Bob Hartley

Calgary Flames head coach Bob Hartley poses with the Jack Adams Award trophy after winning the award at the NHL Awards show Wednesday, June 24, 2015, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

(John Locher)

Headlined by a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche and a Calder Cup with the Hershey Bears , Bob Hartley has won six championships in five leagues during a storied coaching career.

But the Calgary Flames head coach says his greatest individual honor in hockey came when former Bears President Jay Feaster asked Hartley to be godfather to his son, Ryan.

Along with his family, Hartley thanked his former NHL general managers - Feaster (Calgary), Pierre Lacroix (Colorado) and Don Waddell (Atlanta Thrashers) - when he accepted the 2014-15 Jack Adams Award as NHL Coach of the Year in June.

Hartley's acceptance speech was one of the highlights of the NHL Awards show.

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I just rewinded the tape of my career," Hartley said. "I just thought of the people that helped me. You don't go up in this business by yourself. You go up in the business by all the people."

Hartley said the speech wasn't written down, but it was something he made mental notes about poolside in Las Vegas after a Flames public relations staffer told him he needed to be prepared to win.

It was quite a night for the Flames, who made their first playoff appearance since 2009. Jiri Hudler won the Lady Byng Trophy (sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct), while Johnny Gaudreau was a finalist for the Calder Memorial Trophy (top rookie) and team captain Mark Giordano was a finalist for the NHL Foundation Player Award (community service).

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I was pushing so hard inside for those three guys," Hartley said. "I would trade my award to get Gio and Johnny Gaudreau their own award. A coach, you're not there to get the projectors on you; you're there to put the projectors on your players."

Hartley, 54, who led Hershey to the 1996-97 Calder Cup, is back in Pennsylvania for the 19th edition of his Bob Hartley High Intensity Camp. The camp, divided into two one-week sessions, began Sunday at York City Ice Arena.

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It's an outstanding accomplishment for him," Bears President-GM Doug Yingst said of the Jack Adams Award. "It's well-deserved.

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Going back to the days of Hershey when we won the Calder Cup, he was an outstanding coach for Hershey. He was the best in the American Hockey League. I can only assume that he's only gotten better. Watching his team this year, they were unbelievably prepared and, if not the hardest-working team in the National Hockey League, one of them."

In his third season with the Flames, Hartley led the team to a 20-point improvement (45-30-7, 97 points).

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They reminded me of my Hershey team in 1996-97," Hartley said. "Great guys. Work, work, work. Never complain. I look at this as a team award, that they were looking for someone to go and get it. So they asked me to go get it."

Such success and longevity seemed improbable when newly arrived Flames President Brian Burke fired Feaster, who had hired Hartley, as GM in December of 2013.

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I remember the morning that Jay got fired," Hartley said. "Brian Burke came down into the office right away and said, 'I just fired your buddy, just fired your boss.' He said, 'I like you, I like the way you work. You will not get fired.' He said, 'There's going to be a new GM in the summer. This guy will decide your fate.'"

That GM turned out to be Brad Treliving. Hartley saluted Treliving and Burke for the "unbelievable support" they have given him.

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He's been a great, great boss," Hartley said of Treliving. "He became my friend. He's an unbelievably hard worker. In the winter during the season, I talk to him way more often than I talk to my wife.

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They gave me a chance. They trusted me. I could have been an easy out. They were very honest. They were very loyal to me. Now I owe it to them."

The Flames beat the Vancouver Canucks in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs and lost to the Anaheim Ducks in the second round. Anaheim lost to eventual Stanley Cup champion Chicago in the Western Conference finals.

In Hartley and Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau, the series featured two coaches who won the Calder Cup in Hershey. Boudreau led the Bears to the 2005-06 Calder Cup.

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That was fun with Bruce," Hartley said. "He had quite a team. Chicago came and stole Game 7 right in their building in the end. I thought that Bruce was on his way to a Stanley Cup."