On Dale Hunter, Coaching, and Legends

On 28 November 2011, the Washington Capitals fired Bruce Boudreau, arguably the most successful head coach in their 38-year history. After taking the job two months into the 2007-08 season, he piloted the Caps to a division title, and won the Jack Adams Award, only the second in franchise history. In his second full season, the Caps won the Presidents' Trophy, a first for the team. He is the fastest coach to 200 victories in the modern era. His affable personality made him a fan favorite, and he entertained millions with food stains and trips to ice cream parlors in HBO's 24/7 series.

"More offense! Savory, delicious offense!"

Of course, nothing in the paragraph above mentions the postseason. Boudreau had a 2-4 playoff series record in DC, including a 1-3 record in game seven situations, and he never advanced past the second round. His wide-open style, which helped the Capitals score goals in bunches during the regular season, never clicked after the second week of April. The problem with Boudreau was also the manner in which off-seasons in Washington began:

• a home overtime loss in game seven to Philadelphia in 2008
• allowing five straight goals to Pittsburgh in game seven in 2009, also at home
• losing three straight games to eighth seeded Montreal, two at home, and scoring only one goal in each game after going up three games to one, in 2010
• getting swept by Tampa Bay in 2011

Each individual playoff year is different, and it's hard to pinpoint one or two problems that caused all of these losses. And a 17-20 playoff record means that every series (except for Tampa) was winnable. But the cumulative effect of all these playoff exits is pretty embarrassing.

In Boudreau's defense, his 201-88-40 regular season record with the Capitals is downright awesome. Anyone well-versed in statistics would agree that a 37-game sample carries less weight than a 329-game sample. But this isn't mathematics. It doesn't have to be fair or make sense. It's sports. And no one cares about regular season championships.

Bruce Boudreau and the Capitals got off to a pedestrian (by their standards) 12-9-1 start to the season in 2011-12. The coup de grâce was a 3-7-1 run where the Caps averaged just 2.27 goals per game. When all a coach has is regular season accolades and gaudy offensive totals, and no postseason success, they can be subject to heightened scrutiny. In my opinion, the blame placed on Boudreau for the Caps' ills was unfair. General manager George McPhee said that "the players were no longer responding to Bruce," which to me sounded like a convenient excuse. I was reminded of the old sports adage, "it's easier to fire one guy instead of an entire team." So Bruce Boudreau was let go. The Caps needed someone who could win the locker room and get them over the second round hump.

Enter Dale Hunter.

How my dad remembers Dale: the Aragorn of the Capitals.

For those of you unfamiliar with the history of the Washington Capitals, Dale Hunter is the Washington Capitals.

More after the jump...

The Washington Capitals franchise has four retired numbers. The most recognizable to older hockey fans is Mike Gartner, the Hall of Fame winger who spent nine and a half seasons in Washington. But much like Bruce Boudreau, he could never get out of the second round of the playoffs, and also spent time with four other NHL teams. Rod Langway, the two-time Norris Trophy winner nicknamed the "Secretary of Defense," was never an effective two-way player and failed to put up more than ten goals or 35 points in a single season for the Caps, even in the high-octane days of the 1980s. Yvon Labre, another defenseman with lackluster scoring totals, was a product of the Pittsburgh organization (!) and more notable for his leadership in the early days of the franchise than for any on-ice accomplishments. And then there's Dale.

How I remember Dale: bucking tradition.

Dale Hunter was a second round pick of the Quebec Nordiques in 1979. The Capitals traded for him in the 1987 off-season, shipping their first round pick that year to Quebec. (They used that pick to select Joe Sakic, so it worked out well for them.) In his first year in Washington, Dale scored a series-clinching game seven overtime goal, which to this day is probably the second greatest Capitals goal ever scored. Two years later, he helped lead the team out of the second round for the first time. Four years later, he became team captain, and in his fourth season in that role, the Caps made their first and only trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. Hunter is ever-present on the Caps franchise leaderboard -- fourth in games played, fifth in points, third in assists, first in penalty minutes, and fourth in power play goals. He is the only player in NHL history to amass 1,000 points and 3,000 penalty minutes in his career. The man, simply put, is a legend in Washington.

And therein lies the problem.

How often do legendary players become great coaches? Or, a better question might be, how many great coaches had a storied playing career?

There are only fourteen coaches with multiple Stanley Cup wins. There are two -- Scotty Bowman and Toe Blake -- who are head and shoulders above the rest. Bowman never played a single game of professional hockey, while Blake won an MVP and three Cups as a player and was inducted into the Hall of Fame as such. Of the other twelve coaches with more than one Cup, only two were notable as players, Jack Adams and Lester Patrick, both of who played during the 1910s and '20s when the NHL and Pacific Coast Hockey League were splitting talent and seasons lasted only a few dozen games. So not a good record for great players becoming multiple Cup winners as coaches.

