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Dale Hunter making believers out of Capitals

Bruce Arthur, National Post, May 10, 2012

Dale Hunter’s great lantern face tends towards one expression, more or less; he seems to squint without squinting, his mouth a hard line, his pale blue eyes partly lidded. The whole thing seems made of granite when he is behind the bench, though the mouth moves.

He wears the same expression with reporters, where the coach of the Washington Capitals deflects questions the way his team now blocks shots. But if you ask him enough questions, the mask breaks into a smile — not quite uneasy, but not quite not. For instance: What was the difference between coaching the junior London Knights and the NHL’s Capitals, who will play Game 7 of the second round against the New York Rangers Saturday night? The transition can’t have been easy, can it?

“Nothing’s easy that’s worthwhile,” says Hunter, before breaking into a spasm of laughter. “It’s the game of hockey. Don’t overanalyze that, it’s hockey.”

He keeps answers and hockey simple, as best he can, chopping along with short strides. He is no more revealing than the man on the other bench in Game 7, John Tortorella, though Tortorella’s public face is more likely to be awash in rage. In steering the Washington Capitals to Game 7 as a seventh seed, Hunter has also done about as much to promote hockey as a thicket, rather than a pond. In this series — and in Washington’s previous one — hockey is being dragged to Earth with goaltenders, defensive discipline and blocked shots, all married with a fierce desire. And Hunter, a tower of emotion as a player, watches it all with that face carved out the side of a mountain.

“Well, you know, as a coach, as a player it’s kind of different,” Hunter says. “You’re on the ice, you’re in the heat of the battle. As a coach you’ve got to be watching more, and studying the game more. As a player you can get heated up, because you can use your emotions on the ice to be a better player on the ice. But as a coach you have to watch, and make sure you have your wits about you.”

Was an adjustment necessary when he started coaching? “Yeah, you have to talk to yourself, I think.”

It is all a little odd. When Bruce Boudreau was fired and Hunter elevated in late November, the team itself did not know what to think. “When I found out it was Dale Hunter I kind of took a breath and thought, ‘This is going to be real serious’,” centre Brooks Laich says. Hunter’s methods in 52 games produced a 92-point pace, which was coincidentally the pace at which the Capitals played over the entire season.

He reduced the ice time of the team’s stars, created less puck possession for his team, and produced more time in Washington’s defensive end. He has carved out increased roles for of a posse of grinding pros like Jay Beagle, Joel Ward, Jason Chimera, Troy Brouwer, Mike Knuble, and especially in Game 6 in Washington, Matt Hendricks. Hendricks, a guy who bounced around for years, is a perfect Capital, just now.

“’Cause he’s a — I don’t know if I can say it — he’s a prick on the ice,” Laich says of Hendricks. “You don’t want to play against a guy like that. You have to go through a lot to get the best of Matt Hendricks. He’s gonna compete, and he’s gonna do everything in his power to not let you do it.”

The Capitals have seen 12 of their 13 playoff games decided by one goal, which means the margin for error is narrow, and the entire apparatus seems based at least in part on luck and jeopardy. Yahoo’s Greg Wyshynski called Hunter an accidental genius, which seems about right — it seems like a cocktail of magical thinking, luck, strategy, and belief. Hunter was prepared for this, in some ways; the former Washington star installed a satellite dish on the Knights bus so he could watch Capitals games, and he has been talking to GM George McPhee regularly for years.

But Hunter imported the same system he used in London, and when asked about the difference between there and here, he says, “They’re both … bottom line, they want to win. It’s just [the players are] older, and they’re the best in the world. [In junior] they’re younger, they make more mistakes; up here they make less. There are more scoring chances in junior because you’re teaching them to play the right way.”

Hunter does not come across as sophisticated in his coaching, yet his players say they believe, to a man. The Capitals have not lost back-to-back games in these playoffs. Ovechkin’s ice time has plummeted, and Mike Green’s role was reverted, and neither one has complained. Defenceman Karl Alzner says “we have that thick skin.” Chimera says, “It’s a working man’s game.” Laich says, “I just think he’s done a great job finding the balance and still allowing our skill players to be creative but within the confines of the system and obviously giving our defensive players the assignments and minutes to do what they do.”

