Dale Hunter

Dale Robert Hunter (born July 31, 1960) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and the former head coach of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League and current co-owner, president, and head coach of the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League. He was born in Petrolia, Ontario, but grew up in nearby (13 km) Oil Springs, Ontario, and was one of three brothers, with Dave and Mark, to play in the NHL.
== NHL career==
===Quebec Nordiques===
He was selected 41st overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft. He would begin his NHL career a year later in 1980 and played seven years with the Nordiques. 
According to his former Quebec Nordiques coach Michel Bergeron, even though Hunter was nicknamed the "Nuisance" on ice (La Petite Peste in French), he was known to be "humble" in the dressing room and a sort of "gentleman", close to all the players. He was the "perfect player", always the first to arrive at practice and ready to do all his best for the team. Thanks to his charisma, Hunter was a fan favourite in both Quebec and Washington. His leaving Quebec was seen as an obvious "mistake" linked to the team's future decline."Les Nordiques, notre équipe", video documentary (French), Imavision, 1998 (see also DVD reed. 2006).
Hunter was traded to the Washington Capitals along with Clint Malarchuk in return for two players and a 1987 first-round draft pick the Nordiques then used to select Joe Sakic.
===Washington Capitals===
In the 1988 Patrick Division Semifinals between the Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers, Hunter scored the biggest goal in Caps history. That goal was scored on a breakaway at 5:57, beating Ron Hextall and gave Washington the 5–4 win.
In the 1993 Patrick Division Semifinals between the Capitals and New York Islanders, Hunter led his team with seven postseason goals. That performance was marred by an illegal and potentially career-ending check on Islanders' star Pierre Turgeon. This illegal check occurred after Turgeon had stolen an errant pass of Hunter's and subsequently scored. As Turgeon was celebrating, Hunter came up from behind and checked the unaware Turgeon into the boards, leading to a concussion and a separated right shoulder. As a result of the incident, Hunter was suspended for the first 21 games of the 1993–94 season as part of new commissioner Gary Bettman's effort to crack down on violent play.
He broke the 1,000 points barrier and was the NHL record holder for requiring the most games to do so by a forward, at 1,308, until Patrick Marleau achieved the feat in his 1,349th game. Hunter also was the player with the most penalty minutes when reaching that scoring milestone. He played in the NHL All-Star game in 1997. He also served as team captain from 1994 to 1999.
In 1998, he led the fourth-seeded Capitals to their first appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals, defeating the Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators, and Buffalo Sabres. In the finals, the Capitals were swept by the defending Cup champions, the Detroit Red Wings, with the first three games being decided by one goal.
===Colorado Avalanche ===
Hunter finished off his career with the Colorado Avalanche, the successor to the Nordiques, and helped the team to reach the Western Conference finals, losing in seven games to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Dallas Stars. On that team, he often played on the same line as two other renowned pest role players -- Claude Lemieux and Theoren Fleury.
==Post-NHL==
Hunter's sweater number (#32) was retired by the Capitals on March 11, 2000. During the ceremony, the Capitals presented Hunter with one of the penalty boxes from the Capital Centre (the Capitals former home arena), symbolic of his exceptional amount of time served for penalties.
In 2000, Hunter and his brother, Mark—also a former NHL player—teamed up with Dale's former teammate on the Nordiques, Basil McRae, to buy the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League. Dale became team president and head coach. He led the Knights to the 2005 and 2016 Memorial Cup. On January 1, 2006, the Hunter brothers were named to the 2006 Mayor's New Year's Honours List for Sports by the City of London, Ontario. Hunter's older brother Dave Hunter is also a former NHLer. His son Dylan Hunter is an assistant coach for the Knights and his other son Tucker also played for the London Knights before pursuing his education at the University of Western Ontario.
On November 28, 2011, Hunter resigned his position as head coach of the Knights to take the same position with the Washington Capitals, succeeding Bruce Boudreau. His brother Mark then took over as Knights coach. Hunter's defense oriented system caused some conflict with star Alexander Ovechkin but it helped the struggling Capitals make the playoffs, where they upset the defending Stanley Cup champions Boston Bruins in the first round before being eliminated by the New York Rangers, both postseason series going to seven games. On May 14, 2012, Hunter announced he was not returning to coach the Capitals in the 2012-2013 season, choosing instead to return to the London Knights.
