Dick Hunter patriarch of a hockey family
LONDON, ONT. — This, Dick Hunter admits, has been one of the more unforgettable winters.
“Of all the years we’ve farmed, I’ve never seen anything like it,” the patriarch of the puck-chasing Hunter hockey clan said from his house right off the 80 highway out near Petrolia. “We hardly had any snow. Saturday was pretty crazy around here but that’s about it. We plant the winter wheat and the snow usually covers it like a blanket.
“Now, you just don’t know how it’s going to turn out.
“It’s gambling here. You don’t have to go to Vegas.”
It might’ve been worth a Sin City side trip to check odds on one of Dick Hunter’s sons — Dale — leaving the London Knights in midseason to try to straighten out the Washington Capitals while younger brother Mark takes over the No. 1 team in the Canadian Hockey League and has managed to keep them there.
“It’s been exciting,” said Dick Hunter, who turned 76 last week. “I’m not surprised at all (by Dale landing in Washington). He was waiting. Him and ( Caps GM) George Mcphee are good friends. “If it was anywhere else, I don’t know.”
Dale still calls dad Dick, his old coach on a Strathroyblades junior team that included Doug Crossman and Craig Ma c Ta v i s h , almost daily.
“He’s a busy g u y ,” said Dick, who recently made the trip to Washington for a three-game home stand. “He leaves for works at 7 a. m. and he has a condo right near their practice rink (in Arlington, Va.).
“He’s the same coach he was in London. It’s just different. You’re dealing with men and players with big contracts.
“You hope he gets the defenceman (Mike Green) back. He’s one of those special players who can score and help the power play. We’ll see what happens.”
Dick Hunter still views the game through the eyes of an old bench boss and his sons run their teams on a familiar foundation — hard work.
“That’s what you try to establish,” Dick said. “It doesn’t matter if you score goals or not. You still have to put out the effort. You can’t teach players how to score, I always believed that. Guys like (Patrick Kane and John Tavares) — they have the hands and they’re special.
“Not everyone has that gift, but you can still do the job if you’re willing to go in front of the net, stand in there and deflect pucks.”
Dick Hunter doesn’t watch all the Caps games.
He’s a busy guy with people and places to visit, too.
“I go to the Knights ( home) games and I really enjoy watching this team,” he said. “One thing about the juniors is we want them to be perfect, but they’re going to make mistakes. You watch the pros and they still make mistakes, too.
“Mark has done a good job with this team. He could coach (in the pros) too. He and Dale have been around each other so long, they share the same ideas.”
Dick doesn’t travel with the Knights as much as he did in the past.
“I’ll probably go on a few trips yet,” he said, “but before, I would just hop in the truck with Mark and he would drive us to the game. Now (with him coaching), I would have to go to London first and it isn’t as easy.”
He has 17 grandchildren to track. Acouple of the younger boys and girls are still playing hockey in Petrolia out of the old arena.
Dale’s son Dylan, of course, is a Knights first-year assistant coach.
Dick also tries to get to games in Sarnia to keep tabs on former Knights assistant Jacques Beaulieu, now the Sting’s GM and head coach.
“They play some games on Thursday night and I like to go because it’s close by,” Dick said. “That ( Nail) Yakupov. What a player. He’s got it. He’s so strong. You see these guys pass him the puck and the next thing you know, you’re looking at it in the back of the net.”
When he’s not at the rink or on the farm, he’s often at the race track.
D ick and Da le share a passion for horse racing.
They have a couple of goodlooking horses, including a threeyear-old filly named Cosmic Jolt who has enjoyed some success at Western Fair.
“It’s quite a complex they have there,” Dick said.
“We go over on Wednesdays and watch the races, then head over to see the Junior B (Nationals) play at a real nice rink. You don’t even have to go outside — just walk across the aisle. “It’s something.” That pretty much sums up life in any sports-loving family.