Of course, all of this would mean nothing if not for a 22-year-old goaltender with 34 career starts whose playoff save percentage is .935, which is the highest he has ever achieved at any serious level of hockey. We don’t yet know if it is a coincidence that the goaltender in question, Braden Holtby, who became a father for the first time on Thursday, gave his newborn son Hunter as a middle name.

Regardless, the coach beetles along with short, choppy strides, matching lines, staying calm, carrying on, and whether he is an accidental genius or simply a lucky devil, his team believes. Alex Ovechkin blocked three shots in Game 6, at least two of them intentionally, and scored a goal by being moved to a new spot on the power play. Alex Semin, long derided for vacillating effort, fought like hell to set up the winning goal.

One more game to play, and Washington will go further than it did as the league’s best team, further than any Capitals team since 1998. Back then there was a 37-year-old veteran at the end of his career hanging around, playing a role on a top-10 defensive team, chipping in, a bit of a prick on the ice, sacrificing for the team. He seemed to squint, and had pale blue eyes.

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Alex Ovechkin’s evolving superstar status

Ken Campbell, The Hockey News, 2012-05-11

When Steve Yzerman reached the crossroad of his career, he had the option of going one of two ways. He could either continue as a one-way offensive dynamo or he could reinvent himself as a two-way player.

Had he taken the first option, there’s a good chance Yzerman would have never won a single Stanley Cup. Either he would have been dealt from the Detroit Red Wings or he wouldn’t have been able to provide them with the type of play they needed for him to lead them to three championships. Because he chose the latter, not only was he an integral part of three championship teams, but he also cemented his Hall of Fame credentials and his status as one of the greatest leaders and players of all-time.

So it’s rather curious, isn’t it, that now that Alex Ovechkin is being asked to do some of the same things and he’s complying, his career is going down the sinkhole before his 27th birthday? The same things for which Yzerman was lionized Ovechkin is being fed to the lions. This wouldn’t have anything to do with a bias against Russians would it? Didn’t think so.

It must be more a function of the fact that at just more than $9.5 million, Ovechkin carries the highest salary cap hit in the league. But the reality is there are a lot of players in the top snack bracket who aren’t exactly earning their money these days.

Let’s take a look at the top 10 salary cap hits among forwards. Most hockey observers concede that Ovechkin has endured two consecutive miserable, underachieving seasons. But of the players in that group, only Steven Stamkos has more goals and more points than Ovechkin in that time period. Or put another way, would you rather face the prospect of another nine years with Ovechkin’s $9.5 million cap hit or another six years with Vincent Lecavalier at $7.7 million? (Lecavalier’s contract actually runs for another eight years, but the last two years are for salaries of $1.5 million and $1 million, meaning there’s a very good chance he will retire by then.)

Ovechkin has averaged 35 goals and 75 points over the past two seasons, which is by anyone’s standards an enormous downgrade from his salad days. Will we ever see a 60-goal season from Ovechkin again? Probably not. Will we see 50? Debatable.

But under Dale Hunter in these playoffs, Ovechkin has done everything he has been asked. He isn’t exactly a shot-blocking demon, but he’s putting his body in the way of shots. He’s playing both ends of the ice. He isn’t cheating by darting up the ice out of the defensive zone before his team even has control of the puck. And hey, if you’re going to let the game get dragged down by not enforcing the standards and by rewarding defensive play, what’s a guy to do? Ovechkin would have been exposed if he played the way he has in the past.

And we shouldn’t forget that through all of this he’s still leading the Capitals in scoring in the playoffs with five goals and nine points. It would be one thing if Ovechkin were lagging behind his teammates, but has anyone noticed that Nicklas Backstrom has only eight points through 12 games? In these playoffs, Ovechkin is far more a product of his environment than he is the author of his demise.

We can only imagine what GM George McPhee makes of all this. After all, he built the Capitals to be the most exciting team in the new NHL and basically got nowhere in the process. Ovechkin was the crown jewel, the constant go-to guy and the one around whom the entire offensive game plan revolved. That didn’t work out so well.

Now the Capitals are far more turgid, defense-minded and typical of a team that has more success in the playoffs. Ovechkin’s ice time is way down, as is his production and his impact on the game, and the Capitals are one win away from making it the furthest they ever have with Ovechkin in their lineup.

