Music: {allcanada} Hartley to be next coach of the Flames

Thursday, May 31, 2012

{allcanada} Hartley to be next coach of the Flames

Former Colorado Avalanche and Atlanta Thrashers head coach Bob Hartley will be the next coach of the Calgary Flames, the team announced Thursday.

"Bob Hartley is a winner. Bob has won at every level he has coached, from the QMJHL to the AHL to the NHL to Switzerland, and we are confident he is going to continue his winning ways in Calgary," Flames general manager Jay Feaster said in a statement. "He is a tireless worker, an outstanding motivator, a great bench boss and game strategist; and a teacher at heart. Moreover, he is a great person as well. We look forward to Bob and his wife Micheline joining the Flames family, and to Bob taking our hockey club to the next level."

Hartley, who last coached in the NHL with the Atlanta Thrashers in 2007, has a 329-226-34 record with 61 ties in his NHL career. As the coach of Colorado from 1998-99 to 2002-03, Hartley won four consecutive division titles, reached the Western Conference Finals four times and won a Stanley Cup in 2001.

In Atlanta, Hartley led the Thrashers to their only division title in 2007.

Since March of 2011, Hartley has been the head coach of ZSC Lions in Switzerland's National League A, leading them to a championship this April. Prior to coaching in Switzerland, Hartley worked as a television analyst for RDS.

"First I would like to thank Jay Feaster and the Calgary Flames for having the confidence to provide me with the opportunity to coach again in the NHL," Hartley said in a statement released by the Flames. "I would also like to express my appreciation to the ZSC Lions for the tremendous experience of coaching and living in Switzerland; and also complying with my wishes to depart their organization for the Calgary Flames. It's great to return to the League in a city, a community and an organization that has such an outstanding reputation and passion for hockey and success. I look forward to assuming my position and starting the preparation process for the 2012-13 season."

In addition to his NHL career, Hartley achieved success as a coach in hockey's minor league and junior levels. As the head coach of the Hershey Bears of the AHL, Hartley won a Calder Cup in 1997. As the head coach of the Laval Titan, Hartley led the team to an appearance in the 1993 Memorial Cup as champions of the QMJHL. He also served recently as a volunteer adviser for the Shawinigan Cataractes, who won the 2012 Memorial Cup this past weekend.

In recent weeks Hartley had also been linked to the vacant head coaching job for the Montreal Canadiens.

The Flames are seeking to make the playoffs for the first time since 2009. The three-season postseason drought is Calgary's longest since it ended a seven-year absence from the playoffs in 2004. The Flames advanced to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final before losing to Tampa Bay that season, but have not advanced past the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs since.

Over the past three seasons Calgary was coached by Brent Sutter, whose contract expired at the end of the 2011-12 season. The Flames finished ninth in the Western Conference this past season, five points out of the final playoff spot.