The Washington Capitals have hired on a former Caps legend Calle Johannson to be an assistant coach. As one of the many who wasn't around back in 1998 (or even in 2010 for that matter) I have no clue who that is or what that means. If I didn't do a quick search just now, I probably wouldn't have known he was a former hockey player.
So that got me thinking. While everyone is reminiscing about the good old days with Calle Johannson, or most likely pretending that they were a fan in 1998, I should "keep it real" and let you know what I used to think about different Caps personalities.
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Alan May
How I Knew Him: A hockey analyst who screamed and yelled a lot. Despite the Caps record he still seemed to be yelling all the time. I think he wanted to fight all referees.
How I Should Have Known Him: A hockey player who screamed and yelled a lot. Part of the 1990 Washington Capitals team that made it to the conference semi-finals.
How I Know Him Now: A hockey analyst who screams and yells a lot. Despite the Caps record he still seemed to be yelling all the time. I still think he wants to fight all referees.
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Dale Hunter
How I Knew Him: Some nice Canadian farmer guy who taught kids how to play hockey in Canada.
How I Should Have Known Him: Some mean hockey player who was a part of the Washington Capitals 1998 Stanley Cup losing team.
How I Know Him Now: Some nice Canadian farmer guy who teaches kids how to play hockey in Canada that pissed off Ovechkin.
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Adam Oates
How I Knew Him: An awesome player for the Boston Bruins in the Super Nintendo game NHL 94'
How I Should Have Known Him: A 70 point scorer and one of the reasons the Caps made it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1998.
How I Know Him Now: New coach of the Washington Capitals that looks like he doesn't want to be bothered by anyone.
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Rod Langway
How I Knew Him: As Rob Langway, a guy I vaguely remember hearing about from NHL 94'
How I Should Have Known Him: Norris award winning defenseman for the Washington Caps in the early 80's.
How I Know Him Now: That old guy that was wearing his own jersey and signing autographs for kids that didn't even know who he was at the Caps Fanfest
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Calle Johannson
How I Knew Him: Incorrectly as Marcus Johannson's father, hired to help coach the Caps
How I Should Have Known Him: Former Caps great and defenseman for the 1998 Stanley Cup Final team
How I Know Him Now: Not Marcus Johannson's father, hired to help coach the Caps
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Hopefully this gives you an idea as to where I stand with knowing the history of the Washington Capitals. That way you don't have to get mad at me when I say things like "Who the hell is Calle Johannson!"
Showing posts with label Coaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Coaching. Show all posts
Calle Johannson & Caps Legends Then & Now, From A Noob
DC Sports Nexus ---- Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Welcome home, Adam Oates!
DC Sports Nexus ---- Tuesday, July 3, 2012
As we all know by now (that is, if you aren't living under a rock), the Cans new head coach is former player, and Captain, Adam Oates. Personally, I couldn't be happier with the move.
Yes, he's never been a head coach before but considering he's played for the Caps (the only year they've ever gone to the conferance finals) and was the assistant coach to the New Jersey Devils who went to the finals this year. Considering that and his strong opening statement, roughly quoting, "the number one priority of the Caps is to win the Cup", I think we've put this team in the right hands.
With the main, and obvious, goal of the Caps is to win the Cup, GMGM signing free agent Mike Ribeiro to center the Caps second line they seem to be headed in the right direction. Now, the Caps have to deal with the loss of winer Alex Semin (well, not quite yet but let's face it, he's leaving). The Caps have got to fin d auitable left wing for the second line. My answer? Look within.
The Caps have a lot of able bodied and skilled players at their finger tips. Take Perreault, for example. He's a greatr skilled player, a little on the short side for the NHL (he's still taller than me!) but he has great talent and is able to switch between wing and center. I think either Perrault, Johannsonn or maybe another player in Hershey or already on the Caps could do the position and line justice.
Oates has his work cut out for him, but with Development Camp and training camp, I think Oates is going to do a great job whipping the Caps into Stanley Cup shape.
Yes, he's never been a head coach before but considering he's played for the Caps (the only year they've ever gone to the conferance finals) and was the assistant coach to the New Jersey Devils who went to the finals this year. Considering that and his strong opening statement, roughly quoting, "the number one priority of the Caps is to win the Cup", I think we've put this team in the right hands.
With the main, and obvious, goal of the Caps is to win the Cup, GMGM signing free agent Mike Ribeiro to center the Caps second line they seem to be headed in the right direction. Now, the Caps have to deal with the loss of winer Alex Semin (well, not quite yet but let's face it, he's leaving). The Caps have got to fin d auitable left wing for the second line. My answer? Look within.
The Caps have a lot of able bodied and skilled players at their finger tips. Take Perreault, for example. He's a greatr skilled player, a little on the short side for the NHL (he's still taller than me!) but he has great talent and is able to switch between wing and center. I think either Perrault, Johannsonn or maybe another player in Hershey or already on the Caps could do the position and line justice.
Oates has his work cut out for him, but with Development Camp and training camp, I think Oates is going to do a great job whipping the Caps into Stanley Cup shape.
Did Dale Hunter Even Want To Be Here?
DC Sports Nexus ---- Monday, May 14, 2012
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
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?
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