SB Nation DC - Washington Capitals Bring Back Tim Hunter As Assistant Coach

Washington Capitals Bring Back Tim Hunter As Assistant Coach

2012-07-23T17:36:56Z

Tim Hunter, an assistant coach for the Washington Capitals when the team reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 1998, has been rehired by the team to serve as an assistant to new head coach Adam Oates.

Hunter served as an assistant for the Capitals under former coach Ron Wilson from 1997-2002. In that time, the Capitals appeared in the playoffs three times, including the Stanley Cup Finals appearance, and helped the team compile a record of 192-159-51-8. Hunter coached Oates and fellow assistants Calle Johansson and Olaf Kolzig when they were players for the Capitals.

Hunter played 16 seasons in the NHL, winning a Stanley Cup championship with the Calgary Flames in 1989. He ranks eighth all time for penalty minutes, amassing 3,146 over his career. He also holds the Flames' franchise record for penalty minutes with 2,405.

Hiring a hard nosed coach like Hunter should help the Capitals with their aggressiveness and not lose the defensive edge they had under former head coach Dale Hunter.

For more on the hiring of Adam Oates, visit SB Nation's Capitals blog, Japers Rink. For the latest news and notes from around the NHL, visit SB Nation's NHL hub page.

Ted Leonsis Says He Would Have Retained Dale Hunter If Former Capitals Coach Wanted To Stay

2012-07-20T03:17:45Z

Kudos to Mike Wise of The Washington Post for scoring a very involved in-person/email interview with Wizards and Capitals owner Ted Leonsis (and kudos to the Post for putting the whole thing online rather than merely picking out the best bits for print).

Our colleague Mike Prada of Bullets Forever broke down the aspects of the interview that related to the Wizards over there, and we strongly recommend you read that, too. But Leonsis does own another team in this town and he made a few points about the Capitals that jumped out at us.

Leonsis wisely kept silent about the NHL labor strife, as well as the free agent status of Alexander Semin, but when it came to the departure of Dale Hunter and the hiring of Adam Oates as the team's head coach.

George McPhee and Dick Patrick hired Adam Oates as they hired Dale Hunter. They run hockey ops.

That was a part of one of Leonsis' email responses. A little ways up in the transcript, here's Leonsis on the decision-making process surrounding the return of Wizards coach Randy Wittman.

In our case, with Randy, I did the exit interviews.

And then, the questions about Dale Hunter come up.

Q. Was Dale's tight-lipped personality, his seemingly uncomfortable nature in front of a microphone and his inability to really communicate at times with his players, cut-out for the position of a long-term NHL coach?

A. Dale was a great coach. I am grateful that he came in mid season to help us and we went to game 7 of second round so he had a successful season..He developed our team with a much more responsible defensive posture. It was apparent though by his actions at season end that he wasn't happy being away from home and his family. When someone really says " I want to go home"; how can you be mad?

Q. And given his limiting of minutes with Alex, would you have definitely retained him if he wanted to stay?

A. Yes.

Some interesting contrasts in Leonsis' level of involvement between the two franchises there. We're not implying anything malignant about this setup, understand. We just find it interesting.

And the admission that Hunter would have been brought back if he had taken a shine to being an NHL coach, well, that opens up a whole other "what-if" game.

Capitals Bring Calle Johansson Back Into The Fold

2012-07-18T19:56:03Z

With his first NHL coaching job in hand and making his first hire of an assistant, new Capitals coach Adam Oates turned to a familiar face.

Oates tabbed longtime Washington defenseman Calle Johansson as an assistant coach Wednesday, the first of two assistants Oates will be hiring this offseason.

Johansson, who said he had an offer to come back to the NHL in 2005 as an assistant coach but turned it down, felt this situation with his former teammate was right.

"I've been asked through the years from different people and organizations in Sweden if I ever wanted to coach again or do coaching and I said, ‘Yes, I do want to when the situation is right, when there are people around me that I really like and trust and know, think hockey kind of the same way I do,'" Johansson said to reporters on a conference call.

"Adam called me and asked me a few weeks back and it just felt right," he said. "I've always loved the Washington Capitals, I was there for a long time. A lot of the same people are still there, and Adam and I played together for a number of years and I know Adam well. We got along great when we played and we still do."

