Big game Hunter

Knights coach Dale Hunter has taken the lessons learned during his NHL career and applied them to his team.

rDo unto others as you would have them do unto you. In other words, if you didn’t appreciate a coach yelling in your face every time you messed up, then don’t do it to your own players. r

That simple philosophy has taken Dale Hunter far in his relatively young coaching career.r

“I learned from everybody — what not to do,” Hunter said of what he learned during the 19 years he played in the National Hockey League that he’s now applying as coach of the London Knights in the Ontario Hockey League.r

“Basically, I stay away from stuff I hated, or things that didn’t help. I had coaches snap and make us skate for an hour with no warning.”r

You warn them, then don’t disappoint them, is the approach and it’s obviously working for the Knights as they have the OHL’s second-best record and are currently ranked fifth in the Canadian Hockey League.r

Hunter, who also co-owns the Knights with his brother, Mark, a 12-year veteran of NHL wars and the team’s general manager, went behind the bench Nov. 8, 2001, replacing Lindsay Hofford.r

Coaching wasn’t in Hunter’s OHL game plan, but he now enjoys it. His technical knowledge is second to none in the league.r

“I’ve learned a lot from him,” assistant coach Jacques Beaulieu said. “I feel I’m ready to come into the league as a head coach because of him, but the timing’s got to be right.r

“He’s made me a better coach — the way he handles the kids and the technical part of the game.”r

Win, lose, or draw, Hunter never goes into the dressing room afterward. He waits until the next day to speak with his players about what he liked and what he didn’t like.r

“If you lose, you’re too emotional at that point and you say stuff you end up regretting. When you watch the tape the next day, you realize they weren’t that bad — or they weren’t that good after you’ve praised them for a win.”r

Hunter never wavers on that and it’s appreciated by the players.r

“It’s a different perspective and we look at him as one of the leaders of the team,” said second-year forward Brandon Prust, who has blossomed under Hunter.r

“If we lose, we know what we’ve done wrong. He doesn’t come in and tear a strip off us. Sometimes silence speaks volumes, right?”r

Hunter’s silence can be deafening.r

“It’s in the look on his face, more than what he says,” Beaulieu said.r

“And that’s not the friendliest mug at the best of times,” he added with a laugh.r

Hunter is quick to praise his players after a win — and never runs them down publicly following a loss.r

“I don’t take the bumps and bruises. I stand behind the bench. It’s the players who are doing it,” is his explanation.r

And don’t think Hunter’s success hasn’t gone unnoticed.r

Sources say one of his old teams, the Washington Capitals, made a courtesy call last week when they were about to can head coach Bruce Cassidy.r

Hunter declined the job offer and Glen Hanlon was named Cassidy’s replacement.r

The job’s not finished here — and while Hunter will neither confirm nor deny the call from Washington, he will speak about his coaching aspirations.r

“When you’re growing up, you don’t think about being a coach in the NHL — you want to be a player. I think about it (now), but I don’t dwell on it.r

“I’ve seen how much time NHL coaches spend at that job. As a player, you never see that. You come to the rink, practise or play, and go.”r

He said he also wants to see his three children grow up. Dylan, who plays for the Knights, is 18, Shalen, 16, and Tucker, 13.r

Dale Hunter is 43.r

“I would really have to weigh any offer,” he said of down the road.r

Hunter, who ranks second in all-time NHL penalty minutes (3,565), actually began his coaching career before he went behind the Knights bench.r

New York Rangers’ winger Anson Carter, a teammate of Hunter’s for 19 games in Washington in 1996-97, said in an ESPN website story Hunter “taught me all kinds of cheap stuff, and not just any cheap stuff — worthwhile cheap stuff.”r

“I learned a lot about little things,” Carter said. “Where to hook guys, where to hack guys, where to slash them in the ankles. He’s the best at doing stuff like that. You don’t realize it, but after the game, you’ve got welts and bruises on your arms.r

“He just knows where to hack guys where they don’t have any equipment.”r

Hunter shrugged.r

“Play by the rules,” he said of his instructions to his players. “Do as I say, not as I did.”r

Hunter’s value as a player sometimes gets lost in his penalty totals, or for one single incident, when he blindsided Pierre Turgeon of the New York Islanders after he scored in the playoffs in 1993.r

Hunter paid the price, starting the next season with a 21-game suspension.r

“Forget about that Pierre Turgeon thing, Dale Hunter was the heart and soul of the Quebec Nordiques (the team that drafted him in 1980), and wherever he played,” said Ottawa 67’s coach Brian Kilrea, the winningest coach in major junior history and in the Hockey Hall of Fame.r

“Wherever he was, it was hard work and more hard work and the London Knights are an emulation of him.”r

Here’s a telling fact: The Nordiques made the playoffs all seven years Hunter was with them.r

He was then traded to Washington and the Nordiques missed the playoffs five straight years. They then moved to Denver and became the Colorado Avalanche.r

Someone in the organization remembered that as the Avalanche traded for Hunter in 1998-99 for their playoff run.r

He retired after that.r

Capitals goalie Olaf Kolzig said following Hunter’s retirement: “He never took a night off, whether it was exhibition, regular season or the playoffs.r

“He was 38, 39 years old and he might not have had the speed he used to, but he still gave it his all and I think it was a good thing for young kids to see that . . . the way he worked and the way he got involved and the way he cared about the game.r

“Away from the rink, he loved the game. I carpooled with him for a year and a half and every time we drove together all we talked about was hockey — other teams, other players, the past.r

“Hockey was his life. He really cares about the game and he’s probably one of the most inspirational guys for me.”r

It seems to be that way for the London Knights.r

BEHIND THE BENCHr

Season Record Finishr

2003-04 22-7-1-2r

2002-03 31-27-7-3 5thr

2001-02 19-19-6-6 8thr

Career 72-53-14-11