Hunter Traded to Colorado
The golden era for the Washington Capitals has come to an end.
General manager George McPhee granted Dale Hunter's wishes by
sending the Capitals' captain and a third round pick in 2000 to
Colorado, a Stanley Cup contender, at the trading deadline. In
return, the Capitals received the second round draft pick
previously held by the Vancouver Canucks in this year's Entry
Draft.
Hunter had been a staple in the Capitals' organization since he
was acquired June 13, 1987 from the Quebec Nordiques. In the last
12 years, his feisty attitude has carried the Capitals to the
playoffs in all but one season, the 1996-97 campaign.
Hunter said his greatest moment as a Capital occurred last season
when he and his teammates played for the Stanley Cup. Washington
was swept by Detroit in the finals.
His second greatest moment? Beating Ron Hextall on an overtime
breakaway in Game 7 of the 1988 Patrick Division semifinals to
eliminate Philadelphia, four-games-to-three, after being down 3-0
in the game and 3-1 in the series.
This season, however, had been brutal for the 38-year-old center.
The Capitals are set to become the fourth team in NHL history to
surround a finals appearance with two non-appearances in the
playoffs. And despite the mass of injuries in Washington, Hunter
had been a healthy scratch for most of the games played from
December to February.
"When you play street hockey as a kid, you don't dream of just
scoring a goal in a regular season game somewhere, you dream of
holding the Stanley Cup," Hunter told The Washington Post just
before he departed to Denver. "After 19 years in the league,
that's really the only thing that's missing for me.
"But it's also really hard to leave Washington. It's so
unfortunate, too, that this happened the year after we go to
finals. Back then, you never thought in a million years you'd be
where we are now, nine points out of a playoff spot, talking
about trades. It's one of those things where you always say it's
part of the game, but it's still a really tough part of it."
Hunter left Washington with no goals on his ledger this season.
However, that all changed two nights later when he scored his
first goal of the season into an empty net. Ironically,
Washington was the recipient of another loss.
"This was a very emotional trade for the organization," McPhee
stated. "Dale has been a courageous leader for our club and a
tremendous asset to the organization throughout his storied
career. His grit, determination and experience make him
invaluable around playoff time.
"We asked Dale in advance if he wanted another chance to win a
Stanley Cup and he said 'yes.' We then decided to make this move
in order to provide Dale with an opportunity to win a Stanley
Cup, to get him onto what we believe is one of the strongest
teams in the playoffs. We wish him all the very best and he knows
that every fan in Washington is pulling for him."
Hunter is the only player in NHL history with 1,000 points and
3,000 penalty minutes. He is an unrestricted free agent at the
end of the season and may retire. McPhee has expressed interest
in signing Hunter to a temporary contract, allowing him to end
his career as a Capital.
Juneau and Berube Sent Packing
Besides dealing Hunter, the Capitals also traded Joe Juneau - the
man who "landed the Capitals on the moon" with his overtime goal
in Game 6 of last year's Eastern Conference Finals against
Buffalo - and a third round draft pick to those same Sabres for
young defenseman Alexei Tezikov and future considerations.
"Alexei Tezikov is a very talented young defenseman," McPhee
said. "He is a player that has good vision of the ice and can
really move the puck well. We feel his addition will really
bolster our blue line depth for several years to come. He was an
all-star in juniors and we project a very bright future for him."
Juneau, 31, who, like Hunter, will be an unrestricted free agent
at season's end, finishes his Capitals career with 62 goals and
172 assists in 312 games played. He was acquired March 21, 1994
from Boston for defenseman Al Iafrate.
McPhee concluded deadline day by trading enforcer Craig Berube to
the Philadelphia Flyers for future considerations.
Berube, who also will become an unrestricted free agent this
June, has led Washington in penalty minutes five times in his six
seasons as a Capital. Berube, who turned 33 last December, leads
the team this season with 166 penalty minutes.
"Craig is a warrior," McPhee said. "He never fails to give you
all that he has on every shift. Given his free-agent status at
the end of this year, we wanted to move him to a team that could
contend for the Stanley Cup. After considering other potential
deals, we agreed that Philly would be the best fit for him. We
wish him well."
Berube was acquired from Calgary on June 26, 1993. He has played
more games (397) with the Capitals than any other team during his
13-year NHL career.
Overall, McPhee feels he made his club stronger by strengthening
the Capitals' minor league system and by injecting youth into a
lineup once dominated of veterans.
"After all was said and done today, we feel the club has improved
its long-term outlook," McPhee said. "The organization now has a
total of four draft picks within the first 37 slots of this
year's Entry Draft.
"Included among those are three picks within the first seven
selections of the second round. We have acquired a very skilled,
young defenseman in Tezikov. He is close to contributing here at
the NHL level and our scouting staff projects extremely good
things out of him in the future. Furthermore, we provided Stanley
Cup opportunities to some veteran players that we have high
regard for."
Misery Loves Company
Washington knows it will be dusting off the golf clubs in a
couple weeks. But in the meantime, the Capitals seem comfortable
in their new role as spoiler.
The Florida Panthers were all but mathematically eliminated from
the playoffs by dropping two games to Washington in a span of
four days. The Capitals handed Florida a 5-3 defeat at MCI Center
on April Fools' Day and won again, 3-0, on April 5 in Fort
Lauderdale, Fla. Olie Kolzig started both games in goal for
Washington.
"That pretty well puts the nail right in the coffin, I think,
with the game tonight, losing it the way we did," Panthers coach
Terry Murray said.
With only six games remaining, Florida trails Carolina for the
last available playoff spot it can grab - the third seed - by six
points.
The Capitals trail Carolina by 10 points and will be
mathematically eliminated from the playoffs with the combinations
of two Carolina wins, two Washington losses or a Carolina win and
a Washington loss.
