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Bob Hartley, the second head coach in franchise history, used his experience as a Stanley Cup champion to guide the Thrashers to the most successful and exciting season in the franchise's six-year history in 2005-06. He led the club to its first winning record (41-33-8), while setting franchise coaching records for wins, points (90) and winning percentage (.548), and guided the team to an 18-8-2 record over the last 28 games of the season.
Hartley now holds a 93-89-21 record since joining the Thrashers on Jan. 14, 2003. In more than two-and-half seasons with Atlanta, he already owns Thrashers career coaching records for wins and winning percentage (.510). He has earned a 287-207-69 record over seven seasons as a head coach in the NHL with Atlanta and Colorado and ranks 11th among active coaches in wins. Hartley coached in his 500th NHL game at Toronto on Nov. 19, 2005.
In 2003-04, Hartley helped the team overcome the tragic loss of Dan Snyder to set club records with a 33-37-8-4 mark and a franchise-high 78 points, which were eclipsed in 2005-06. He coached his 400th game in a 4-3 win at Washington on Oct. 11, 2003 and was named "2004 Coach of the Year" by Hockey Digest. In addition, he was ranked 86th by The Hockey News in the fifth annual edition of hockey's "Top 100 People of Power and Influence."
Prior to joining the Thrashers, Hartley served as Head Coach of the Colorado Avalanche for more than four seasons from 1998-2002 and guided the team to the 2001 Stanley Cup Championship, becoming one of only four head coaches to win the Stanley Cup and Calder Cup (AHL). In four playoff seasons, he lead the Avalanche to four consecutive Northwest Division titles and four straight trips to the Western Conference Finals from 1999-2002, compiling a 49-31 record and a .613 winning percentage.
In the 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Hartley became the first NHL coach since 1967 (Billy Reay) to lead his team to the Conference Finals in his first four seasons with the same team. In 16 seasons as a head coach at the amateur and professional levels, Hartley's teams have qualified for the playoffs 14 times while capturing five league championships and have been a part of winning at least 40 games eight times and 30 or more contests on 14 occasions.
Hartley became the second head coach of the Avalanche and the 11th in franchise history when he was named to the position on June 30, 1998, serving until Dec. 18, 2002. His Avalanche teams won at least 42 games in four consecutive seasons from 1998-2002, including a 45-29-8 mark in 2001-02. The Hawkesbury, Ontario, native posted a 193-118-48 record in 359 regular-season games, for a .605 winning percentage, and is Colorado's all-time coaching victory leader.
Hartley guided the 2000-01 Avalanche to its most successful season in franchise history. Colorado established team records for points (118), wins (52), home wins (28), goals against (192), and tied the franchise road win mark with 24. The Avalanche began the season unbeaten in its first 11 games, the best start to a season in franchise history. Colorado carried that momentum through the rest of the season, reaching the 40-point (seventh-fastest in NHL history), 40-win and 100-point (sixth fastest in the NHL since 1980-81) marks in team-record pace. His memorable season behind the Colorado bench included acting as assistant coach for the North American squad at the 2001 NHL All-Star Game in Denver.
Hartley's second season behind the Avalanche bench in 1999-2000 culminated in the club's sixth-consecutive division title. In the playoffs, the Avalanche advanced past the Phoenix Coyotes, four-games-to-one, and the Detroit Red Wings, four-games-to-one, reaching the Western Conference Finals for the second year in a row and fourth time in five years while coming within one game of reaching the Stanley Cup Finals.
During his inaugural season with Colorado in 1998-99, the Avalanche finished with a record of 44-28-10 and earned their fifth-consecutive division title. The club established franchise records for the longest winning streak (12), longest road winning streak (seven), longest unbeaten streak (12) and longest road unbeaten streak (10). It marked the first time a club had started the season winless in its first five games to emerge in the NHL's top five clubs since the Washington Capitals in 1983-84 and the Chicago Blackhawks in 1969-70.
Prior to joining Colorado, Hartley coached four seasons in the American Hockey League from 1994-98, posting a 151-136-33 regular-season record and a 29-23 post-season mark in four consecutive trips to the playoffs with Hershey (1996-98) and Cornwall (1994-96). He guided Hershey to the 1997 Calder Cup Championship and led the team to a 43-27-10 regular-season record. Hartley joined former Hershey coaches Bryan Murray and John Paddock as the only coaches to lead the Bears to 100 or more points in one season. Staving off elimination five times and becoming only the ninth team in AHL playoff history to rally from a three-games-to-one deficit to win a series, the Bears went on to defeat the Hamilton Bulldogs four-games-to-one in the finals and win the Calder Cup Championship.
After serving as an assistant coach for Cornwall in 1993-94, Hartley guided the Aces to the Southern Division title in 1994-95, and a trip to the Southern Division finals again in 1995-96. The Aces upset the Regular Season Champion Albany River Rats in the first round of the 1996 playoffs. Albany finished the regular season 35 points ahead of Cornwall.
Hartley led Laval to the Quebec Major Junior League Championship and the Memorial Cup in 1993 and compiled an 81-52-7 record in two seasons with Laval from 1991-93.
From 1987-1991, Hartley served as head coach for Hawkesbury of the Central Junior Hockey League. After enduring an 18 point season his rookie term behind the Hawks' bench, Hartley went on to lead his team to an impressive 117-45-5 mark over the next three seasons, including CJHL championships in 1990 and 1991. His teams dropped just three post-season games from 1990-91, going 24-3 in that span. Overall, his teams in Hawkesbury advanced to the playoffs four consecutive seasons and finished 31-13 in the postseason during that span.
Throughout his coaching career, Hartley has shared a strong sense of dedication with his community. He was honored in his hometown of Hawkesbury, where the local ice arena was renamed Complex Bob Hartley in August 1998 in recognition of his service to the community where he grew up and coached. Every summer the Bob Hartley Charity Golf Tournament is held in Hawkesbury to raise funds for scholarships for local students. He holds the annual Bob Hartley High Intensity Camp in his hometown of Hawkesbury, and has developed similar camps in Pennsylvania and Colorado.
During the 2004-05 NHL labor dispute, Hartley entrenched himself in the Atlanta hockey community, spending countless hours helping to develop the game, providing on-ice instruction for players at all levels, including those in the Junior Thrashers Program. In addition, he hosted clinics for ice and in-line coaches, and participated in USA Hockey's 2005 National Hockey Coaches Symposium and Hockey Canada's Advanced II Level National Coaching Certification Program. Hartley also established the international youth hockey tournament called the Friendship Cup, and played a key role in developing and running the April 2005 event that featured teams from Atlanta, Canada and Russia, as well as a visit by the Stanley Cup.
Hartley and his wife, Micheline, have a daughter, Kristine, and a son, Steve. |
