Capitals coach Dale Hunter refused comment after practice Thursday when asked why he and the organization had agreed to a one-year contract, as first reported by the Washington Times and radio station 106.7 The Fan on Wednesday night. “I don’t comment on that. Like I’ve said before, I don’t talk about it,” Hunter said.
No surprise there. Washington general manager George McPhee also has a long-standing policy of avoiding comment on a coach’s contract status. Hunter was hired Nov. 28 after the team fired Bruce Boudreau. He left a lucrative job coaching the London Knights, a junior hockey team in Ontario that he still co-owns with his brother Mark.
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But it’s not always an ideal scenario in professional sports to have a coach on a one-year contract. Sometimes players can take advantage of what they see as a lame-duck position. But several Caps insisted that’s not the case here. And there are reasons a one-year contract for someone without any NHL coaching experience makes sense.
“I think things happen really quickly, and it was probably [McPhee’s] best interest to do it that way,” veteran winger Mike Knuble said. “I think things happened really fast, and sometimes you’re just like, ‘Well, let’s see how it goes.’ It’s just the safest thing for the organization, and maybe they all decided that. Maybe Dale’s not even sure. … It’s obviously something they all agreed on.”
Goalie Tomas Vokoun compared it to a teammate who is a pending free agent at the end of the season — as five current Washington players are July 1, including Knuble and Vokoun himself. Other players say it is none of their business at all and that the initial reports were not a topic of discussion in the locker room. Maybe that changes if the team goes on an extended losing streak again or appears set to miss the playoffs.
“It’s not my business,” forward Matt Hendricks said. “I’m here to play hockey. I’m not here to worry about contracts and things like that. [Hunter is] here to coach, and we listen to him. He’s done a great job for us.”
– Brian McNally
