Hartley hands out high praise for “turnaround” season.

While at the start of the season it may have seemed like Dennis Wideman didn't fit the Flames rebuild mode, with the teams unexpected success he's found himself in quite a comfortable spot. It's also shown in his play, and he's lived up to the added responsibility of wearing the "A" since the departure of Curtis Glenncross. It's something Flames head coach Bob Hartley has noticed as well, and he had high praise for Wideman when he spoke to Sportsnet's Mark Spector.

"Credit to (Wideman), he's been a changed player. A changed man. It's quite a story, to go from being scratched the second game to having a letter put on his jersey towards the end of the year - in a season where we're right in the thick of things."

Hartley added that Wideman earned the assistant captaincy with his play on the ice, and giving him the "A" was a no brainer.

"And it was an easy decision" he added. "I went around to a few players, to a few members of our organization, and it was an easy 'Yes' from everyone. People saw the same thing that I saw. 

It certainly has been an incredible turn around for Wideman, and the head coach certainly agrees.

"That's probably one of the best turnaround stories that I've seen in my career."