On May 14, 2019, Hockey Canada named Hunter as the Head Coach for Canada’s National Junior Team at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship.Canada’s National Junior Team and Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship Hunter guided the team to the gold medal with a dramatic come-from-behind victory over Russia in the final game.
==Accolades and controversy==
With amassing a staggering 3565 penalty minutes, Hunter currently has the second-most penalty minutes in NHL history, after Dave "Tiger" Williams (although Hunter played 1,407 games to Williams' 962). He also holds the NHL record for most penalty minutes in the playoffs, at 731. The Capitals retired his No. 32 jersey. Hunter is the only NHL player ever to score over 1,000 points and rack up over 3,000 penalty minutes (1,020 points and 3,565 PIMs over 1,407 NHL games).
He scored in overtime for Quebec in Game 5 of their 1982 opening round best-of-five series vs. the Montreal Canadiens, and in 1988 scoring against Ron Hextall on a breakaway in overtime for Washington in Game 7 of their opening round best-of-7 series vs. the Philadelphia Flyers, making Hunter the first player in NHL history to score two overtime series-clinching goals in the playoffs.
In July 2006, Hunter was arrested and charged with DUI. The charges were dropped when the presiding judge ruled that his rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms were violated for unlawful detention and being denied his right to his lawyer.
In September 2005, Hunter was suspended by the Ontario Hockey League for four games after a player left the bench to initiate a fight in an exhibition game.
On January 20, 2006, Hunter was suspended for two games and his team was fined $5,000 for Hunter's off ice abuse of the officials. In May 2006, Hunter was fined $5,000 by the OHL for criticizing officials after the Knights were eliminated from the playoffs in four straight games. In September 2006, Hunter was suspended by the OHL for two games after forward Matt Davis left the bench to engage in a fight during a game; OHL rules state that there is an automatic suspension for both the player and the coach if a player leaves the bench to become involved in an altercation.
=== Pierre Turgeon incident===
Late in the deciding Game 6 of the 1993 Patrick Division Semifinals between the Capitals and New York Islanders, Pierre Turgeon stole the puck from Hunter and scored, putting the game out of reach. Hunter, who was trailing Turgeon on the play, checked Turgeon from behind well after the goal as he started to celebrate. Turgeon sustained a separated shoulder from the hit, causing him to miss all but Game 7 against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round, as well as most of the series against the Montreal Canadiens in the conference finals. New NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, who had earlier promised to crack down on violence, suspended Hunter for the first 21 games of the 1993–94 season—at the time, the longest suspension in league history for an on-ice incident (in terms of games missed). Although at the time he claimed that he had not realized Turgeon had scored, years later Hunter finally admitted that he'd gone too far.
==Career statistics==
Bold italics indicates NHL record
===Playing career===
