There you have it....the greatest player in Caps history just made his feelings known about the state of the franchise by turning his back and walking away from this mess.
Fantastic Leonsis and McPhee....fan-friggen-tastic.
Seems like a pretty uninformed opinion to me.
Hunter never seemed confortable with the media. Coaching at the NHL level isn't for everyone. Nothing wrong with going back to his comfort zone and family while making good money.
There you have it....the greatest player in Caps history just made his feelings known about the state of the franchise by turning his back and walking away from this mess.
Fantastic Leonsis and McPhee....fan-friggen-tastic.
By most accounts he was never that interested in an NHL job in the first place. I don't know how much to read into the state of the organization about that.
Learn from him, both good and bad. If they can keep the mental stability he instilled while implementing a system that utilizes their strengths (and/or allows them to dictate play on their terms) they could do some damage.
Yep. The reason why you can't call this year a failure (though it arguably wasn't a success either) is that Dale made major strides in remedying the mental fragility of this group - a step that was absolutely necessary for them to have any chance of making playoff noise this year or in the future. He also gave them a sense of the commitment and work ethic needed for such success.
Did he get the most of out of the group's collective skill set -- on the D side, yeah; on the O side, there's still more to be done and because it's not clear to me that he could do it, it's not killing me that he's going. But I certainly appreciate what he did for the team.
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George McPhee....The Teflon GM. 15 years of failure and counting....
6 - Number of playoff series the Capitals have won since George McPhee took over as General Manager in 1997 (which makes him the third-longest-tenured GM in the League), three of which came in McPhee's first season on the job.
An interesting off-season just got even more interesting. Gotta figure this coaching hire is GMGM's last shot. He can't be foolish enough to hire a coach with no NHL experience again, could he?
By most accounts he was never that interested in an NHL job in the first place. I don't know how much to read into the state of the organization about that.
Really, you don't read anything into a rookie coach getting his first shot, taking the team as far as it's been in the last 5 years and he simply walks away?
An interesting off-season just got even more interesting. Gotta figure this coaching hire is GMGM's last shot. He can't be foolish enough to hire a coach with no NHL experience again, could he?
Really, you don't read anything into a rookie coach getting his first shot, taking the team as far as it's been in the last 5 years and he simply walks away?
So much for this "new identity" BS.
It's been pretty well known he wouldn't come back after this year for awhile now because he wanted to return to London... Guess you just missed all of that.
Really, you don't read anything into a rookie coach getting his first shot, taking the team as far as it's been in the last 5 years and he simply walks away?
So much for this "new identity" BS.
Not sure why you are surprised by DFH's decision. I'm not. When he was hired GMGM and DFH gave me the impression that DFH would try out being an NHL HC during his stint after BB and thats what he did. DFH would rather stick with what he has in London. NOt a big deal to me, and it certainly doesn't signal to me that the Caps organization is in shambles.
Years ago, Wayne Gretzky called the New Jersey Devils "a Mickey Mouse organization" which it was at the time. The Washington Capitals aren't quite that bad but like those terrible NJD teams the Caps organization is not very serious about winning Stanley Cups. Dale Hunter is serious as a heart attack about the Cup. I think he just realized he couldn't overcome the dull mediocrity of McPhee, Ted and the rest of the organization.
Hunter never seemed confortable with the media. Coaching at the NHL level isn't for everyone. Nothing wrong with going back to his comfort zone and family while making good money.
Funny to call me uninformed when you're posting this stuff.
Quote:
Originally Posted by amjay13
An interesting off-season just got even more interesting. Gotta figure this coaching hire is GMGM's last shot. He can't be foolish enough to hire a coach with no NHL experience again, could he?
I thought goalies don't make good HC's? Thought I heard that somewhere. Anyway, would definetly fit GMGM's habit of hiring HC"s with no previous HC experience in the NHL.
Really, you don't read anything into a rookie coach getting his first shot, taking the team as far as it's been in the last 5 years and he simply walks away?
So much for this "new identity" BS.
No, because I always got the vibe that he didn't want to be here in the first place. And because most of the "rumors" (yeah I know) were that he was heading back to London regardless of the outcome.
An interesting off-season just got even more interesting. Gotta figure this coaching hire is GMGM's last shot. He can't be foolish enough to hire a coach with no NHL experience again, could he?
I would be interested to see a short list of experienced NHL guys who are credible candidates. There are VERY few names that come to mind that are anything other than depressing.
Ron Wilson (lulz)
Mike Keenan (lulz)
Bob Hartley (uggg)
Michele Therrien (oh dear god)
Craig Mactavish (no track record)
Guy Carbonneau (feels weak...)
Marc Crawford ("Plan C"-type hire)
Andy Murray ("Plan D"-type hire)
I thought goalies don't make good HC's? Thought I heard that somewhere. Anyway, would definetly fit GMGM's habit of hiring HC"s with no previous HC experience in the NHL.
Not sure why you are surprised by DFH's decision. I'm not. When he was hired GMGM and DFH gave me the impression that DFH would try out being an NHL HC during his stint after BB and thats what he did. DFH would rather stick with what he has in London. NOt a big deal to me, and it certainly doesn't signal to me that the Caps organization is in shambles.
Never once said I was surprised. In fact, I predicted this before the playoffs started. Hunter never seemed comfortable early on, but he seemed to adjust.
Fact is he's the heart and soul of the franchise (historically) and he just turned his back and walked away from a mess. I can't say I blame him.
No F word from me on this, DFH would rather be at home running his team. The guy never looked comfortable to me dealing with the media and having to deal with the BS that comes with a high profile job like an NHL HC. I appreciate him giving it a shot and wish him well.
I would also like to see Jim Johnson given a shot.
Yep. The reason why you can't call this year a failure (though it arguably wasn't a success either) is that Dale made major strides in remedying the mental fragility of this group - a step that was absolutely necessary for them to have any chance of making playoff noise this year or in the future. He also gave them a sense of the commitment and work ethic needed for such success.
Did he get the most of out of the group's collective skill set -- on the D side, yeah; on the O side, there's still more to be done and because it's not clear to me that he could do it, it's not killing me that he's going. But I certainly appreciate what he did for the team.
This sums it up pretty well.
Either way, this "(Not So) Young Guns" Caps team is going to start the 2012-2013 season with their fourth coach in six years. Assuming the new coach has a new system (hopefully designed to play off the team's strengths) it will be, what, the fifth system this core has learned? I hope they pick the right guy (and the right system) for this specific lineup this time around.
But yeah, who is even out there that anybody would want?
