YORK, Pa. — These days, Bob Hartley sleeps on an inflatable air mattress in the weight room of the local rink, not far from the doors to the bingo hall, surrounded by several hundred children who are fond of making fart sounds before curfew. “It’s just like a Ritz Carlton,” Hartley says, sounding more serious than not. “One of the largest bedrooms in the United States.”
For two decades, Bob Hartley High Intensity Hockey Camp has operated out of south-central Pennsylvania. He started in 1997 when he helmed the AHL's Hershey Bears. Most of that time, though, has been spent at York Ice Arena, a modest outfit ringed by tattered, dasher board ads for tax consultants and welding suppliers, with coin-operated heaters in the stands that cost two quarters for 15 minutes.