  	  	  	 	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	 	Playoffs	Playoffs	Playoffs	Playoffs	Playoffs
Season 	Team 	League 	 	GP 	G 	A 	Pts 	PIM 	 	GP 	G 	A 	Pts 	PIM
1977–78 	Kitchener Rangers 	OMJHL 	 	68 	22 	42 	64 	115 	 	9 	1 	0 	1 	32
1978–79 	Sudbury Wolves 	OMJHL 	 	59 	42 	68 	110 	188 	 	10 	4 	12 	16 	47
1979–80 	Sudbury Wolves 	OMJHL 	 	61 	34 	51 	85 	189 	 	9 	6 	9 	15 	45
1980–81 	Quebec Nordiques 	NHL 	 	80 	19 	44 	63 	226 	 	5 	4 	2 	6 	34
1981–82 	Quebec Nordiques 	NHL 	 	80 	22 	50 	72 	272 	 	16 	3 	7 	10 	52
1982–83 	Quebec Nordiques 	NHL 	 	80 	17 	46 	63 	206 	 	4 	2 	1 	3 	24
1983–84 	Quebec Nordiques 	NHL 	 	77 	24 	55 	79 	232 	 	9 	2 	3 	5 	41
1984–85 	Quebec Nordiques 	NHL 	 	80 	20 	52 	72 	209 	 	17 	4 	6 	10 	99
1985–86 	Quebec Nordiques 	NHL 	 	80 	28 	42 	70 	265 	 	3 	0 	0 	0 	15
1986–87 	Quebec Nordiques 	NHL 	 	46 	10 	29 	39 	135 	 	13 	1 	7 	8 	56
1987–88 	Washington Capitals	NHL 	 	79 	22 	37 	59 	240 	 	14 	7 	5 	12 	98
1988–89 	Washington Capitals	NHL 	 	80 	20 	37 	57 	219 	 	6 	0 	4 	4 	29
1989–90 	Washington Capitals	NHL 	 	80 	23 	39 	62 	233 	 	15 	4 	8 	12 	61
1990–91 	Washington Capitals	NHL 	 	76 	16 	30 	46 	234 	 	11 	1 	9 	10 	41
1991–92 	Washington Capitals	NHL 	 	80 	28 	50 	78 	205 	 	7 	1 	4 	5 	16
1992–93 	Washington Capitals	NHL 	 	84 	20 	59 	79 	198 	 	6 	7 	1 	8 	35
1993–94 	Washington Capitals	NHL 	 	52 	9 	29 	38 	131 	 	7 	0 	3 	3 	14
1994–95 	Washington Capitals	NHL 	 	45 	8 	15 	23 	101 	 	7 	4 	4 	8 	24
1995–96 	Washington Capitals	NHL 	 	82 	13 	24 	37 	112 	 	6 	1 	5 	6 	24
1996–97 	Washington Capitals	NHL 	 	82 	14 	32 	46 	125 	 	— 	— 	— 	— 	—
1997–98 	Washington Capitals	NHL 	 	82 	8 	18 	26 	103 	 	21 	0 	4 	4 	30
1998–99 	Washington Capitals	NHL 	 	50 	0 	5 	5 	102 	 	— 	— 	— 	— 	—
1998–99 	Colorado Avalanche 	NHL 	 	12 	2 	4 	6 	17 	 	19 	1 	3 	4 	38
NHL totals	NHL totals 	NHL totals	 	1,407 	323 	697 	1,020 	3,565 	 	186 	42 	76 	118 	731
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
===Coaching career===
====NHL====
Team 	Year 	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season 	Post season
Team 	Year 	G 	W 	L 	OTL 	Pts 	Division rank 	Result
Washington Capitals	2011-12	60 	30 	23 	7 	(92) 	2nd in Southeast	Won in conference quarter-finals (4-3 vs. BOS) Lost in conference semi-finals (3-4 vs. NYR)
NHL totals 	 	60 	30 	23 	7 	67 	 	7-7 (0.500)
====OHL====
Team 	Year 	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season	Regular season 	Post season
Team 	Year 	G 	W 	L 	T 	OTL 	Pts 	Finish 	Result
LDN 	2001–02	68 	24 	27 	10 	7 	65 	5th in West 	Won in conference quarter-finals (4-2 vs. PLY) Lost in conference semi-finals (2-4 vs. ERI)
LDN 	2002–03	68 	31 	27 	7 	3 	72 	2nd in Midwest 	Won in conference quarter-finals (4-3 vs. WSR) Lost in conference semi-finals (3-4 vs. PLY)
LDN 	2003–04	68 	53 	11 	2 	2 	110 	1st in Midwest 	Won in conference quarter-finals (4-0 vs. WSR) Won in conference semi-finals (4-0 vs. ERI) Lost in conference finals (3-4 vs. GUE)
LDN 	2004–05	68 	59 	7 	2 	0 	120 	1st in Midwest 	Won in conference quarter-finals (4-0 vs. GUE) Won in conference semi-finals (4-0 vs. WSR) Won in conference finals (4-1 vs. KIT) Won J. Ross Robertson Cup (4-1 vs. OTT) Finished first in round-robin at Memorial Cup (3-0) Won Memorial Cup (4-0 vs. RIM)
LDN 	2005–06	68 	49 	15 	- 	4 	102 	1st in Midwest 	Won in conference quarter-finals (4-0 vs. SSM) Won in conference semi-finals (4-2 vs. OS) Won in conference finals (4-1 vs. GUE) Lost in J. Ross Robertson Cup finals (0-4 vs. PBO)