How about some more modern examples? When looking at the twenty winningest playoff coaches, many of them have been active in the last decade. For the guys not currently coaching, Pat Burns, Mike Keenan, Roger Neilson (RIP), Jacques Demers, and former Caps coach Bryan Murray never played professionally. Pat Quinn had a rather pedestrian playing career. Only Jacques Lemaire was truly successful, averaging almost a point per game in his career and winning eight Cups as a player with Montreal before coaching New Jersey to a Cup win in 1995.

I believe Admiral Ackbar told me something about Lemaire... what could it be?

How about the guys currently with NHL coaching jobs? Mike Babcock and Ken Hitchcock never played. Darryl Sutter had a brief but successful career with Chicago in the 1980s. Lindy Ruff and Joel Quenneville were both more role player than star.

Okay, so let's dig a little deeper. Jacques Martin, Bob Hartley, Peter Laviolette, Marc Crawford, Claude Julien, John Tortorella, Alain Vigneault, Dan Bylsma, Paul Maurice, even Bruce Boudreau, none of them had good careers as a player, in fact most never played professionally. Randy Carlyle and Dave Tippett had long careers, sure. Carlyle even had a Norris Trophy and one All-Star appearance. But neither would be described as an "NHL great."

So in summation, out of all of the great coaches I listed, only Toe Blake and Jacques Lemaire really stand out in terms of their playing careers. Oy.

That's not to say Dale Hunter can't be an exceptional coach just because he was a great player. He certainly had a proven record coaching at the junior level. His London Knights (which he also owns with his brother Mark) were one of the best, most consistent teams in the Ontario Hockey League, and in 2005 they won the Memorial Cup as the top team in all of Canadian junior hockey. But dozens and dozens of coaches have enjoyed similar success across many levels of the junior, minor, and major leagues. Hunter was chosen because he is a Capitals legend.

When Dale Hunter arrived, he promised to instill a more defensive, playoff-ready system. Seam passes and odd-man rushes were abandoned for backchecking and blocked shots. Through his regular season tenure, many (including myself) were unconvinced that his system was working. Their playoff spot was in doubt until the 81st game of the season. In fact, his 30-23-7 record was a slightly worse in-season winning percentage than Bruce Boudreau had when he was fired. But with their postseason ticket punched, would the time for "Dale Hunter hockey" finally arrive?

The answer is a resounding "maybe...?"

"'Dale Hunter hockey?' This is 'Braden Holtby hockey,' bitches."

Down to their third string goalie and facing last year's Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins, the task for Dale Hunter and the Capitals was difficult. But the Caps were able to match Boston's physicality, and more importantly their goaltending, en route to a surprising series win. It was a nail-biter -- each of the seven games in the series was decided by one goal, the only time that's ever happened in NHL history. But with Hunter preaching defense, and rookie Braden Holtby making a name for himself, Washington suddenly had life. In the playoffs. When's the last time someone could say that?

The second round presented a team very much like Boston, the New York Rangers. They had a world-class goalie, a physical lineup, and home ice advantage. And once again it came down to game seven, where the Caps would fall short. The team looked tired at the end, drained emotionally and physically, especially after a furious second period failed to yield a game-tying goal.

And now, here we are, Capitals nation. After another second round exit, Washington is getting ready for the long summer, and eventually next season. Only this time, we know we need a new coach. Dale Hunter, our franchise legend, the man who was supposed to teach this team how to win in the playoffs, is going home.

How the young people will remember Dale: a goofball who only owns one suit, and says "hockey plays" a lot.

When the Chicago Cubs toyed with the idea of hiring a legend of their own (and my childhood baseball hero) Ryne Sandberg this winter, I hated the idea. The Cubs, as currently constructed, are a bad baseball team, and I would hate to see Sandberg held responsible for their futility. There's nothing worse than watching a formerly great talent reduced to rubble before your very eyes.

While that didn't exactly happen with Dale Hunter, I'm left to ask, what was the point? Was it a one-year gamble for Stanley Cup glory? How likely did they think that scenario was? Did no one in the organization think to ask about his availability after the season? Did they think he would change his mind if the team won a playoff round or two? Or did they just not care, wanting to reinvigorate a fan base growing impatient with the current regime? Whatever their reasoning, the Capitals brass is going to have to find a new coach in the next few months. He will not only need to get the Caps past the second round of the playoffs, but also win over a locker room that had grown attached to Hunter's personality.

Be careful, George McPhee, when hiring the Capitals' next head coach. If you ask me, whoever it is, it shouldn't be a former legend.