The key for Hunter, if he decides to stay on as the Capitals coach beyond this year, is to convince Ovechkin and some of the other Caps there are rewards in playing this way for the 82 games of the regular season. It’s one thing to have players buy into a system for two months with the Stanley Cup as a tangible and reachable goal. It’s quite another to make them realize the rewards of playing that way on a Tuesday night in the middle of January.

So far, though, Ovechkin has been buying what Hunter has been selling. More importantly, he hasn’t made any of this about himself. Lesser players, lots of them, would have been far more vocal in their complaints by now. And in return, Ovechkin is being written off as an impact player.

It’s not Ovechkin’s fault he’s doing what’s best for his team. He’s an extremely proud man, he’s driven and, contrary to the belief of some people, he cares deeply about winning. He’s also still one of the most dynamic physical talents in the NHL.

That’s not a player I’m ready to write off. Not by a long shot.

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Change of identity has been key for Caps

Terry Koshan,Toronto Sun, May 10, 2012

ARLINGTON, VA. – Brooks Laich sat up and took notice last July when Washington Capitals general manager George McPhee went on bit of a spending spree.

McPhee, who had acquired Troy Brouwer from Chicago in a trade at the NHL draft, soon added veterans Joel Ward, Jeff Halpern, Roman Hamrlik and Tomas Vokoun.

Great, thought Laich, a leader on a team that counts Alex Ovechkin as its captain. A solid group, in his mind, was improved.

But it wasn't until the end of November, when Dale Hunter took over as coach after Bruce Boudreau was fired, that the true re-shaping of the Capitals began to come into sharp focus.

"It has been interesting to see our team evolve with the change in identity, change of mentality," Laich said. "We have learned that preventing a (scoring) chance is more important than trying to create one.

"It is a game of mistakes, and you need to be solid defensively. Don't give them anything and think that sooner or later the other team might break down and give us a chance, and we have opportunistic scorers.

"That's a different mentality than what we had in here before."

Of course, the Capitals will carry that mentality into Game 7 of their Eastern Conference semifinal Saturday night against the New York Rangers. The winner of that game will clash with the New Jersey Devils in the conference final, starting Monday night. The loser will pick up the mental pieces and begin to prepare for a summer of what-ifs.

Neither club practised Thursday, and the Rangers players had the day off completely. Hunter said he would have a better idea on Friday whether there would be any chance forward Jay Beagle could return from a lower-body injury, one that caused him to be replaced in the lineup by Halpern in Game 6.

No one knows yet what Hunter will do if the Caps lose, whether he will pack up and head back to the London Knights (as some suspect) or decide that coaching in the NHL is something he wants to do for the foreseeable future.

For Hunter, the transition to coaching NHL players after being responsible for the hockey well-being of teenagers wasn't done with the snap of his fingers.

"Nothing is easy," Hunter said. "(If it was) it would not be worthwhile. (NHL players) are older and they are the best in the world. (Junior players) are younger and make more mistakes. There are more scoring chances in junior because you are teaching them how to play the right way. Up here, there are less mistakes."

You expect the grit guys, the Laichs, the Jason Chimeras, the Brouwers, the Matt Hendricks, to get in line with Hunter's way of thinking. But there was Alexander Semin dumping the puck into the Rangers' end in Game 6, when, Laich figured, he might have tried to dangle in the past. There was Ovechkin blocking three shots, the most of any Caps forward in what was the team's biggest game of the season.

But let's not kid ourselves. No team is perfect, but when the Capitals do have breakdowns and make mistakes, 22-year-old goaltender Braden Holtby (who became a father on Thursday when his fiance gave birth to a boy, named Benjamin Hunter Holtby) has calmly turned away just about every Rangers shot when a save has been needed most.

Laich said he "absolutely" wants Hunter to return next season, but then caught himself and reminded reporters that he was thinking only of Game 7.

But he recalled the day he learned it was Hunter who would be taking over from Boudreau.

"I took a breath, and it was like, 'This is going to be really serious,'" Laich said. "I can't speak enough (about Hunter). He has been great. It's almost like having another veteran in the locker room. He has been through these battles."

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