ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have named Tim Hunter the team’s assistant coach, vice president and general manager George McPhee announced today.

Hunter, 51, has coached 1,041 games in an assistant role during his 13-season NHL coaching career. The former Stanley Cup winner was an assistant coach under Ron Wilson in all 13 previous seasons, including five years behind the Washington bench (1997-2002). Hunter helped the Capitals reach the Stanley Cup final in 1998 and the team reached the postseason in three of his five seasons with Washington, compiling a record of 192-159-51-8 (.540 percentage). Hunter coached current Capitals head coach Adam Oates, associate goaltending coach Olie Kolzig and assistant coach Calle Johansson during his tenure in Washington.

The Calgary, Alberta, native has a career coaching record of 499-394-70-84 with Washington, San Jose (2002-2008) and Toronto (2008-2011).

As a player Hunter played 16 seasons (1981-1997) in the NHL for Calgary, Quebec, Vancouver and San Jose. He won a Stanley Cup in 1989 when he was a member of the Calgary Flames. In 815 career NHL games the 6’2”, 200-pound right wing tallied 138 points (62 goals, 76 assists) along with 3,146 penalty minutes. He ranks eighth in all-time career NHL penalty minutes and still holds the Flames’ all-time franchise record with 2,405 minutes in penalties. He was originally selected by the Atlanta Flames in the third round (54th overall) of the 1979 NHL Entry Draft.

(FROM PRESS RELEASE)

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have named Calle Johansson the team’s assistant coach, vice president and general manager George McPhee announced today.

Johansson, 45, holds the record for the most games played as a Washington Capital, appearing in 983 games with Washington from 1989-2003. Johansson holds Washington records for points (474) and assists (361) by a defenseman and ranks third in goals (113) all-time. He was an alternate captain with Washington during the 1998-99, 1999-00 and 2002-03 seasons. Johansson along with current Capitals head coach Adam Oates and associate goaltending coach Olie Kolzig, played for the Capitals team that reached the 1998 Stanley Cup finals. He helped the Capitals reach the playoffs in 11 of his 15 seasons with Washington and holds franchise playoff records for games played (95) and points (54) by a defenseman.

The Goteberg, Sweden, native played in 1,109 career NHL games, collecting 535 points (119 goals, 416 assists) and 519 penalty minutes. Johansson was originally drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the first round (14th overall) of the 1985 NHL Entry Draft and was traded to Washington on March 7, 1989, with a second-round pick (Byron Dafoe) in the 1989 draft for Clint Malarchuk, Grant Ledyard and Washington’s sixth choice in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. The 5’11”, 203-pound blueliner played for Buffalo and Washington before retiring on August 7, 2003. Johansson worked briefly as a scout for the Capitals before coming out of retirement to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs at the end of the 2003-04 season. He appeared in eight regular-season games (collecting six assists) and four playoff games before retiring at the end of the season.

Johansson represented Sweden at numerous international tournaments, including the 1983 and 1984 (gold medal) European Junior Championships, the 1986 and 1987 (bronze medal) World Junior Championships, the 1991 Canada Cup, the 1991 (gold medal) and 1992 (gold medal) World Championships, the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

Following his playing career, Johansson became a color commentator and provided analysis for Swedish television for both the Swedish Elite League (SEL) and the NHL. He was an assistant coach for Frolunda of the SEL during the 2006-07 season before returning to broadcasting.

(FROM PRESS RELEASE) 

The revolving door of Capitals head coaches began November 28 when then head coach Bruce Boudreau was fired when the team suffered a losing streak; the straw that broke the camel’s back was a 5-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. Capitals general manager George McPhee  said that the players were no longer responding to Boudreau and it was time for a coaching change. Boudreau was also said to have had a strained relationship with star player Alex Ovechkin.

Boudreau was replaced with former Capitals player Dale Hunter. Hunter was known as a player’s coach and his coaching style was completely different from Boudreau. He was calm while Boudreau had a fiery demeanor.

Hunter had no NHL coaching experience, yet he still led the team to the playoffs where they lost in the Eastern Conference Semifinals to the New York Rangers in game 7. Hunter quit in May to spend more time with his family and the junior club he owns in Canada.

And that’s how we got to head coach number three…Adam Oates, who was hired this week.  The Capitals can only hope that the third time is the charm. Oates played for the Capitals from 1996-2002 and spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach for the New Jersey Devils.

Though he’s never been a head coach, Oates played in the Stanley Cup finals and coached a team in the finals. Some question whether or not his inexperience will hinder his ability to lead the team to the playoffs, but Capitals owner Ted Leonsis sees it differently and believes that Oates is the man they need to lead them to the Cup.

“Not only will Adam be a very productive coach for us, he also shares having a chip on his shoulder. We’re at that point where we have to do better in the playoffs. We have to win a Stanley Cup.” said Leonsis.

I don’t necessarily believe that prior head coaching experience correlates with reaching the playoffs. While the head coach is the glue that holds the team together, the individual players also have big roles to fill.

Oates brings a new coaching style to the Capitals; according to Capitals Insider Chuck Gormely:

Unlike former Capitals coach Dale Hunter, who often let his roster decisions do the talking, Oates said he believes strongly in communicating with his players simply because he was one. He said he plans on modeling his coaching style after Brian Sutter, who coached him in both St. Louis and Boston.

I’m not familiar with Oates as a player, but after seeing his former team, the Devils, reach the Stanley Cup finals, I am excited to see him on the Capitals sidelines this season. The team is in the process of updating their roster so it will be interesting to see who they bring on and who they acquire in free agency next month.

Time will tell how this pans out, but I’m hopeful that Oates can get the job done.

What do you think? Will Oates be the difference maker this season?