Bob Hartley: 4 Leagues, 4 Championships

2014-15 is Bob Hartley's third season as head coach of the Calgary Flames in the National Hockey League. While behind the Calgary bench, the Flames have yet to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs. However, if anyone is going to turn this NHL franchise around, it’s Hartley. Since 1992-93, in four different leagues, Bob has led four different teams to playoff championships.

1992-93 Laval Titan – QMJHL

In his second of two years coaching Laval, Hartley led the team to a second overall placing with 43 wins and 88 points over the 70 game regular season schedule. The Titan led the QMJHL with 367 goals scored.

In the playoffs, Laval lost just one game. In the opening round, they swept Verdun College-Francais. In the semi-finals, they swept the Drummondville Voltigeurs. In the finals against the Sherbrooke Faucons, Laval let one get away but won the series in five games to capture the President’s Cup.

The 1993 Memorial Cup tournament was held in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The Titan went 1-2 in the round robin. Laval beat the Swift Current Broncos 4-3 in the tie-breaker game before losing 3-1 to the Peterborough Petes in the semi-final matchup.

 

1996-97 Hershey Bears – AHL

In his first year coaching Hershey, Bob Hartley led the team to a second place finish in the Mid-Atlantic Division and second place overall in the American Hockey League. The Bears won 43 games and totalled 101 points over 80 games. Hershey had the least goals against in the AHL with 220.

In the opening round of the playoffs, the Bears ousted the Kentucky Thoroughblades, three games to one. The next two best of seven series both went the distance with Hershey beating the Philadelphia Phantoms 4-3 followed by a 4-3 victory over the Springfield Falcons to earn a place in the finals. The Bears met the Hamilton Bulldogs and dispatched their opponents in five games to capture the Calder Cup championship.

2000-01 Colorado Avalanche – NHL

In his third of five years as head coach of the Avalanche, it was now or never for Hartley to win a Stanley Cup championship. Colorado was led by Joe Sakic, Ray Bourque and Patrick Roy, all now in the Hockey Hall of Fame and, at the time, nearing the end of their playing careers. 

The Avalanche finished first overall in the NHL with 52 wins and 118 points in 82 games. Joe Sakic scored 54 goals and finished second to Pavel Bure’s 59 goals with the Florida Panthers. Sakic’s 118 points placed him second in the race for the Art Ross Trophy, behind Jaromir Jagr of the Pittsburgh Penguins with 121 points.

In the opening round, Colorado swept the Vancouver Canucks in four games. In the Western Conference semi-finals, the Los Angeles Kings took Colorado to the seven game limit before allowing them to advance. In the Conference finals, the Avalanche eliminated the St. Louis Blues in five games. In the finals, Colorado met the New Jersey Devils and won their second Stanley Cup championship, winning four games to three.

2011-12 ZSC Lions – NLA

Bob coached in Switzerland for the 2011-12 season with the ZSC (Zurich) Lions of the elite National League A. The team finished the regular season in seventh place in the twelve team league with just eight playoff spots up for grabs. In a post season of upsets in Switzerland, the Lions defeated the fifth place SC Bern in the finals. It was Hartley’s only year coaching in Europe.

 

4 Hart Trophy Winners From The Detroit Red Wings

For the 1926-27 National Hockey League season, the Victoria Cougars were moved to Detroit, Michigan. The team remained the Cougars until a name change to the Falcons in 1930. In 1932, the team was renamed again, this time to the Red Wings. In that time, the franchise has had four different players awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as NHL most valuable player. One of the four won the Hart on six occasions. Notably absent from this list is Steve Yzerman, probably the most deserving player to have a Hart Trophy sitting on his mantle. Yet, Yzerman was denied throughout his long and successful career with the Red Wings.

Ebbie Goodfellow

Ebbie Goodfellow was the first Detroit player to win the Hart Trophy. In 1939-40, the defenseman totaled 28 points in 43 regular season game, big numbers for a blue liner in the day. The Red Wings squeaked into the Stanley Cup playoffs, finishing sixth in the seven team NHL. Detroit beat the New York Americans in the first round before losing to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second.

Goodfellow played in the NHL from 1923-30 to 1942-43, all with the Detroit. His first year was with the Cougars, followed by two with the Falcons before becoming a true Red Wing. For two seasons in the early 1950’s, Ebbie coached the Chicago Black Hawks but the team won just 30 of 140 games with him behind the bench. In 1963, Ebbie Goodfellow was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Sid Abel

Sid Abel won the Hart Trophy in 1948-49 while leading the league in goals and finishing third in the race for the Art Ross Trophy. Sid scored 28 and totaled 54 points in 60 games for the Red Wings. Detroit finished first overall that season but was swept in the Stanley Cup finals by the fourth seed Toronto Maple Leafs.

