Breaking: Dale Hunter Will Not Return as Capitals Coach

On May 14, 2012, In News, By Peter Hassett

Per Nick Kypreos, Dale Hunter will not return as coach for the Washington Capitals next season. Share your thoughts in the comments below.

(By the way, Ian owes Peter $22 and lunch at Chick-Fil-a.)

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SO_CAL_Brat

WOAH!!!
http://twitter.com/KmaxUSMC JKMax

Im guessing that was all Dale
SO_CAL_Brat

“It’s not you….it’s me”
Didn’t see that coming this fast. WOW! That was a very prompt decision. I’m curious as to who made the decision and why?

$22? Very precise number. How many cookies & cream milk shakes can you get with that?
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=5502938 John Barduhn

F*&ING SUCKS. I was super critical of DH during the regular season, but the positive changes in the team started to click when it really mattered. Who knows if that progress can continue without his guidence. London must be a f*&ing awesome place.
cindy399

I am sad about this. I really believe he did a lot for the team this year.
http://twitter.com/Dara_Laine Dara Goldberg

Had to be.
SO_CAL_Brat

According to RMNB’s twitter feed it was a DH decision. My question now is…..what if the CAPS had made it another round or to the finals??? Would DH have abandoned ship then? What now?
Nick

Damn shame… Hunter could have done good things with the Caps
always next year

Sucks. We should bring in Alan May.
http://twitter.com/OnTeRhodeAgain Tommy Rhodes

Remarkably shocking, I was actually starting to enjoy Hunter hockey. This had to be all Dale, no way GMGM would make the decision that fast if it wasn’t.
Road worrier

DH32 owns the London Knights, which is like the Montreal Canadiens/New York Yankees/LA Lakers of the OHL. They make lots of money and no one comments about his suit. Plus players with small contracts and smaller egos.

Perhaps Evason or Johnson have picked up his good habits and take the Caps forward.
Ernesto22

The big question for us is – how much of the Caps “true Playoff hockey” was Hunter coaching and Holtby in the net?? This group needs strong guidance….having Evason or Johnson be promoted won’t get it done…I like the Alan May idea…
Dutchman

Well this sucks. The caps were just starting to get the hang of hunter hockey. Oh well, another system to learn next year.
http://www.facebook.com/chris.pavlakos Chris Pavlakos

GMGM should have offered moar money.
http://www.calacirian.org sonja n a

DespIte the temporary disappointment on Saturday, I was encouraged by the thought of this team moving ahead next year. This news is just horrible … now I feel a sense of doom that I didn’t before
http://twitter.com/priscillamay1 Priscilla Villanueva

Would have liked to see one more season to assess if the locker room really did unite, if they really bought in, all the stuff that pierre and co kept spouting off about during the playoffs. You can’t answer any of the questions folks are asking with this small a sample size. I hate the feeling of “now we’ll never know…”
http://www.facebook.com/carl.windhausen Carl Dubbsy Windhausen

This sucks. Wonder what’s going to happen now.
http://www.facebook.com/bryantpthomas Bryant Thomas

Gonna miss you (again) Dale. I’m proud to say I never doubted him.
elguapo

Knuuuubs for player/coach
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1005713165 Pat Magee

Somehwere, BBBB is laughing and crying at the same time.
Pete

Can we get some knuble 2012 shirts made up?
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1005713165 Pat Magee

Be glad he did it this soon! He gave GMGM plenty of time to find a new coach and implement a working system!
Sgt. Hartman

After a slow start, I thought the extended “job interview” was going pretty well.
Rhino40

This is serious! This is HOCKEY!
Rhino40

So, then what? This is the same question I felt compelled to ask in response, whenever people would agitate for a coaching change: Who would we want at the helm of this team, that is also available to take the job?

My gut instinct says the Caps could/should bring back Ron Wilson: He took the Caps all the way to the Cup final in 1999 with significantly weapons than the current roster has. After the media pressure cooker that is Maple Leafs Hockey, It would probably seem like a vacation for him.

Any other Ideas, people? Please discuss.
http://twitter.com/3GBcanada 3GBcanada

“Hunter wanted to be closer to his family – he’ll return to his duties looking after the family farm in addition to his responsibilities with the Knights – and seemed thrilled to be doing so, telling reporters, “I’m going home. I’ve got a good thing going there with the family, so I’ll stay home.”” — http://blogs.canada.com/2012/05/14/dale-hunter-chooses-family-over-the-washington-capitals/
http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/ Peter Hassett

I’ve been planning a post on this for a while– the team didn’t improve over time. I’ll have #s later tonight or tomorrow.
http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/ Peter Hassett

No way GMGM could offer more than his farm and hockey club earns.
http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/ Peter Hassett

I answered those questions in the last post. http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2012/05/14/the-hangover-playoffs-by-the-numbers/
JP

This’ll probably sound harsher than I mean it to, but good riddance to coin-flip hockey. While I appreciate Dale’s approach to mentally toughen up a team with a notoriously fragile psyche – which he did very well, I can’t say I appreciated the particular style of play that was implemented. Haven’t seen that many turtles since since I last watched Finding Nemo! Seriously, limiting offense so you can bunker down and try and protect a one goal lead (if they were fortunate enough to have one in the first place) was brutal and ultimately ineffective. Couple that with his baffling time-on-ice decisions for a multitude of players and I think the negatives were equal to the positives. So in essence, Dale Hunter was the epitome of the coin-flip hockey style that everyone now associates with his tenure here. I’m glad he’s moving on and I mean no animus with that statement. I think he’s a good guy whose talents are better suited at the Junior levels, rather than here.
http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/ Peter Hassett

That somewhere is Anaheim, where BB signed a 2-year extension.
http://www.facebook.com/leeann.timmons Lee-Ann Timmons

Ok I know that nobody will agree with this but why not offer the job rto feds? Bring in Sergi Federov to coach the team likes and respects him hell thats half the battle won … OK just an idea PEACE ♥ & HOCKEY
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Greg Girard

That’s too bad. I mean, I was hoping GMGM would throw tons of money at him but obviously (or apparently I should say) that wouldn’t have mattered because he stands to make more in Ontario. Thanks for a crazy and tense run, Dale.
erinw410

Hunter hockey was a good thing for the Caps. Good D will lead to a good O. We needed him.
http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/ Peter Hassett

uhhhh stay tuned– more on that later
roadworrier

He did for most of the players. Semin is gone now….the agent said he couldn’t play in a defensive system (which I think is here to stay now). To be honest I think Ovi feels the same. Only Backy seems to feel different (and actually he was a terrific player in the postseason, especially against NYR). He was actually upset to see Hunter go…..he had a chance to become a true 2-way player and took advantage.
http://www.russianmachineneverbreaks.com/ Peter Hassett

Why would you think Semin is gone? Because his Russian agent made some noise in the press? I wouldn’t give that too much credence yet.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=5502938 John Barduhn

Hey Peter – just saw your post – I defer to your obviously much greater hockey knowledge, but I can’t get my heart to agree. Dropped a comment on that page- let me know what you think.

GO CAPS!