Johansson played most of his NHL career with Washington from 1989 to 2003, setting the franchise mark for games played in a Capitals sweater with 983, along with short stints in Buffalo and Toronto. He also was in Washington including Oates' entire five-year stint in the nation's capital from 1997 to 2002, and was one of the Capitals' assistant captains during Oates' time as team captain as well.

The Goteborg, Sweden, native also is the all-time franchise leader in points (474) and assists (371) by a defenseman, and along with Oates and goaltending coach Olaf Kolzig. All three were members of the Capitals team that reached the franchise's only Stanley Cup Finals berth in 1998 - which Johansson called the pinnacle of his career.

"You know, nothing beat that in my career," Johansson said. "I won some gold medals [with Sweden] in the world championship, but going to the Cup Finals in 1998 was the biggest."

Oates - who has no previous head coaching experience - now will take on an assistant who has just one season as an assistant coach in Sweden under his belt, as he was an assistant for the Swedish Elite League club Frolunda during the 2006-07 season. Johansson primarily had worked as a color commentator for broadcasts of the SEL and the NHL for the Swedish networks Canal+ and Viasat before and after his tenure as an assistant coach.

During his playing career, Johansson was a smooth-skating defenseman who also played a responsible defensive style, blending offensive skill with a disciplined approach to defending his own zone, and he will try to bring the same approach to the Capitals.

"I might want to tweak a little bit of the defense play, but we're going to become a more offensive team. But we're not going to sacrifice defense and become a run-and-gun team. That's what I like."

With some talented puck-movers like Mike Green and John Carlson on the roster, Johansson is excited to work with the club.

"You look at the defense in Washington today and it's got great potential," he said. "To me, when I see them, they play pretty much the same way I did or I wanted to and I tried to. They're great skaters, they are good two-way defensemen. I think...they could become easily the best D corps in the league."

For the Capitals, Johansson's hiring also means the last five coaches and assistant coaches the team has utilized - Dale Hunter, Dean Evason, Jim Johnson, Oates and now Johansson - all played for the franchise at one point during their careers.

"I just had hoped, I've always wanted to come back in some form. I'm really grateful and lucky to be there again."

And, back in North America, Johansson looks for something he never won as a player: the Stanley Cup.

"I don't have a Cup," said Johansson, who was named an assistant coach Wednesday. "People ask players and they ask coaches, 'What's the biggest thing you can win? Is it the Olympics or is it the Stanley Cup?' I know that they are pretty politically correct when they say, 'Well, they're both pretty big.' To me, to win the Stanley Cup with players or coaches that you side with every day for nine months or 10 months, that is the absolute ultimate goal and the biggest thing you can do. For me, that's really unfinished business.

But for Johansson, the timing was right for a return to America's capital.

"The team in Washington is a great hockey team and has great potential," he said. "To me, it was just a perfect situation."

Washington Capitals Name Calle Johansson Assistant Coach

2012-07-18T14:24:27Z

The Washington Capitals announced Wednesday morning that the team has hired Calle Johansson as an assistant coach. Johansson joined new head coach Adam Oates as the team looks to build on a trip to the playoffs last season.

Johansson should be a familiar name to Caps fans. The defenseman holds the record for the most games played as a Capital, with 983 games between 1989 and 2003. He also holds team records for points (474) and assists (361) by a blueliner and ranks third on the franchise list for goals scored with 113.

Oates, Johansson and goalies coach Olie Kolzig were all part of the team that reached the 1998 Stanley Cup finals.

Since hanging up his skates, Johansson has worked as a broadcaster for both the Swedish Elite League and the NHL. He was an assistant coach for Frolunda for one season, 2006-2007, during that time.

For more on the hiring of Adam Oates, visit SB Nation's Capitals blog, Japers Rink. For the latest news and notes from around the NHL, visit SB Nation's NHL hub page.

Adam Oates' Hiring 15 Years In The Making

2012-06-28T12:30:14Z

While the formal portion of the Capitals' interviewing for their next head coach lasted a little over a month, Adam Oates' informal interview with Washington's top brass had been ongoing since 1997.

