NHL Playoffs 2012: 3 Reasons Dale Hunter Will Be Back in Washington

The Washington Capitals' 2-1 loss to the New York Rangers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals marked the end of the line for the Caps in 2012—and the beginning of a lot of questions and soul-searching for a franchise that has now gone 38 years without winning the Stanley Cup.

Will the core of this team, that seems to come close annually only to fall short in the end, be split up?

What becomes of Alexander Semin, believed by many to be KHL bound in the offseason?

What will the Caps do in the draft?

Will they target any free agents or will they stand pat, as they did at the trade deadline?

For all the questions, one very important issue will also need to be resolved: Will Dale Hunter be brought back as the Caps head coach for the 2012-2013 season?

Prior to the playoffs starting, Hunter seemed a sure bet to be replaced once the Caps were eliminated in the playoffs.

Of course, that was before Hunter guided the Caps to a remarkable playoff run in which they eliminated the No. 2 seed, and defending champion Boston Bruins, and came very close to eliminating the No. 1-seeded Rangers.

So what happens to Hunter now? Does he stay in DC and try and build off of this very successful post-season campaign or does he leave Washington and, in all likelihood, return to the London Knights, where he was so very successful?

I think Hunter will be the Caps head coach once the puck drops again in October.

Here are three reasons why.

1. There Are Not a Lot of Better Options for the Caps

A key reason why the Caps need to focus their efforts on keeping Dale Hunter in Washington next season is because there are just not a lot of better options out there.

That is not to say that if the Caps keep Hunter, they are somehow settling for him.

Truth be told, it just means that if you look at the coaches who might be available for the Caps, none of them stand out as someone you would look at and believe that he would really make them a better team.

Barry Melrose seems pretty content being an analyst for ESPN. He certainly has the knowledge of the game that would help the Caps, but his last coaching stint with the Lightning did not go so well.

Mike Keenan has been out of the league since the '08-'09 season. He is notorious for pushing his players very hard, perhaps too hard. Keenan also has a penchant for having a really short leash with goalies, and that is something that would not do much for the confidence of Braden Holtby, who earned the Caps No. 1 goalie spot for next season with his tremendous playoff performance this year.

What about Michel Terrien? Scott Burnside seems to feel he might be a viable alternative to Dale Hunter. Sure, Therrien turned the Penguins franchise around. But the Caps do not need a franchise overhaul. They need continuity and they need to be able to build off of what they learned in the playoffs this year. I do not see Therrien being able to accomplish that.

Maybe Bob Hartley? After all, Hartley knows what it means to win a Cup, having led Colorado to the promised land in 2001. But Hartley was fired after only six games into the 2007-'08 season, and he has not coached in the NHL since then. It is unlikely that Hartley, after having been gone for so long, would be able to step in and seamlessly handle all of the egos on the Caps.

Maybe Marc Crawford? No, I don't think so. Crawford won a Cup for Colorado in 1996. But in his last four full seasons as coach, Crawfrod's teams failed to make the playoffs. Has the game passed him by? Perhaps. I do not think the Caps should be the team to test out that theory.

There is not a coach out there right now, at least not one that is available, that you can look at and say that he would be an true upgrade over Hunter, or that he would bring something to the table that Hunter has not already brought.

Certainly, Melrose, Keenan, Terrien, Hartley or Crawford are all good coaches, all who have had great success.

But none of them stand out as someone who would really stress the type of system Hunter has emphasized here in the playoffs.

The absence of a difference-making coach that the Caps could bring in should be enough to convince Ted Leonsis and George McPhee that serious efforts should be made to keep Hunter behind the bench in the 2012-2013 season.

2. What Is Left for Hunter to Accomplish in the OHL?

There is a great deal of speculation that Dale Hunter will not return to the Caps and will instead go back to having some role with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).

Dale and his brother Mark co-own the Knights, which is one of the more successful franchises in the OHL.

In fact, London just won the OHL league title and will now compete for the Memorial Cup against the Saint John Sea Dogs.

Hunter himself coached London for more than a decade, from 2001 until he left to take the Caps coaching gig this season.

Along the way, Hunter captured a Memorial Cup for the Knights in 2005, besting a Rimouski Oceanic team that had Sidney Crosby in the lineup—a fact that I am sure brings a smile to the face of any Caps fan.

So the question must be asked: What would Hunter possibly gain by returning to the OHL?

He has already coached the Knights to a championship so he has met that goal.

