Calgary Flames Acquire New French Speaking Head Coach

As Nicklas Lidstrom announces his retirement after playing in the NHL for the Detroit Red Wings since the 1991-1992 season, the Calgary Flames manage to steal a little bit of attention with the speculation that Bob Hartley, the front runner for the Montreal Canadiens head coach job, signed with the Flames.

While all signs pointed to Hartley joining the Habs, after all his first language is French, the Flames have come to a deal with Zurich Lions to release him from his contract.

In addition to his time in Zurich, Hartley was the head coach for the Colorado Avalanche from 1998 until 2002 where he went 193-81-73-11.  Hartley and the Avs saw the conference finals four times in his time there and won the Stanley Cup once.  31 games into the 2002-2003 season, Hartley was fired from the Avalanche and spent a month unemployed before the Atlanta Thrashers picked him up.  Going 136-118-13-24 from 2002 until 2008, Hartley managed to turn the Thrashers into a some what respectable team before being fired in 2008 after losing his first 6 games.

Hartley stepped away from hockey until 2011 when the Zurich Lions signed him for two seasons.  And this past season, Hartley and the Lions went all the way to the Swiss Championships and won over the favorite, Bern.

The reviews of Hartley are a mixed bag, some see his signing as a step back, but really shouldn’t we all be grateful it isn’t another Sutter?

Looking forward to the off season transactions, hope you are too.

Go Flames Go