It's evident that Oates made a very lasting impression on both Capitals owner Ted Leonsis and general manager George McPhee back in his playing days in Washington over a decade ago. A strong scent of nostalgia was in the air at Wednesday's press conference at Verizon Center, as both talked extensively about Oates' impact as a team leader and captain back when he skated for the Capitals from 1997 to 2002.

Coming off another bench boss with deep roots to the club in Dale Hunter, Washington gets another player with strong ties to the team, this one the later edition of the Capitals around the turn of the century that went to the Stanley Cup Finals, but one that also was heading towards a rebuilding project that created the team's current roster.

Both Leonsis and McPhee singled out one bit of advice Oates gave during his playing career, when the captain suggested to McPhee and then-coach Ron Wilson early in the 2000-01 season that Washington should move sniper Peter Bondra back to the point on the power play.

"I remember him coming up ... to Ron and I, about six games into the season," McPhee recalled. "I think we were in the lobby of the hotel on the road, and he said 'Have you ever thought about putting Peter Bondra on the point on the power play?'

"'We said, 'I'm not sure," and 'How's he going to get up the ice and so on.' He said, 'It doesn't matter. We need the shot back there. I can get him the puck.' Peter Bondra had the most power-play goals in the league that year.

"It was a good suggestion."

Bondra's power-play total more than quadrupled from just five goals the year before Oates' advice up to 22 to lead the NHL in that category, scoring nearly half of his goals that campaign with the man-advantage.

With Washington's power-play struggling the last two seasons after leading the league in 2009-10, the Caps are looking for some similar successful tips to restore their current special teams unit.

One thing that McPhee also noted of his new coach was his "hockey IQ," again reaching back to his playing days with Washington.

"His background in the game is exceptional," he said. "He's really a terrific player and quickly become a top-notch assistant coach and now he's ready to be a head coach. In terms of his hockey IQ, I don't know if there's a player that I've met that's better in terms of understanding the game and vision on the ice and ability to articulate what goes on the ice, it's really impressive."

Oates, who was named Washington's captain during Ted Leonsis' first season as Capitals owner in 1999, also made an impression on his new boss quickly.

"Adam was always like a coach on the ice," Leonsis said. "I would say as a player, he was one of the few players who was - as a new owner - would talk to me about hockey. He explained to me what was going on. As a new owner, I was very, very appreciative of that."

For his part, Oates also said he was thrilled to be coming back to the Capitals, noting the longest stop of his 19-season NHL career was in the nation's capital. But he didn't seem overly convinced he would return to the club again after being traded away in a trade-deadline deal to Philadelphia in 2002.

"It's an honor to be here today, a day I thought would never happen - where I'm member of the Washington Capitals again. I played my longest time in this league for this organization, and to come back here as a head coach in the National Hockey League is a huge high for me and my family."

But clearly, his suggestions and tips over a decade ago were noted by both McPhee and Leonsis, and after Oates took a five-year break from the game in California with his family upon his retirement in 2004, he's been on the Capitals' radar since taking an assistant coaching job with Tampa in 2009.

"I reminded him I was office one day at Kettler [during the 2009-10 season] - the Caps were on a road trip - and one of those scheduling commitments where Tampa was here," Leonsis recalled. "Our receptionist said, 'I saw Adam Oates come into the building.'

"I hadn't seen Adam since he left the team. I ran over to get him, since I had such positive feelings about him, and starting talking to him. We go down and see George, and started chatting, and then he had to get to work. I was saying to George 'He's really smart guy, isn't he?' George said 'Yeah, he's the smartest player I've been around.'"

One thing that has changed from Oates' first tour of duty in Washington is the expectations and attention placed on this club. While Oates was part of Washington's only Stanley Cup Finals club in 1998, that was considered less of an expectation and more of a surprise run. This time around, there is an expectation to duplicate the feat.

"I think not only will Adam be a very, very good coach for us, he also shares having a chip on his shoulder," Leonsis said. "We're at that point where we have to do better in the playoffs. We have to win the Stanley Cup. That's what our mission is. Adam's now been to the Finals twice, once as a player, once as a coach. We want to win a Cup together. That's our collective goal."

