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Craig Custance, ESPN Senior Writer 8y

Why the Avs' coaching job is so coveted

When Bob Hartley was hired to be the Colorado Avalanche coach in 1998, he got a phone call on a Sunday telling him simply to get to Denver and bring a nice suit.

He had friends over at his home, with their kids swimming in his pool. He was casually doing some landscaping.

One phone call changed everything.

The Avalanche notoriously have been a tight-lipped organization and in this case, Hartley was sworn to secrecy. He told his friends at the house he had to leave for a trip to Montreal to see a sick friend. When he arrived in Colorado, he stayed at general manager Pierre Lecroix's house so nobody would get wind he was at a local hotel.

Two days later, the news was out and Hartley was in. In his third season behind the bench, the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup.

He retold the story recently duringĀ an interview I did for a book coming out next year, and it was a reminder of just how great a fit he was with that Avalanche squad led by Joe Sakic. It was a team loaded with talent, a situation that creates its own unique kind of pressure.

“Hey, I want a team that can win a Stanley Cup,” he said when we chatted for the book. “For me, it’s way more challenging. Me, I’m never scared of pressure.”

Hartley’s name has surfaced again as a leading candidate to coach in Colorado, this time to fill the vacancy created by Patrick Roy's surprising departure from the organization last week.

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