By now you know Mike Knuble won’t be returning to the Capitals next season. After spending three seasons in Washington, he’ll be looking for a new team next year, but he leaves giving some advice to GM George McPhee on what kind of coach they should hire next.
Knuble tells Katie Carrera of The Washington Post that finding a happy medium between their last two bench bosses would be in their best interests.
“Finding someone who can go between Bruce’s style and Dale’s style, I think, is key,” Knuble said. “The Caps have a lot of skilled players who don’t have to play so conservatively all the time; you can be a little more aggressive at the start of the game. I think you’ve got to let them go be the world-class talents that they are. Then you work to get everybody playing defensive when the situation calls for it.”
Operating between the extremes of Bruce Boudreau’s “run and gun” kind of hockey and Dale Hunter’s “bore you to tears” style has all the makings of a real good idea. Scoring and strong defense? Sounds pretty ideal. As for who the contenders are for the vacant Caps job, that’s another story entirely as McPhee isn’t really talking about who he’s aiming for. Hey maybe Knuble wants to coach some day.