Of course, one thing Oates laughingly noted is the attention level of the club is a bit different than his playing days, too.

"I remember when I was named captain one year, we did the announcement over by the White House. I think there was no one there, people walking by, we were trying to pull people over."

Anonymity is one thing Oates won't have around Washington any more as he has been tasked to do what he couldn't quite do during his first tour of duty in Washington. Delivering the Caps a Stanley Cup.

Adam Oates Press Conference: George McPhee Says Capitals New Coach Had 'The Most Upside'

2012-06-27T20:13:18Z

The NBA Draft isn't until Thursday night, but Washington Capitals General Manager George McPhee took a page from Jay Bilas' Book of Draft Lingo at a press conference Wednesday afternoon to introduce Adam Oates as the 16th head coach of the Washington Capitals franchise.

#Caps GMGM says they wanted to a higher a guy with the "most upside", "difference maker"
— Sky Kerstein (@SkyKerstein) June 27, 2012

That's right, McPhee's already into our yearly quota of "upside!' Somebody get the trademark attorneys ready!

There wasn't much in the way of earth-shattering news Wednesday afternoon. There was more gushing on the part of McPhee about Oates.

McPhee on Oates: "I really like the way he wants to play the game, how he's going to practice, how he's going to run the bench."
— David Elfin (@davidelfin) June 27, 2012

Then there were some words from the man himself, beginning with an explanation of why the process took so long.

#Caps Oates says he got a call from the Caps a couple days after the #Devils had been eliminated
— Sky Kerstein (@SkyKerstein) June 27, 2012

Also, there were some trenchant observations.

Oates says #Caps looked like 'a hockey team' in playoffs, and are 'very close'
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) June 27, 2012

Looks like Oates' new charges shouldn't expect Dale Hunter hockey to completely die away, after all. And following the press conference, there was this meeting of the minds between the Verizon Center's main winter occupants.

Adam Oates & Wizards Coach Randy Wittman meeting each other for the first time after today's press conferenc instagr.am/p/MY7U0LyGrF/
— Washington Capitals (@washcaps) June 27, 2012

For more on the hiring of Adam Oates, visit SB Nation's Capitals blog, Japers Rink. For the latest news and notes from around the NHL, visit SB Nation's NHL hub page.

Washington Capitals Seek Power (Play) Surge With Adam Oates Hire

2012-06-27T12:30:03Z

Fifteen years ago, the Capitals acquired Adam Oates from the Bruins via trade looking for a jump-start to bolster its struggling offense from the veteran center. On Tuesday, Washington brought in Oates again looking for the same result from the newly-minted Hall of Famer - except this time with Oates taking over behind the bench.

Oates, who was one of Pete DeBoer's assistants in New Jersey this past season, will look to bring his strong hockey intelligence and creative offensive ideas to the nation's capital to resurrect what had been one of the league's most offensive clubs. In recent years, though, the Caps have struggled to light the lamp like before, and Washington hopes Oates can help in that regard.

Oates was the only one of the three apparent finalists for Washington's head coaching job - former Blackhawks assistant Mike Haviland and Norfolk coach Jon Cooper were the others - without previous head coaching experience. But Oates' biggest asset was his work with the Devils' offense - in particular the special teams - which was one of the reasons New Jersey surprised many experts and reached the Stanley Cup Final this spring.

Unlike Devils teams of the past which had adopted a much more passive offense, New Jersey got much more aggressive in that regard this past season. New Jersey would even employ the tactic of attacking point men on the penalty kill in an effort to generate scoring.

While the Devils were nearly even with Washington in goal production overall (New Jersey outscored Washington 228-222), New Jersey's special teams outproduced the Caps 61-44 with the extra man and the penalty kill combined.

The Capitals once possessed the league's most potent power-play unit, but the extra man has lately been a sore spot with the Caps - particularly noted as one of the reasons for the Caps' struggles in recent years by owner Ted Leonsis in an interview with him this past season. The Caps had the league's best power-play unit in 2009-10, but the extra man faltered badly in the team's stunning loss to the Canadiens in round one. Following the playoff upset by Montreal, the power play fell to 16th overall in the league in 2010-11 and dropped again to 18th this past season.

