Bob Hartley

Robert "Bob" Hartley (born September 7, 1960) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach.

He most recently served as the head coach of Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

He has additionally coached the Latvia men's national ice hockey team.

In his second season as the team's head coach, he guided the team to a Memorial Cup participation in 1993.

Hartley was hired as an assistant coach of the American Hockey League (AHL)'s Cornwall Aces under Jacques Martin.

When Martin was appointed assistant coach of the parent Quebec Nordiques, Hartley was promoted to head coach and guided the Aces to two division titles during the team's three-year history.

When the relocated Nordiques, now known as the Colorado Avalanche, became affiliated with the Hershey Bears, Hartley followed the team and was named head coach of the Bears.

Hartley's tenure with the Bears was a success as he guided the team to four consecutive playoff appearances and a Calder Cup title in 1997.

Hartley's success with the Bears caught the eye of then-Avalanche general manager Pierre Lacroix, who was looking for a replacement for Marc Crawford, who had suddenly resigned after a surprising first round playoff exit.

After two grueling playoff series victories over the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks, in a repeat of the 1997 Western Finals, the team bowed to the archrival Detroit Red Wings, who would go on to win the Stanley Cup.

He coached the Colorado Avalanche from 1998–2002 and won the Stanley Cup in 2001.

Hartley was hired as the team's second head coach since the relocation to Denver on June 2, 1998.

In his first season with the Avalanche, the team got off to a 2–1–6 start, the mediocre start prompted skeptics to question the hiring.

When the team caught fire in mid-December, they won their first Northwest Division title and fifth-straight overall.

During the 1999 Stanley Cup playoffs, the team defeated the San Jose Sharks in the first round and halted the Detroit Red Wings quest for a three-peat before bowing to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Dallas Stars in the Western Finals.

Hartley's second season saw the team win their sixth consecutive division title along with playoff victories over the Phoenix Coyotes and a rematch with the Red Wings before bowing to the defending champion Dallas in the Western Final for the second consecutive year.

Hartley's third season was ultimately his most successful one.

Motivated by Ray Bourque's desire to win a Stanley Cup championship, the Avalanche coasted through the league with a 52–16–10–4 record, a seventh consecutive division title along with the Presidents' Trophy.

The playoffs began with a first round sweep of the eighth seed Vancouver Canucks before enduring a seven-game scare by the Los Angeles Kings in the Western Semi-Finals before taking down the St. Louis Blues in five games, setting up a Stanley Cup Finals matchup with the Eastern Conference's top seed, the New Jersey Devils.

After falling behind three games to two in the series, the Avalanche rallied back to win the Stanley Cup, accomplishing Bourque's goal and making it the second-straight year the defending champions had lost in the finals, as the Devils themselves defeated the 1999 champion Dallas Stars the year prior.

Another notable milestone from the 2000–01 NHL season for Hartley included coaching the North American All-Star team to a 14–11 victory on home ice.

Hartley brought the Stanley Cup to his hometown of Hawkesbury, bringing the trophy to the PPG Industries plant he worked at.

The following season, the team won their eighth consecutive division title and looked sharp in their quest for a second consecutive Stanley Cup.

At the start of the playoffs, Hartley became the first head coach since Billy Reay to guide his teams to four consecutive conference final appearances.

Hartley's tenure with the Avalanche ended on December 17, 2002, when the team endured a 10–8–9–4 start and he was replaced by assistant coach Tony Granato.

Hartley left the Avalanche franchise with a 193–109–48 regular season record and a 49–31 playoff record.

His 193 wins were the most in the Colorado portion of franchise history at the time.

He became the only coach in team history to record 40 or more wins during his first four seasons as head coach.

He also coached the Atlanta Thrashers from the 2003–04 season up until the beginning of the 2007–08 season, when he was fired after the Thrashers got off to an 0–6 start.

One month after being fired by the Avalanche, Hartley was appointed as the second full-time head coach of the Atlanta Thrashers, who were looking for a replacement after original head coach Curt Fraser was fired following an 8–20–4–1 start on January 15, 2003.

Hartley immediately went to work on the team's fortunes.

The team went 20–14–5–1 down the stretch and were in the playoff race for the second half of the season, giving hope to Thrasher fans.

Hartley's first full season behind the Atlanta bench began with tragedy following the death of Dan Snyder and loss of Dany Heatley for the majority of the season.

Hartley was an ice hockey analyst for the French-language RDS television channel until 2011, when he became the head coach of the ZSC Lions of the Swiss National League A.

From 2012 to 2016, Hartley was the head coach of the Calgary Flames.

Bob Hartley never played a game in the NHL, instead beginning his coaching career with a junior A team in his hometown of Hawkesbury.

After guiding the team to a championship, his accolades caught the eye of the Laval Titan of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).

While Hartley was coaching the junior A Hawkesbury Hawks, he worked full-time as an assembly line worker at PPG Industries in Hawkesbury.

Hartley's tenure as the Laval Titan head coach was marked with success.

He recorded an 81–52–7 record in two seasons with the team.