LDN 	2006–07	68 	50 	14 	- 	4 	104 	1st in Midwest 	Won in conference quarter-finals (4-0 vs. OS) Won in conference semi-finals (4-3 vs. SSM) Lost in conference finals (1-4 vs. PLY)
LDN 	2007–08	68 	38 	24 	- 	6 	82 	2nd in Midwest 	Lost in conference quarter-finals (1-4 vs. GUE)
LDN 	2008–09	68 	49 	16 	- 	3 	101 	1st in Midwest 	Won in conference quarter-finals (4-1 vs. ERI) Won in conference semi-finals (4-0 vs. SAG) Lost in conference finals (1-4 vs. WSR)
LDN 	2009–10	68 	49 	16 	- 	3 	101 	1st in Midwest 	Won in conference quarter-finals (4-1 vs. GUE) Lost in conference semi-finals (3-4 vs. KIT)
LDN 	2010–11	68 	34 	29 	- 	5 	73 	5th in Midwest 	Lost in conference quarter-finals (2-4 vs. OS)
LDN 	2011–12	26 	20 	5 	- 	1 	(99) 	1st in Midwest 	(left to take Capitals coaching job)
LDN 	2012–13	68 	50 	13 	- 	5 	105 	1st in Midwest 	Won in conference quarter-finals (4-0 vs. SAG) Won in conference semi-finals (4-1 vs. KIT) Won in conference finals (4-1 vs. PLY) Won J. Ross Robertson Cup (4-3 vs. BAR) Finished third in round-robin at Memorial Cup (1-2) Won Memorial Cup tie-breaker game (6-1 vs. SAS) Lost Memorial Cup semi-finals (1-2 vs. POR)
LDN 	2013–14	68 	49 	14 	- 	5 	103 	3rd in Midwest 	Won in conference semi-finals (4-0 vs. WSR) Lost in conference semi-finals (1-4 vs. GUE) Finished fourth in round-robin at Memorial Cup (0-3)
LDN 	2014–15	68 	40 	24 	- 	4 	84 	3rd in Midwest 	Won in conference quarter-finals (4-2 vs. KIT) Lost in conference semi-finals (0-4 vs. ERI)
LDN 	2015–16	68 	51 	14 	- 	3 	105 	2nd in Midwest 	Won in conference quarter-finals (4-2 vs. OS) Won in conference semi-finals (4-0 vs. KIT) Won in conference finals (4-0 vs. ERI) Won J. Ross Robertson Cup (4-0 vs. NIA) Finished first in round-robin at Memorial Cup (3-0) Won Memorial Cup (3-2 vs. ROU)
LDN 	2016–17	68 	46 	15 	- 	7 	99 	3rd in Midwest 	Won in conference quarter-finals (4-3 vs. WSR) Lost in conference semi-finals (3-4 vs. ERI)
LDN 	2017–18	68 	39 	25 	- 	4 	82 	3rd in Midwest 	Lost in conference quarter-finals (0-4 vs. OS)
LDN 	2018–19	68 	46 	15 	- 	7 	99 	1st in Midwest 	Won in conference quarter-finals (4-0 vs. WSR) Lost in conference semi-finals (3-4 vs. GUE)
LDN 	2019–20	62 	45 	15 	- 	2 	92 	1st in Midwest 	Post-season cancelled due to COVID-19
LDN 	2021–22	68 	39 	22 	- 	7 	85 	1st in Midwest 	Lost in conference quarter-finals (3-4 vs. KIT)
Total	Total 	1312 	861 	348 	21 	82 	1825 	11 Division Titles	3 J. Ross Robertson Cups (138-87, 0.613) 2 Memorial Cups (10-6, 0.625)
==See also==
*List of NHL players with 1,000 points
*List of NHL players with 1,000 games played
*List of NHL players with 2,000 career penalty minutes
==References==
==External links==
*
Category:1960 births
Category:Canadian ice hockey centres
Category:Colorado Avalanche players
Category:Ice hockey people from Ontario
Category:Kitchener Rangers players
Category:London Knights coaches
Category:Memorial Cup winners
Category:National Hockey League All-Stars
Category:National Hockey League players with retired numbers
Category:Quebec Nordiques draft picks
Category:Quebec Nordiques players
Category:Sudbury Wolves players
Category:Washington Capitals captains
Category:Washington Capitals coaches
Category:Washington Capitals players
Category:Retired in 1999