ARLINGTON, Va. — For all of Bruce Boudreau’s success with Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitalsno coach in the modern NHL reached 200 victories as quickly — he failed to take them far in the playoffs.
And now, suddenly, the regular season was becoming problematic too. Players were tuning out the talkative coach nicknamed “Gabby,” general manager George McPhee said, explaining why Boudreau was fired Monday and replaced by Dale Hunter, who never has been so much as an assistant in the NHL — or even in the AHL, for that matter.
Hunter does have serious reputation as a player, though, particularly in Washington, where he played from 1987-99 and was a captain. He is one of only four Capitals whose jersey number is retired, which is why a 15-by-25-foot banner of Hunter wearing his red No. 32 was hanging on a wall behind one end of the ice while he led the Capitals through practice Monday.
“It won’t be too hard to follow that guy,” Capitals forward Brooks Laich said.
Hunter was greeted by applause and loud cheers from more than 100 fans when he skated onto the ice. He’ll make his debut behind the bench tonight against visiting St. Louis.
Hunter played 19 NHL seasons and is the only player in league history with 1,000 points and 3,000 penalty minutes.
Two times too much.
The last-place Hurricanes fired coach Paul Maurice for the second time in less than a decade and replaced him with former all-star Kirk Muller.
The Associated Press