Oates was brought in by ex-Capitals teammate Rick Tocchet in Tampa Bay before the 2009-10 season, as he worked with the Bolts' forwards in training camp, despite not having any previous coaching experience. With Oates behind the bench, the Lightning finished with the 8th-ranked power play unit and two of its forwards ranked in the NHL's top six scorers.

When Tocchet was replaced by Guy Boucher in Tampa, Oates headed north to join new Devils coach John MacLean's staff in New Jersey the next season. While MacLean's tenure didn't last long with the Devils' slow start, Oates remained behind the bench with both MacLean's replacement Brent Sutter and Pete DeBoer this season.

Like the Devils, the power play struggled in Oates' first year - hampered by the long-term injury to Zach Parise - but finished 14th in the league this past season. In particular, Oates' system helped Ilya Kovalchuk finish with 10 power-play goals this regular season, and 5 in the playoffs - best in the entire league.

For Oates, his next challenge will be working with Kovalchuk's good friend Alex Ovechkin, and presumably helping him improve his defensive game as well as recapturing his old power-play prowess. Kovalchuk earned praise league-wide this campaign for embracing more of a two-way game, and one of Oates' responsibilities in Washington likely will be working to do the same with Ovechkin.

It will be worth noting if Oates imports New Jersey's aggressive stance on the penalty-kill as well, as the Devils led the league with 15 short-handed tallies, with Adam Henrique, Kovalchuk and Parise among the league leaders in that category. Until now, Ovechkin has rarely played on the penalty kill, but that could change under a more aggressive penalty kill.

For Capitals General George McPhee, bringing in Oates - the fifth straight coach he has hired without previous NHL coaching experience - certainly seems to be a move towards giving the team's offensive numbers.

McPhee certainly was familiar with Oates as a player - Oates was an assistant captain during the team's 1998 Stanley Cup playoff run, as well as succeeding Dale Hunter in the team captaincy in 1999.

"Adam was a highly intelligent player in the NHL for 19 seasons," McPhee said in a press release. "He has been an assistant coach in our conference for the past three seasons and is prepared to lead our club as head coach."

Ironically, Oates' trade from Boston in 1997 laid the groundwork for McPhee taking over the Capitals. After being acquired by then-Caps GM David Poile to try to improve Washington's struggling offense, Oates he sat out his first game after the deal - a loss to the Islanders - and Washington missed the playoffs by two points. That summer, Poile was replaced by McPhee.

Oates spent 19 years in the NHL, playing with Detroit, St. Louis, Boston, Washington, Philadelphia, Anaheim and Edmonton, scoring 1,420 points - 1,079 helpers - and played 387 games with the Caps between 1997 and 2002.

Thanks to that stellar playing career, it proved to be a pretty memorable day for Oates as well, as less than two hours after being named coach of the Capitals, it was announced he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto - just the 6th Capital to earn that honor.

"It's a huge honor for me as well ...It's a special day for me and my family," Oates said during his Hall of Fame conference call. "Obviously it's a fantastic day. ... I got to go out and play the lotto," he joked.

For Washington, the Caps hope that the hiring of Oates will help bring back a bit of the old offense that has defined the franchise in the post-lockout years.

Adam Oates Receives Three-Year Contract To Coach Capitals, According To Report

2012-06-26T23:45:43Z

Earlier today, the Washington Capitals formally announced the hiring of Adam Oates as the team's head coach with a press conference scheduled for Wednesday at the Verizon Center at 3 p.m. EST.

"Adam was a highly intelligent player in the NHL for 19 seasons," Caps General Manager George McPhee said. "He has been an assistant coach in our conference for the past three seasons and is prepared to lead our club as head coach."

But how long is that deal? What are the terms, exactly? Well, via John Shannon of JSports.net it's a three-year contract:

After short term contract that Dale Hunter had,great to see Caps gave Adam Oates a 3 year commitment.

Oates previously served as an assistant under Peter DeBoer with the New Jersey Devils.

For more on the Washington Capitals, visit Japers Rink. For the latest news and notes from around the league, check out SB Nation's NHL Hub.