24 Facts About Dale Hunter

Dale Robert Hunter was born on July 31,1960 and 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.

Dale Hunter was born in Petrolia, Ontario, but grew up in nearby Oil Springs, Ontario, and was one of three brothers, with Dave and Mark, to play in the NHL.

Dale Hunter was selected 41st overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft.

Dale Hunter would begin his NHL career a year later in 1980 and played seven years with the Nordiques.

Dale Hunter was the "perfect player", always the first to arrive at practice and ready to do all his best for the team.

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Thanks to his charisma, Dale Hunter was a fan favourite in both Quebec and Washington.

Dale Hunter's leaving Quebec was seen as an obvious "mistake" linked to the team's future decline.

Dale 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.

Dale Hunter 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.

Dale Hunter was the player with the most penalty minutes when reaching that scoring milestone.

Dale 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 January 1,2006, the Dale Hunter brothers were named to the 2006 Mayor's New Year's Honours List for Sports by the City of London, Ontario.

Dale Hunter's son Dylan Hunter is an assistant coach for the Knights and his other son Tucker played for the London Knights before pursuing his education at the University of Western Ontario.

On November 28,2011, Dale Hunter resigned his position as head coach of the Knights to take the same position with the Washington Capitals, succeeding Bruce Boudreau.

Dale 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.

Dale Hunter guided the team to the gold medal with a dramatic come-from-behind victory over Russia in the final game.

Dale Hunter holds the NHL record for most penalty minutes in the playoffs, at 731.

Dale Hunter is the only NHL player ever to score over 1,000 points and rack up over 3,000 penalty minutes.

Dale Hunter 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 September 2005, Dale 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, Dale Hunter was suspended for two games and his team was fined $5,000 for Dale Hunter's off ice abuse of the officials.

In May 2006, Dale 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, Dale 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.

Dale Hunter, who was trailing Turgeon on the play, checked Turgeon from behind well after the goal as he started to celebrate.