his predecessor. Rather than trying to get the whole team to buy in to one dump and chase grind out games type of system as Sutter did, Hartley seems to be playing all players to individual strengths and grouping like minded players together.it seems to be getting results; the record though still not great, is getting better. The Flames are flying out there, back checking, winning battles and playing hockey that is exciting to watch.

Bottom line a great coach can make a decent team look amazing. It happened in Phoenix last year, and it could happen in Calgary this year.

[FBI]

Loving his positivity! Very refreshing.

[troutman]

The right coach for this group.

[ComixZone]

Bob Hartley makes me:



Brent Sutter made me:



The way Hartley paints everything in a positive light is refreshing. He knows it's a learning process, and is far more interested in positive reinforcement than negative. I like Bob. I like Bob a lot.

[Savvy27]

It certainly took a couple of games (which we should have probably been more realistic about) for the team to adjust to a new style of playing, but they look great. There remain two weaknesses, one being that they are at a disadvantage as far as personnel goes when the puck is being cycled in their own end by teams like San Jose or Anaheim or LA (I would imagine). The other weakness is the penalty kill, which I would think is only a matter of time until they improve.

I think one major difference between him and Sutter is that Hartley gets the players to buy into the hard work by asking them to provide the team with their own individual strengths, while Sutter wanted everyone to work hard at a system that was so structured it had guys like Iginla playing dump and chase.

[Zee]

Sutter coached this team like he knew better and the team was there to learn from him, to mold each and every player into his rigid system.

Hartley treats them like the professionals they are, and coaches and guides them where needed, capitalizing on their strengths.

[Henry Fool]

The roster might not be good enough to make the playoffs, we'll see, but I agree with a lot of that's being said here.

Lack of positivity, not allowing players to use their strengths, overcoaching and micromanaging every decision, these are things I complained about with Sutter, and if that's really going in the right direction, I'm fully on board. It's a fast, spontaneous game - you can't make players question their every decision. You have to trust the players to use their instincts or the team will always be a step behind. It frees up a lot of energy when the players are feeling the game.

And as others have said, Wideman really shows that the Flames have been lacking in the puck-moving department for a long time. It's such a difference from watching Bouwmeester and Butler shoveling pucks forward last year.

[PeteMoss]

The change in Bouwmeester is all I need to see that Hartley is an improvement. Its also the biggest blow against Sutter's performance the past few years.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Bingo

great topic ... some interesting comments.

the one I'd add is the removal of no-no's for passing. The Flames don't appear to have any areas on the ice where they're not allowed to pass the puck. As a result you see a lot more risk in throwing the puck d to d tight, or in front of our own net on a break out, or across the rink below the hash marks.

It's higher risk, but also very hard to defend because the normal channels of exiting the zone aren't the only options.

Yes and the riskier passes do lead to much better chances and yes there can be mistakes like on the 3rd Columbus goal Hudler made a drop pass to Bouwmeester who then fell down. In Sutter's reign:

A) Hudler wouldn't even have to puck or
B) Hudler would just dump it into a corner and there would be 0% chance of scoring.

Also Hartley just loves hockey. Even when he called games for RDS involved two teams nobody cared about, he showed enthusiasm doing it.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Hustle

The mental issues of this team over the last 3 years have been no secret. Wild inconsistency and just a crazy, intense environment. I really think that it came down to an issue of confidence and these guys would lose it so quickly when something went wrong. It's only been 8 games but the entire atmosphere around the team right now is so much different than that Sutter era - these guys actually seem to be having fun.

Just from a 'technical' standpoint I think there was one statement from Hartley's Presser last night that summed it up. He said that he's philosophy was to create a system that supported the strengths of his players and that would put his guys in a position to win. Maybe my memory is terrible, but I don't think we ever heard anything like that from Sutter. We saw the exact same thing for 3 straight years regardless of roster makeup and it was all about 'hard work' and 'doing things the right way' (aka his way). I get that the players should be listening to the coach but everything about Sutter seemed so restrictive.

Who knows if this team makes the show come April but I see some positives that we haven't seen in years (hopefully they get the PK and some of the in-zone issues cleaned up though).

This, compared to Sutter's system of trying to put square pegs into round holes....and not changing his approach when his system failed and never produced results.

[the-rasta-masta]

It is still a young season but the team definitely seems to be playing a much more cohesive game then I have seen for a long time. It's been said, but it seems like Hartley plays to the strength of his players rather than trying to mold them into tin soldiers like Sutter did. (similar to Mike Babcock, who is the best at this, IMO)

It's funny when I start to think back to Sutter's hiring after Keenan was let go. This was a team that was in the mix for the division under Keenan, and probably would have won were it not for the ridiculous salary cap constraints forcing the Flames to ice 15 skaters in the last few games. The Flames got off to a pretty hot start under Sutter, but it all unraveled in early December as Sutter's "system" set in.

