Quote:
Originally Posted by moon
It has been talked about plenty on this site and in this thread the issues I have with Hartley. Not sure it needs to be brought up again.
Coles notes: His 'systems" if he has any particularly defensively seem very poor, his record outside of the stacked Crawford Avs is horrible.
He seems like a decent guy so i will give him that but other than that he doesn't seem to do anything to indicate that he is anything other than what his terrible coaching record indicates.
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You have said this a number of times now - let's take a closer look.
Firstly, let's break-down the Flames' season in 20 game intervals (2 games left, so great time to do so):
First 20 games: 3.75
Next 20: 2.55
Next 20: 2.80
Next 20: 2.45
As of right now, the league average in goals against per game is: 2.67
Half of the games thus far averaged higher than 2.67. The Flames averaged 2.89GA on the year - good for 23rd in the league - and this SHOULD support your theory.
However, are the Flames a talented bunch? Would you not expect one of the worst teams in the league on paper to be at the bottom of the league in this area? Factor in Giordano's injury, Ramo's transition to the NHL/ankle rehab, Ortio that has never played in the NHL, Berra who has never played in the NHL (goalies that I believe you said at some point are not 'NHL quality'). I think you have gone on about our defence (especially Wideman, who was forced to play huge minutes for the Flames while Giordano was out), the Flames having to play some AHL defencemen/rookies, etc., but you still want to argue that Hartley's system is terrible defensively?
2.45 in the last 20 games - includes some of Ortio's starts (brand new to the NHL, new to NA), Wotherspoon, Billins, Cundari, and Breen have all seen time in the last 20 games - all rookies to the NHL. Still saw a marked improvement in GA.
The last 20 games (2.45) the Flames have averaged better than these teams have over the course of their seasons:
Chicago (2.51), Anaheim (2.48), Detroit (2.74), Phoenix (BORING Dave Tippet hockey!! - 2.75), Nashville (2.81), while only being negligibly worse than NJ (2.39).
I haven't taken the time to average out the last 20 games for all the teams compared to take into account the fluctuations, but I think I made my point here. Flames - with a VASTLY inferior roster, are only slightly worse this season thus far than the league average. They are also trending up in that regard. Take out the first horrible 20 games and they are actually better than the league average (2.6).
I am not sure what kind of numbers you expect from any system that has a rebuild roster to work with, but I think you are a bit off the mark in your comments about Hartley's system. Burke has praised it. Some media personalities have praised his system. You keep beating this drum about Hartley employing some kind of defensively deficient system, but that is simply not the case.
I think your perception of Hartley is clouding your judgement here.
Can you describe this system that Hartley employs? I don't think we are seeing the same system as we are watching the games being played. It seems you are not recognizing the system at all (which I am inferring directly from these exact words from the post I am quoting you from:
His "systems" if he has any...
You really can't see a system?
