Flames: playoffs in 2015
The 55-year-old Hartley spent four seasons behind the Calgary bench and during the 2014-15 season signed a two-year contract extension with a year left. While the team was a disappointment this campaign, Hartley won the Jack Adams Trophy for NHL coach of the year in 2015 after taking the Flames to a 45-30-7 record, a 20-point improvement.
In that 2014-15 season the Flames won their first playoff round since 2003-04, beating the Vancouver Canucks in six games before losing to the Anaheim Ducks in five. The expectation was that they club would build on that success but, despite adding the likes of defenceman Dougie Hamilton, that did not happen..
At a press conference Tuesday at the Saddledome, Treliving said Hartley had “taken this team as far as I feel he can take it” and that he does not have a replacement in mind but plans to immediately start the interview process.
“This is isn’t just a necessary move because we didn’t make the playoffs, so we’re going to throw a body on the tarmac,” Treliving insisted. “I felt this decision had to be made for what Bob, in my opinion, can get from this group moving forward.
“This decision was not made with somebody on the on-deck circle. This isn’t about, is there a prettier girl at the dance?” he added. “I’ve got a profile in my mind of what I’m looking for. I’ve got a real good idea of what can give us success, what can drag success out of our group.”
Bruce Boudreau available
Boudreau, like Hartley, is known as a motivator and strong disciplinarian. However, unlike Hartley, Boudreau has consistently had a great deal of NHL regular season success. He has a poor playoff record, however, and was fired by Anaheim last week after they fell in game 7 of the first round of the playoffs to the Nashville Predators.
Along with Hartley, Treliving fired Associate Coach Jacques Cloutier but retained former Flame player Martin Gelinas (an assistant coach) along with goalie coach Jordan Sigalet and video coach Jamie Pringle.
Treliving acknowledged a big problem area for the team over the past season was in goal, where neither Karri Ramo, Jonas Hiller (who’s already signed to play in Europe) or Joni Ortio could establish themselves as a number one NHL goalie. He vowed to solve that problem in the off-season.
He added that firing Hartley did not mean he was “letting players off the hook.”
