Time to Light a New Fire

Calgary Flames fans will recognize this man as Bob Hartley, who as of yesterday, is now the head coach for the team.  This bit of news got lost in the shuffle of Nicklas Lidstrom retiring, and with the rumors of Hartley heading to Montreal prior to yesterday, it almost certainly will be an interesting time to see if Hartley made the right decision.  Part of why Hartley decided on Calgary was because of his closeness to Flames General Manager Jay Feaster.

Hartley, as you will remember led the Colorado Avalanche to the Stanley Cup in 2001 and led the Atlanta Thrashers to their only playoff berth in their entire existence in 2007.  The current Flames do not have the talent that the Avs did nor the young players that the Thrashers did in 2007, so it will be interesting to see how Hartley does this time around.  Jarome Iginla and Miikka Kiprusoff cannot play in the NHL forever, and the prospect pool is rather shallow.  The only real clear cut player ready for the NHL is Sven Baertschi, and with the likes of T.J. Oshie and Leland Irving already cementing their spots on the roster, Hartley doesn't have an entirely barren cupboard to work with.  However, growing pains are inevitable, and neither Joe Sakic nor Ilya Kovalchuk will be walking through the door for the Flames.