George McPhee
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George McPhee (born July 2, 1958, Guelph, Ontario) is the general manager of the National Hockey League's Washington Capitals as well as the team's alternate governor and vice president. His nicknames include "GMGM," short for "General Manager George McPhee," and "The Undertaker" for his play after the whistle.
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[edit] Playing career
Prior to his career in management, McPhee was a prominent college hockey player at Bowling Green State University. There he was the recipient of the 1982 Hobey Baker Award (given to college hockey's top player), was chosen as a First-Team All-Central Collegiate Hockey Association selection in 1982, Second-Team All-CCHA honors in 1979 and 1981 and was the CCHA's Rookie of the Year in 1979. After college he had a seven year career in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers.
[edit] Management years
In 1992, McPhee landed his first major NHL management position, starting as vice president and director of hockey operations as well as alternate governor for the Vancouver Canucks, assisting then general manager Pat Quinn. With McPhee, the team made the playoffs four times, won a division championship, and played in the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals, which they lost to the New York Rangers.
[edit] Washington Capitals
When McPhee joined the Capitals in 1997, the team was looking to turn around its long storied history of being a regular season juggernaut, only to fold in the playoffs. Things started off great, as McPhee engineered the club's first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in his first season. The team has played well under the general management of McPhee, having won three Southeast Division championships (1999-00, 2000-01 and 2007-08), had four 40-or-more win seasons (1997-98, 1999-00, 2000-01 and 2007-08) and a 102-point season (1999-00), yet since McPhee's first year, the team has failed to go beyond the first round of the playoffs.
[edit] 2003-04 fire sale
Throughout the 2003-04 season, McPhee and Caps owner Ted Leonsis made the decision to scrap the team's current lineup in order to dump salaries and begin a youth movement for the team. Thus, in a large fire sale, Sergei Gonchar, Jaromir Jagr, Peter Bondra, Michael Nylander, Mike Grier, Robert Lang and Steve Konowalchuk were all traded within that season. This has caused much criticism of McPhee.[citation needed] He began the rebuilding of the team by selecting Russian phenom Alexander Ovechkin with the 1st overall pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. Since then, McPhee has cited that he plans to build the Capitals through the entry draft.
[edit] The Retooling Years
Leonsis did not fire McPhee during the next 2 seasons by stating we are still building from the ground up entering the 2007-08 NHL season. McPhee would bring in a few players such as Chris Clark, Donald Brashear, Tom Poti, Viktor Kozlov, and a familiar face to the organization in Michael Nylander to help out the young players. After the Capitals started the 2008 6-14-1, McPhee fired Hanlon on November 22 and replaced him with Hershey Bears coach Bruce Boudreau. After the 2007-2008 season McPhee was lauded for sticking with his young team and adding veterens Federov, Cooke and Huet at the trade deadline, eventually leading the Capitals to their third Southeast Division Championship.
