The most recent winners of the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s coach of the year are Calgary’s Bob Hartley (2015), Colorado’s Patrick Roy (2014) and Ottawa’s Paul MacLean (2013).
After the Flames fired Hartley last week, that left Roy as the only one of the three still on the job.
The three finalists this year — Washington’s Barry Trotz, Dallas’ Lindy Ruff and Florida’s Gerard Gallant — might be excused for not being all that upset if they don’t win the award.
In a conference call with reporters, Hartley said he was surprised by the move. But he added, “I fully understand the risk of our business and I accept the responsibilities.”
The Flames were 35-40-7 and missed the playoffs for the third time in Hartley’s four seasons with Calgary.
This is the third time he has been fired in the NHL.
The first was in late 2002, with the Avalanche, only 18 months after Colorado won the Stanley Cup. That time was one of the few times I’ve been shocked by a firing, and it came with the Avalanche at 10-8-9-4. Although there might have been other factors involved, general manager Pierre Lacroix was putting too much emphasis on keeping alive the franchise’s streak of consecutive division titles.
He elevated Tony Granato, now the University of Wisconsin’s new coach, into the first of his two tenures as Colorado’s head coach. While Hartley wasn’t going to be coach for life, his firing clearly was a mistake. And a mutual breakup after Joel Quenneville’s three 95-point seasons with the Avalanche also was a setback for the franchise.
Hartley’s second firing was in Atlanta, after three full seasons and parts of two more at each end, and the consensus was that he had done a good job with the Thrashers and bettered the franchise.
So he got another chance.
And this time?
“The coaching carousel is spinning out of control,” he said. “It’s the time of year — there’s lots of jobs, there’s lots of names. There’s going to be lots of speculation, but I will not get involved in this. There’s a process going on for every job open. I’ll be very respectful to that process.”
After Roy got into coaching in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, also a training ground for Hartley, the relationship took a turn. It was at times infamously strained when both were with the Avalanche, but Roy often consulted Hartley as he made the transition to standing behind the bench. They’re friends.
So, yes, with Joe Sakic as the GM and Roy as the coach — two men who shared the experience of lifting the Stanley Cup with Hartley — it’s not outlandish to wonder if the getting-the-band-back-together approach could include finding a role for Hartley with the Avalanche. Colorado now has Dave Farrish and Tim Army as Roy’s assistant coaches. But that could turn awkward fast, and I don’t see it happening as Hartley, who has a year left on his Calgary contract, waits for the carousel to deliver him another head-coaching opportunity — which he deserves.
Meanwhile, in Russia … When the World Championships opened Friday in Russia, five Avalanche-connected players were on the rosters: Matt Duchene and Calvin Pickard with Canada, Andreas Martinsen with Norway, J.T. Compher (recently signed from the University of Michigan) with the United States, and Reto Berra with Switzerland.
Two others — Finland’s Mikko Rantanen and Sweden’s Anton Lindholm (a 2014 Colorado draft choice still playing in his homeland) — still are practicing with their teams, but weren’t listed on the official rosters submitted Thursday. Additions are allowed through the tournament.
Semyon Varlamov had agreed to represent Russia, but after news reports in his homeland that he was injured and wouldn’t be able to play, he wasn’t listed on the roster Thursday.
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or @TFrei
