|
|
|
Friday, February 2, 2001
Avs coach began career on bottom rung
Associated Press
|
DENVER -- Bob Hartley used to shovel bark along the frozen
banks of the Ottawa River in subzero wind chill.
At 18, he was the fourth generation of his family to work at the
pulp and paper mill in the industrial town of Hawkesbury, on the
Quebec-Ontario border. All the while, he had a dream shared by
millions of Canadians: a career in the NHL.
|  | | Though aiming for a Stanley Cup, Colorado coach Bob Hartley hasn't forgotten his blue collar roots. |
Twenty-two years later, Hartley is the head coach of the
Colorado Avalanche, an intensely dedicated professional who has
repeatedly pushed his players toward the playoffs.
"Bob is intense, but he's common sense," says Colorado
assistant Bryan Trottier, a Hall of Fame center with six Stanley
Cup rings. "There's not a handbook that somebody gives to you and
says, 'Here's how you do this.' A lot of it's feel, a lot of it's
instinct, a lot of it's gut. Bob's done a good job evolving and
he's going to continue to evolve."
Hartley's bench demeanor is part of the evolution as he learns
to channel his intensity. Known for his wry sense of humor off the
ice, the 40-year-old Hartley is all business behind the bench and
doesn't hesitate to challenge his players, opponents or officials.
Forward Adam Deadmarsh described his coach as "uptight" when
he first started but said Hartley has matured steadily in pursuit
of the Stanley Cup.
Hartley's passion for hockey was instilled early on while he
grew up 45 minutes west of Montreal. He began skating at age 4, and
lunch was often a hasty intermission between pickup games at the
nearest ice rink.
A forward-turned-goalie, Hartley followed the traditional path
through junior hockey but hit a crossroad shortly after he turned
18.
His father, Royal, had died of a heart attack two months
earlier, and Hartley quickly became physically and mentally drained
by double shifts at the paper mill that often followed games and
practices with Hawkesbury's Junior A team.
"After a couple of weeks, I said to myself, 'What are you
doing? You'll never be an NHL player, so why kill yourself?"' he
says. "That was kind of the final chapter of my dream to play in
the NHL.
"Maybe I learned the hard way, but I think I learned the best
way. Nobody handed me any free rides."
|
“ |
You don't need to be an NHL Hall of Famer to coach in this league. You don't have to play at the highest level to understand the X's and O's of hockey. He understands that, and he has a love for the game that rubs off on the players. ” |
|
|
— Aaron Miller, Avalanche defenseman |
Hartley quit the junior team and joined a nonprofessional league
with his friends. When the paper mill closed in 1983, he was hired
at a windshield factory owned by PPG Canada.
He got his first shot to be a head coach in 1987 when the
president of the Hawkesbury Hawks, Jacques Trenchemontagne, asked
him to take over an 0-8 team.
Hartley had been an assistant but was reluctant to get behind
the bench, going so far as to warn the head coach about his tenuous
job security. He finally accepted after a group of young players
came to his door during dinner and pleaded for his guidance.
"In my mind, I didn't have a choice," Hartley says. "I was
letting down the kids."
The coach arranged a flexible work schedule at the plant, and
the Hawks won nine games that season before losing 4-1 in their
best-of-7 first-round playoff series.
"That game that we won in the playoffs kind of put the coaching
blood in my body," he said. "I was all pumped because to win one
game was basically a miracle."
Success has followed ever since. He won two Canadian Junior
Hockey League titles with Hawkesbury; a Quebec Major Junior League
championship with the Laval Titans; and an American Hockey League
title with the Hershey Bears -- Colorado's minor-league affiliate.
When the Avalanche could not reach a contract agreement with
coach Marc Crawford in 1998, general manager Pierre Lacroix needed
less than a week to decide that Hartley was the right man for the
job.
Some questioned Hartley's lack of experience, but two straight
trips to the Western Conference finals have silenced many critics.
This year, the Avs are among the league's elite, and Hartley
will be an assistant coach for the North American team at the
All-Star game in Denver on Feb. 4.
"You don't need to be an NHL Hall of Famer to coach in this
league," said Colorado defenseman Aaron Miller, who spent three
seasons with Hartley in the minors. "You don't have to play at the
highest level to understand the X's and O's of hockey. He
understands that, and he has a love for the game that rubs off on
the players."
Teaching has always been instinctive for Hartley, who has two
kids.
He worked with mentally handicapped children during summers in
high school, and when he's not coaching the Avalanche, he spends
time giving tips to 15-year-old son Steve.
If Hartley does win hockey's biggest prize, he undoubtedly will
share the moment with every shift foreman, assembly line worker and
lift operator who has carried a lunch pail.
"I was a very lucky person," he says. "I always worked with
great people and management. I coached some unbelievable kids who
were great individuals. It's almost like a lucky story or a dream
story, if you want."
|
|
|
|