Abel played with the Red Wings from 1938-39 until 1951-52 before spending two seasons as player/coach of the Chicago Black Hawks. Sid was nearly as unsuccessful behind the Chicago bench as Ebbie Goodfellow was. He returned to coaching in 1957-58 with the Red Wings and was head coach until the end of the 1967-68 season. During that time, Detroit lost in the Stanley Cup finals four times. Abel became a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1969.

Gordie Howe

Along came Gordie Howe. Howe won his first of six Hart Memorial Trophies in 1951-52, the last year Sid Abel played for the team. Gordie won the Hart again the following year then in 1956-57, 1957-58, 1959-60 and 1962-63. On four of those occasions, Howe also won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s top point producer.

Gordie played for Detroit from 1946-47 to 1970-71. He is considered by many to be the best hockey player of all-time. In 1971, Howe was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He returned to the game as a player in 1973-74 and spent six years in the World Hockey Association before a swan-song appearance with the NHL’s Hartford Whalers in 1979-80.

Sergei Federov

Sergei Federov is the most recent Red Wing to win the Hart Memorial Trophy. Federov earned the prize in 1993-94, while scoring 56 goals and accumulating 120 points. He finished third in goal scoring behind Pavel Bure of the Vancouver Canucks and Brett Hull of the St. Louis Blues. It was just Wayne Gretzky ahead of him in the race for the Art Ross Trophy, finishing ten points ahead.

Sergei played over 1,200 regular season and nearly 200 playoff games in the National Hockey League, many with Detroit.

Head Coaches of the CHL's Wichita Wind

The Wichita Wind were a franchise in the Central Hockey League that existed from 1963 to 1984. The Wind played for just three seasons, 1980-81 to 1982-83 and had a different coach in each season.

Garnet ‘Ace’ Bailey

Sadly, Bailey left the world too soon as he was on board one of the flights that crashed into the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001. 1980-81 was the only time Garnet coached at the pro level. He also appeared in one game as a player for Wichita.

The Wind had by far the best year of their short life in 1980-81, at least when it came to the post season. Wichita finished sixth in the nine team league with 67 points over the 80 game schedule. However, of the nine teams, two folded mid-season and all seven remaining teams qualified for the playoffs. The Wind beat the Indianapolis Checkers in the opening round and the Dallas Black Hawks in the semi-finals before losing to the Salt Lake Golden Eagles in the Adams Cup finals. Wichita took the highly favoured Golden Eagles to the full seven game limit.

With Wichita being an affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers, there were some notable future Oilers on the team, including Andy Moog, Dave Semenko and Charlie Huddy. Also in the lineup was Walt Poddubny, a first year pro at the time that would go on to have a 40 goal season with the New York Rangers in 1986-87.

Bailey played nearly 600 regular season games in the National Hockey League between 1968-69 and 1977-78 with the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues and Washington Capitals. He was a scout for the Los Angeles Kings at the time of his death.

John Muckler

Eastern Hockey League legend John Muckler coached the Wind to their best regular season record in 1981-82. The team finished first in the five team South Division and third overall in the nine team league. After sweeping the Nashville South Stars in the opening round, the Wind were in turn swept by the Indianapolis Checkers in the following series. The team once again had Moog, Poddubny and Huddy in the lineup.

Muckler played pro in the EHL from 1955-56 to 1962-63. As a head coach, he won a championship in the EHL with the Long Island Ducks in 1964-65. He coached an Adams Cup winning team in the CHL, as well, as his Dallas Black Hawks captured the championship in 1978-79. In the NHL, he was head coach of the Edmonton Oilers as they won the Stanley Cup in 1989-90.

Andy Laing

The lesser known of these three hockey people, Laing coached Wichita in 1982-83 with the Wind finishing last in the six team league and out of the post season. He had coached hockey since 1974-75 and 1982-83 was his last year on record. Andy coached the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League from 1977-78 to 1980-81 and was the head coach of the Fort Worth Texans during the 1981-82 CHL season.

CHL in Wichita, Kansas

A league named the Central Hockey League returned for the 1992-93 season with several of the same cities involved from the CHL the Wind competed in. The Wichita Thunder were a charter team in the new league and are still currently active today.