Monday was a rainy day in Arlington, Virginia.
As light rain pattered across the giant glass window that
serves as the entrance to Kettler Capitals Iceplex, Vice President and General
Manager George McPhee strode around the corner and towards the throng of
reporters waiting for him.
“Good morning,” McPhee said. “Thank you for coming.”
“I imagine the first question will be about Dale
Hunter. This morning, Dale and I
met at about 10 o’clock, and he let me know that he will not be able to return
as the coach. He’s going to head
back to London. I guess we’re all
fathers and sons and husbands first before anything else, and if we have our
priorities right in this life, then family comes first. And Dale, he needs to go home.”
And just like that, it was over.
Dale Hunter’s reign as the head coach of the Washington
Capitals was over after 169 days, 37 wins, and 37 losses. It was over in less than a season.
But it’s over.
And that was the right call.
For club and for coach.
Dale Hunter did a tremendous job as the head coach of this
team. There is no doubt that he
came in and changed the culture of the Capitals by holding everybody
accountable for their play. They
were annoying, tough, and stubborn.
They were like Dale Hunter as a player.
"He had this club playing the way he played,” said
McPhee. “Home or road, winning or
losing, healthy or hurt. He had
this team playing hard."
He got this team, his team, to buy in to his system. And he put together a nice little run,
winning seven playoff games and knocking off the Stanley Cup Champion Bruins
before falling to the Rangers in seven games.
Read the rest of this article by clicking here.
Lots more to come from Kettler over the next few days. As always, follow me on Twitter here for news and updates.
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