And even if he were to return, the Knights just won the OHL title with a different coach. What would that say for team continuity and chemistry if the coach who just led the team to a league title was replaced by the returning co-owner?

As for the day-to-day operations of the Knights, I suspect Mark could certainly use the assistance of his brother there. Then again, the Knights look as though they are getting along just fine with Dale in the NHL.

There is really no good reason or incentive for Hunter to go back to the OHL.

And one other factor I think will come into play here is that Hunter is a warrior. Yes, he could be a dirty player. But no one competed as hard as Hunter while he was in the NHL.

He has now gone through the NHL playoffs which, no offense to the OHL, is a sharp increase as far as intensity is concerned.

You can't tell me the Caps remarkable run this postseason did not get those competitive juices flowing inside of Hunter all over again. Hunter lived to compete and he thrived in that sort of environment.

Hunter never won a Stanley Cup as a player. I believe he would love nothing better than to win one as the coach of the franchise he helped to build.

If Hunter actually wants to make a career out of coaching, then he must move forward.

Returning to the Knights would be a significant step back.

3. Hunter Has Earned the Right to Take the Caps to the Next Level

More important than the previous two reasons is the fact that Dale Hunter has earned the right to try and take the Capitals to the next level.

Near the end of March, after the Caps lost badly, at home, to the Buffalo Sabres the concept of Hunter being retained as head coach seemed as far-fetched as the idea of the Caps making the playoffs.

But the Caps regrouped and played their best hockey of the season down the stretch, not just squeaking into the playoffs, but grabbing the No. 7 seed along the way.

And then a funny thing happened to this underachieving group of all-star caliber players.

They became a team. The concept was something very foreign to the Capitals. They may have previously talked like they were a team, and they might have said all the right things. But Caps fans knew the truth. The Caps had no real chemistry, they did not know how to play playoff hockey and they lacked the heart and discipline necessary to compete for the Cup.

This postseason though, that all changed—and Hunter is the reason for that.

The Caps suddenly became a grinding, defensive and determined team. They blocked shots. They were physical. They got into passing lanes. They disrupted offenses and never let either the Bruins or Rangers really get into a rhythm.

Equally important though was how the team came together and started to depend on each other. They could yell at each other if they needed to. But they also knew their teammates had their backs.

And for the first time in a long time, it was clear the Caps were no longer backup singers to the act that was Alexander Ovechkin.

Hunter did what Bruce Boudreau either did not or could not. He put the very large egos of some of the Caps, threw them aside  and did what was best for the team. Whether this meant that Ovie's ice team was limited or Alexander Semin was knocked down to the fourth line, Hunter did not care.

What makes Hunter a good coach is that he just wants to win games and he knows the best way to do it. He does not care about making friends or stroking egos. It is all about the bottom line for Hunter, something he has probably picked up by being a co-owner of the London Knights.

In the end, the Caps came up a goal short against the Rangers, a very good team that was due to get a series win over the Caps.

It does not erase what was accomplished this postseason. And a very encouraging sign for Caps fans is the reaction of many of their players to this defeat.

In years past, the Caps were demoralized after blowing series to the Flyers, Penguins, Canadiens and then the Lightning.

The reaction after the final horn last night was frustration. The difference between the two emotions is subtle, but very real. The Caps last night spoke of team and leadership and sacrifice, of what they had learned and how much this loss stung. And hidden behind many of those words was something else.

Determination. You could see it in their reactions and hear it in their words. This team is determined to get back to this point and take the next step.

None of that kind of attitude existed before Hunter came along. And, sure, maybe it took a while for the team to buy in and it almost cost them a playoff berth entirely.

But when you see the transformation of a guy like Mike Green, who played his best playoffs ever, or when you watch Alexander Semin taking a beating against the boards but continue to get up, or you see Alex Ovechkin dropping down to try and get in a passing lane, I think it is safe to say that everyone is on the same page now.

And the work Hunter and his staff did with Braden Holtby this postseason was tremendous. Sure, it helps that Holtby played so well. But under Hunter's tutelage, perhaps Holtby can challenge for the Vezina trophy next season.

The Caps learned a ton from this postseason. So did Hunter. He should be given the opportunity to build off this, to lead this team from the word go, to see if he can get this team to take the entire season as seriously as the playoffs (something they clearly did not do this year) and to perhaps get a Game 7 at home next season.

It is very easy to look at the result last night and only look at it from the perspective that the Caps lost.

This would, of course, be true.

But they might have gained much more in the process—and the Caps have Dale Hunter to thank for that.