Dale Hunter Becomes Winningest Coach In Memorial Cup History

Dale Hunter is one of the most accomplished coaches in the CHL.

In terms of former and current CHL coaches, you'd be hard pressed to find a record that can stand toe to toe with Hunter's.He's won five OHL Championships, tying him for the most in OHL history, as well as two Memorial Cups and two gold medals coaching Canada on the international stage.

He's also been named the CHL Coach of the Year once and the OHL Coach of the Year on three occasions.

Hunter holds the record for fastest coach to win 1,000 games in the OHL.

He trails only the great Brian Kilrea when it comes to all-time wins, and seems poised to take that mantle in the coming years.

Yesterday, Hunter added another accolade to his distinguished coaching career, becoming the winningest coach at the Memorial Cup.

London's 3-1 victory over Rimouski gave Hunter his 15th win at the Memorial Cup, surpassing Don Hay's previous record of 14 wins.

"I didn't think about it until two minutes ago," said Hunter after the game.

He was quick to turn the attention to his players, commenting that they are the ones blocking shots and doing the work on the ice.

He went on to add that he's coached great players over the years.

Big Third Period Powers Knights Past OceanicYesterday, the London Knights defeated the Rimouski Oceanic 3-1, registering their second win at the Memorial Cup.

Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan picked up two points in the third period to give the OHL representatives the win over the host team.

Many of today's NHL greats spent time in London under Hunter's watchful eye before making it to the big league.

Standout names include Mitch Marner, Matthew Tkachuk, John Tavares, Patrick Kane and Evan Bouchard to name only a few.

Before becoming an OHL coach, Hunter had a distinguished NHL career during the 80s and 90s.

In 1409 NHL games, he scored 1020 points and is second all-time in terms of penalty minutes with 3565.

He's the only player in NHL history to record more than 1000 points and at least 3000 penalty minutes.

He started his career playing for the Quebec Nordiques before being traded to the Washington Capitals before the 1987-88 season.

He went on to captain the Capitals for five years starting in 1994.

He finished his career playing for the Colorado Avalanche during the 1998-99 season.

"Dale is constantly evolving, figuring out how to make players and getting teams to win," said London GM Mark Hunter, who is Dale's sibling.CHL Hosts Meet The Coaches Press Conference Ahead of Memorial CupEarlier today, London Knights Head Coach Dale Hunter tookpart in a pre-tournament press conference alongside the Head Coaches of the otherthree participating teams.

The panel consisted of Hunter, Willie Desjardins(Medicine Hat), Gardiner MacDougall (Moncton) and Joel Perrault (Rimouski).

Becoming the winningest coach at the Memorial Cup mid-tournament will not be enough to satisfy Hunter, who has his eyes set on a third Memorial Cup victory.

This is especially true when you take into account London's Memorial Cup Finals defeat at the hands of the Saginaw Spirit just last year.Unfinished business has been a consistent theme for this year's team since the beginning of the season.

They've already secured a semi-finals appearance by taking down Rimouski and Moncton to start the tournament.

Beating Medicine Hat would secure them another appearance in Memorial Cup Final.Their next game takes place this evening starting a t 7:00 p.m.

when they will faceoff against young star Gavin McKenna and the rest of the Medicine Hat Tigers..

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