Hunter claims 300th win

September 20, 2008

By Aaron Bell
It didn't take Dale Hunter long to establish himself behind the bench.
In fact, he reached one milestone in record time.
With London's 4-0 win over the Erie Otters on Friday, Hunter became the fastest coach in OHL history to win 300 games.
Hunter is in his eighth season after taking over the bench early in the 2001-02 season. He won 19 of 50 games that year - his only losing record. The following season, the Knights improved to a second place finish in the Midwest Division before peeling off four straight 100 point seasons and claiming the OHL's regular season championship an unprecedented four years in a row.
Hunter reached the pinnacle of his coaching career when he guided the 2004-05 team to a record-setting season that ended with them celebrating the Memorial Cup championship on home ice.
During his time with the Knights, Hunter has watched stars like Rick Nash, Corey Perry, Sam Gagner and Patrick Kane become high profile players in the National Hockey League.
It was a special night in London for other reasons as well. It was their first win of the season and long-time trainer Don Brankley was honoured before the game.
Kale Kerbashian opened the scoring midway through the first period and Jason Guy kept the Knights ahead with a 34 save performance. Dominic DeSando, Matt Clarke and Daniel Elrich scored in the third period to secure the win.
Other OHL coaches that are approaching milestones this season are Larry Mavety of the Kingston Frontenacs, who is appriaching 700 career wins, while George Burnett of the Belleville Bulls needs six wins and Dave MacQueen of the Sarnia Sting needs 24 wins to claim 400 in their distinguished careers.
Dick Todd and Peter DeBoer were both in their eighth season behind the bench when they reached 300 wins while Brian Kilrea, who holds the record with 1,154 career wins and counting, record his 300th win in his ninth season.