By Mark Schadenberg
After winning a Stanley Cup as a player
and then coaching both in the minors and the Ontario Hockey League,
now-former London Knights vice president and general manager Mark
Hunter learned the ingredients necessary to build a successful hockey
team at any level.
His new level is the pinnacle – the
NHL and the microscope that is the Maple Leafs.
Mark Hunter on Tuesday was named the
new director of player personnel for the Leafs as the NHL club
continues its transition in the front office which has included new
club president (and former London Knight star) Brendan Shanahan and
assistant GM Kyle Dubas from the OHL's Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds
front office. As anyone in hockey rinks will tell you, no one works harder than Mark Hunter in scouring for talent and building a winning system.
Mark Hunter said at a press conference
Tuesday (Oct. 21) that his decision to re-join the Leafs organization
was made after a phone call from Shanahan and GM Dave Nonis,
following a thorough interview a few days ago.
Mark Hunter, who scored 213 goals in
playing 626 NHL games with Montreal, Calgary (Stanley Cup win in
1989), St Louis, Hartford and Washington over a dozen years, has a
coaching background which includes the St John's Maple Leafs of the
AHL in 1996-97 along with two tenures behind the Sarnia Sting bench
over four (plus) seasons.
In 2000, Dale (club president and head
coach) and Mark Hunter purchased the Knights and the Ice House arena
from St Thomas builder Doug Tarry. Another co-owner, who was often
quiet in the background while scouting for NHL clubs, was Basil McRae.
The building of the Knights with the
Hunter brothers coincided with the building of the downtown Budweiser
Gardens, which evolved into a remarkable spring of 2005 and a
Memorial Cup championship. Until this year, the Knights have been
contenders every season and won back-to-back OHL titles in 2012 and
2013.
When Dale Hunter became head coach of
the Washington Capitals for a few months in the 11-12 campaign, Mark
Hunter was the general manager and head coach, and still found time
to scout the emerging talent of minor midgets for the upcoming OHL
draft, and oversee all talent around the league as trades are always
under consideration.
Mark Hunter's hockey mind is now part
of the Maple Leafs system to analyze all amateur scouting, pro
scouting and player development, and work alongside the likes of the
impressive ensemble of Jim Hughes, Dave Morrison, Steve Kaspar,
Nonis, Dubas, and a scouting staff ranging in number around 20
including the observing eyes in Europe.
The hiring of Mark Hunter might
complete the front office shuffling for Toronto, which earlier let go
staffers Claude Loiselle and Dave Poulin.
Mark Hunter has the intangible edge
needed to be an astute front office person in the NHL with his keen
eye for talent, connections everywhere (including Hockey Canada as
Dale and Mark led a Team Canada squad to U18 gold a couple summers
ago) and overall hockey acumen.
In an interview on London's CTV2, Mark
Hunter talked about some of his attributes: “My strength is player
evaluation and scouting, and trying to find players, and to uncover
free agents, and that's what my major responsibility is.
“You want to work for the Toronto
Maple Leafs. It's such a great organization with a lot of history
that you want to be a part of.”
At Budweiser Gardens on game nights,
and I've been there for about 300 of them, it was easy to see who was
in charge of the behind-the-scenes management, player evaluations,
and even the 'in-game atmosphere'. In hockey, they often say the
coach will coach the players supplied by the GM. The Knights
situation was obviously unique with the Hunter brothers both having
an extensive hockey resume, and the club possessing its scouting crew
of Lindsay Hofford, Rob Simpson, Terry Uniac and about eight other
rink birddogs
Basil McRae (right side in photo next to Mark Hunter from OHL website) has an impressive hockey
mind. Now departing a post of scouting for the Columbus Blue Jackets,
after about one week of transition, McRae will be the Knights GM and associate governor (Governor for league meetings is Trevor Whiffen).
McRae's playing career included three years with the London Knights
(1978-81) before breaking into the NHL with the Quebec Nordiques.
Just like Dale Hunter, McRae certainly played with an edge as he
collected 2,453 penalty minutes in 15 years (576 games; 53 goals) with the
Nordiques, Maple Leafs, Red Wings, North Stars, Lightning, Blues and
Blackhawks.
With the hiring of Basil McRae, the
Knights are in good hands as the club re-builds its dynasty after a
tremendous three consecutive years of Memorial Cup appearances.
With the Leafs, Mark Hunter will be
able to display his skills in identifying future star players as he
did for 15 years with the Knights.
50 YEARS
Brendan Shanahan is receiving a lot of votes. You can assist in choosing the Knights all-time team as the club celebrates 50 years in Junior A (started as the Nationals). A list of the top nine forwards, six defencemen and three goalies will be revealed in March. Vote today: www.rogerstv.com/knightsalltimeteam
LINKS:
Mark
Schadenberg, Sales
Representative
Senior
Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)
Royal
LePage Triland Realty
757
Dundas St, Woodstock
(519)
537-1553, cell or text
Email:
mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter:
markroyallepage
Facebook:
Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland
Discussion
. . . Direction . . . Determination . . . Destination
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