George felt Bruce was a terrific coach. He told me so in July at our rookie camp.
George felt Bruce was a terrific coach. He told me so in July at our rookie camp. While we could have gone out and made a public search for a coach, George had tucked Bruce away in Hershey where all he did was win and win big. George recruited Bruce to coach for us in Hershey where he won a Calder Cup. Bruce asked me when we had our first meeting for any advice or counsel. I told him I couldn’t add any value but that he had total free reign to run the club as he saw fit and all I wanted to do was "Win. It is time and our fans and franchise deserve it". Bruce thanked me and then gave me a little hug. And there you go – all of my advice to a coach. 
At this point, it looks like that was the perfect advice to give
You got another one right!
Ted, Thats awesome… I feel thats how an owner should be.
Can you talk to Redskins Owners, Maybe a little advice for them?
That was good of George. Only problem is that he waited way too long to make the move. Hindsight is always 20/20, but this was done much later than it needed to be. But it looks like all will be coming out smelling like roses, which I guess is OK! Better late than never! Lets go Caps!
As much as I liked Hanlon as a coach and as a man, it was obvious that the Caps needed to go in a new direction when the team hit the wall early in the year. Hanlon was a great guy to get the youngsters playing and believing in themselves at the NHL level. I was apprehensive when I saw coach Boudreau was taking over after Hanlon was let go. My thoughts were “oh no, not another AHL coach with no NHL experience.” That said, I had loved what he did in Hershey up until that point, as I go to games regularly up there when the Caps aren’t in town. He’s proved to everyone that he belongs in this league, and that he will succeed. He took the worst team in the NHL and turned them into division leaders in less than 3 months time, without the benefit of playing a lot of divisional games.
I never thought I’d say this, but McPhee is turning out to be the GM that’s right for this team. He struggled on the job early in his career, in my opinion, but he’s made huge strides since the “firesale” and subsequent lockout. His drafting is better, he’s picking up the right players to fit into the locker room and on the ice and most importantly, as evidenced with the Ovechkin and Brashear signings, the players have their full trust in him. I can’t wait until the game tonight. See you there.
thanks for all you do, ted. you’re the best.