Dale's First Day

There was a larger than usual crowd at Kettler Capitals Iceplex on Monday morning as the news spread that Bruce Boudreau was out as head coach of the Washington Capitals and alumnus Dale Hunter was in. Some were there out of coincidence, like the group in front of me, but others had made it a point to come and see the first day of a new era.

The new era got off a bit slowly as the scheduled practice was moved once from 11am to noon to accommodate a George McPhee press conference and then just because as the players did not take the ice until 12:04, led by Alex Ovechkin with George McPhee and Ted Leonsis watching from the perch above the benches. The team was met with applause from the crowd which only got louder five minutes after as Dale Hunter emerged with the assistant coaches Bob Woods, Dean Evason and Dave Prior.

 Practice began with full-ice 4 on 4 drills. While there was no real big difference in the players' demeanor, I still felt a "hey look at what I can do" in the air as Hunter stayed back from the action, letting Coach Evason call the drills and having short one on one conversations with various players.

Mike Green, who had skated on his own earlier in the morning, watched for a few minutes from the bench.

 Over half an hour passed before Hunter took his place at the dry erase board and began to take a more active role in the practice.

 

The first drill was a closed blue-line 5 on 5, a realistic game-type situation drill much like I thought they should be doing more regularly. Ovie was hitting the boards hard, once with the help of Chimera, shaking the whole curve of plexiglass in the lower corner.

 This section I like to call "coaching":

Right before 1pm, the group headed to the far end of the ice where Hunter attempted a shot on Vokoun. He was denied, so clearlt he hasn't seene nough tape yet of his weak spots. Shoot higher next time, Dale!
 On Carlson's shot, he slipped and wiped out into the boards. I apologize for not recording that.

During the course of the practice, several men in St Louis Blues track suits would come in to watch in the hollow at center ice between the stands. On my way out, I saw why. The team was skating on the other rink.

All in all, an interesting first day, but the first test to see whether or not this was the right choice will happen tomorrow night. Will an energized and motivated Capitals team take the ice or will it simply be more of the same?