Did Dale Hunter Even Want To Be Here?

On November 28th of 2011, Bruce Boudreau was fired from the Washington Capitals.  Boudreau had become a Caps hero after leading the team to the Southeast Division title in each of his 4 seasons.  But a lack of playoff success and a start to the 2011-12 season that was not up to par with previous teams led to the Capitals parting ways with Boudreau.

In a somewhat bizarre move, the Washington Capitals hired former Caps center Dale Hunter.

Boudreau worked his way up through the coaching ranks from the CoHL to the IHL to the ECHL to the AHL all the way up to the NHL.  He had won championships in the ECHL and AHL and became the fastest NHL coach to reach 200 wins in the history of the league.

Hunter on the other hand, spent his entire coaching career in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) where he helped coach & develop junior hockey prospects between the ages of 15 and 20.  He coached there for 11 seasons, compiled a lot of wins, won a championship, and coached lots of future NHL players but never accepted any opportunity to coach in a higher level league...until the Capitals came to him in 2011 to replace Boudreau.

Dale Hunter came in and told everyone he was a farmer and that he only owned one suit. So why would a simple man who seemed to love mentoring young players and farming up in Canada want to coach an NHL team?

Perhaps because George McPhee has been trying to get him to do it for the past several years?  According to a Washington Post:

"McPhee added that he’s been in constant contact with Hunter for 12 years and that he always hoped that the timing would eventually work out so that the former Washington captain would return as coach of his former team." -Katie Carrera

If Dale Hunter didn't want to really be here, and he had to be convinced to give it a shot, then what was the plan by Capitals management?  Did they hope he would love coaching NHL superstars with egos instead of young mold-able minds?  Did they just want him to "temp" for a season so the team could stay under control before a dismantling next season?

We don't yet know the reason that Hunter isn't coming back, but if it was because he liked his old life better, than what was McPhee thinking?  Or was Hunter just an interim coach the whole time?

Bruce Boudreau Was Only Unemployed For 3 Days

Brucerella, Brucerella, All I Hear Is Brucerella...

I've been "unemployed" for like 6 months. Not unemployed, but not able to find a new and better job. It only took Bruce Boudreau 3 days to become an NHL head coach again. Early Thursday morning, the Anaheim Ducks announced that Bruce Boudreau will be their new head coach. Bruce is a good guy, I've watched hockey for a month, we've shared many moments together...

If you didn't think Boudreau was a good coach this should tell you how respected he is in the NHL. I've never seen something like this happen before in sports. Is it a hockey thing? A coach getting fired and another team immediately dropping their current coach to hire him.

It may be tough for Bruce to change from the Dump & Chase to the Flying V, but I think he can do it...

The Ducks aren't exactly a great team, with only 18 points, the 2nd lowest amount in the league. But you may remember Bruce taking over a similarly poor team, the Washington Capitals, when they were 6-15 back in 2007. Bruce led them to the playoffs that year and for 3 more years after.

Has this ever happened before?

This of course means that the Ducks will win the Stanley Cup next year, as Bruce wins a championship every 7 years.

Ducks Press Release

Bruce Boudreau's Seven Year Itch

The only thing I knew coming into this season of watching hockey was that Bruce Boudreau became the head coach of the Caps in the middle of a season, and since then the team has been one of the top teams in the league. I also know that every year the Caps lose in the playoffs. So I decided to take a look at Bruce's coaching career, which showed me something that makes me want to not watch the Caps in the playoffs this year.

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1992: Boudreau's first head coaching job for the Muskegon Fury of the Colonial Hockey League

7 Years Later

1999: Bourdreau leads the Mississippi Sea Wolves of the East Coast Hockey League to the Championship.

7 Years Later

2006: Boudreau leads the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League to the Championship.

7 Years Later

2013: Boudreau leads the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League to the Championship?

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As you can see there is one problem. 2012 is not on this list. That means this year is not on the list. Does this mean that this is not the year for the Caps. Will Boudreau even make it to 2013 if the Caps don't win a Cup? Will he even make it to the end of the season. Will his 2013 Championsip be with another organization. AHHHHHHHH.

Pointless Stats Are Fun!

Bruce Boudreau Literally Tries Everything & Fails

Four weeks ago, on Sunday, October 23rd, life was good. The Caps were 7-0 and were scoring at a pace of over 4 goals per game. I was expecting an undefeated season, and others were talking about the record for most wins in an NHL season. That is when the downward spiral began. The Caps went on to lose 8 out of the next 11 games, and in the last 7 games the Caps have only scored 13 goals and given up 23.

In those past 11 games after the undefeated start, Bruce Boudreau has tried just about everything to try to spark the team:

• Goalie Switch: On October 29th, Bruce pulled Vokoun from the game against the Canucks after 3 goals against. Neuvy came in to give up 4.


• Line Changes: On October 31st, Bruce changed the lines, moving Knuble to the 4th line. The Caps won their next 2 games.


• Bench The Captain: On November 1st, Bruce kept Ovi out at a crucial moment late in the game. The Caps ended up winning the game, Ovi called Bruce a fat f**k, but what did it do to the Ovi/Bruce relationship?


• Work Players Extra Hard: On November 9th, Bruce held a really tough high school style practice, having professional players skate suicides. The Caps won the next game, then lost 4 straight.


• Bench Someone Else: On November 11th, Bruce kept Alex Semin on the bench for most of the game because of picking up stupid penalties (for one). The next game Semin picked up a stupid penalty.
  


• Position Changes: On November 12th, Bruce moved Laich to defense instead of calling up someone from Hershey. The Caps lost the game.


• Line Changes: On November 15th, Bruce separated the "Meat & Potatoes" lineup that had been a successful line for the Caps. This didn't help the Caps win any games.


• Position Changes: On November 17th, Bruce moved Ovi to the right wing, despite him regularly playing as an all star left winger. The Caps lost that night to the Jets.


• Line Changes: On November 18th, Bruce made changes to the top 2 lines. The Caps scored 1 goal the next game.


• Give Players A Day To Rest: On November 18th, Bruce gave the guys a day off from practice to refresh their legs. The next game the Caps gave up 7 goals and only scored 1 in a bad loss to the Leafs.


• Goalie Switch: On November 19th, Bruce pulled Vokoun from net again after 4 goals against. Neuvy came in to give up 3 more goals.

So far, these moves haven't really sparked the Caps. Boudreau is in some trouble if he doesn't get the team turned around to their 7-0 start form. I think he will, but hopefully for him the next move to spark the team isn't making a coaching change...