I don't know if Sutter was a good coach or not, but he definitely wasn't right for this team. Hartley's going to need a few more games before we get the full feel for his coaching style.

[FlamesAddiction]

Sutter preferred dump and chase, board play and cycling until a scoring chance would occur. Hartley seems more inclined to allow higher risk plays to allow for scoring chances (as Bingo mentioned "no-no" passes) and defenseman seemingly being given more rope to join the offence. Hartley also seems to adapt well to situations. It's not like we haven't seen defensive hockey this season.

Hartley also just seems more charismatic and likable. Make no mistake though, when he gets angry, the players will know. He is no pushover.

Plus, who doesn't love a good Northern Ontario French accent? He sounds like a fur trader.

[wooohooo]

These are why changes in coaching matter. Different styles suit different players. Maybe it took us a while to find the right one, and that's the power of coaching.

But heck, even if we were to lose all our games I wouldn't be that upset. I've had enough of that boring Flames hockey, this exciting Flames is a really, really nice change.

[Hack&Lube]

Sutter's biggest problem is that he spent most of his coaching career as one of the best junior coaches which was perfect for getting kids in line and molding them into professional hockey players.

That approach doesn't work with vets.

[Stay Golden]

Hartley brings energy to the bench, he is a positive coach and if anyone can turn this season around i put 100% in this guy.
He likes the Flames to play on the rush, not this BS throw the puck away and go 50/50 that you get back.
With this small Flames team they would get outworked consistently with that kind of offence.
Dump and chase would not work with this group assembled just like last year. Wrong team for dump and chase with Sutter. Unless you have a physically bruising team.
Like say the Bruins always do.
Which is why LA did so well with Darryl, a physically pounding team made for dump and chase.

[taxbuster]

I'm pretty impressed with Coach Bob...reminds me in a funny way of Badger Bob -- upbeat and supportive, and I think that's what the beaten-down "old" crowd needs. Darryl, for all his dislike of the media, supported his players. Brent didn't. Three years of that would have driven me insane.

Hartley has this team doing things I've never seen them do since the Darryl days - scrap for pucks, get sticks in lanes, push the puck to empty ice. Are there bugs? Sure...but it's a helluva lot better than it was!

So far -- so good!

[Weiser Wonder]

I think the biggest difference is his willingness to work with the skill set of the team, rather than Sutter's strategy of demanding certain skills and forcing everyone into those roles.

I remember last year Backlund destroyed himself one day trying to hit everything. He's a team player and was doing what he was told, but it was obviously not going to work out for him. He was quickly injured. This year he's been allowed to play a low contact possession game and has been successful.

Bouwmeester being forced into the shut down role was also a bit of a disaster. Bouwmeester is good, not great in his own zone, so in order to really be effective he needs to be active in the offensive zone too. So he's been better.

Stajan needed a coach that believed in him and he seems to have found it. He looks to be worth his salary under Hartley's coaching (not his cap hit though).

Hartley also doesn't idolize toughness and that's really a huge thing in the NHL these days. Teams that waste minutes on toughness aren't going to be able to compete.

Finally Hartley understands the value of possession so he knows there are situations where Glencross and Iginla aren't the best players to have out there. Although that might not have been Sutter's fault as I don't think any Flames forward was very good with the puck last year.

Seeing this team under Hartley is making me second guess the idea that Brent Sutter is a good NHL coach. I'm starting to think he was a big reason this team has been stagnant. Because right now I see a team that looks as talented as every team they've faced and is putting in good efforts every night.

[HitterD]

The most telling thing for me......

Shots For: 32.0/game - (4th in NHL)

Shots Against: 25.6/game - (3rd lowest in NHL)

For the most part, the Flames are carrying the play under Hartley and putting far more pucks at the net than under Sutter. Unfortunatly, while the shots are down overall, the Flames seem to be giving up too many good scoring chances.

I figured that the first 10 games would be the toughest while the Flames adjust to Hartley's new system. if they can finish the first 10 above .500, i'll be extremely pleased.

[Stay Golden]

Hartley is the opposite approach of pounding a square peg into a round hole, repeat over and over.
Refreshing, i can see big things from him in the future.

[vektor]

One thing I like is the no excuses approach. Brent's approach was to dictate then hope we eek out wins, Bob's is to play a certain way and whether we win or lose is irrelevant, it's the play style that achieves wins not the desire to win in itself. They were saying in Columbus that the Flames players were talking about how they are actually buying into what Hartley has to say and they listen to his critique.

If we tank this year, I hope Hartley stays. He brings an ere of positivity and fun that makes watching losing hockey actually fun and exciting as opposed to us having one single good dame last year and that was because Iginla was mad.