This time, Peter DeBoer is the one getting the hook.
The Dallas Stars fired their coach Friday, a little more than a week after an embarrassing season-sending Game 5 loss to the Oilers in the Western Conference final.
“After careful consideration, we believe that a new voice is needed in our locker room to push us closer to our goal of winning the Stanley Cup,” GM Jim Nill said in a statement.
“We’d like to thank Pete for everything that he has helped our organization achieve over the past three seasons and wish him nothing but the best moving forward.”
In the 6-3 defeat, DeBoer yanked star goalie Jake Oettinger after he gave up two goals on two shots to open the game — just 7:09 in — a move that has since been followed with widespread criticism.
“No one’s a bigger fan of Jake Oettinger than me, as a person or a goalie,” DeBoer said in the days following the loss.
“There’s one motive, and that’s how do we survive this and get it to a Game 6? And I have to live with those consequences. If it works, great, we’re in Edmonton tonight and you guys are telling me how awesome a move it was. And when it doesn’t, I’ve got to stand up here and do this, and I understand.”
The loss marked the third straight season, all under DeBoer, in which Dallas could not get past the Western Conference final.
Oettinger, 26, faced a league-high 503 shots in 18 playoff games after going 36-18-4 in the regular season with a .909 save percentage in backing Dallas to the No. 2 seed in the Central Division.
“When you’re in that moment, you’re making that decision, what’s going through my mind is, you know, we need to stop the bleeding here. Our team looked tentative. We’re down, 2-0,” DeBoer said. “In the back of your mind, you know, is he a little bit fatigued, he’s been through a lot. He’s carried us through two rounds, is he going to be a better goalie in Game 6 and 7 for us fresh.”
The star netminder has worn the failure harshly in the days since as reports of discord from the Dallas players — much directed at DeBoer — has mounted.
“The reality is if I make one or two of those saves, then I’m still playing in the game,” Oettinger said on May 21, his first public comments since the season-ending defeat. “The way I’m looking at it is, how can I get better from that? How can I make those saves that I made all playoffs?”
The Stars are now the latest team to search for a coaching replacement.
Already this offseason, the Rangers (Mike Sullivan), Flyers (Rick Tocchet), Kraken (Lane Lambert), Bruins (Marco Sturm), Blackhawks (Jeff Blashill), Penguins (Dan Muse) and Ducks (Joel Quenneville) have found new bench bosses.
DeBoer went 149-68-29 over three seasons in Dallas, adding a 29-27 record in the playoffs.
Over 17 NHL seasons, he’s accumulated a 662-447-152 mark with the Panthers, Devils, Sharks and Golden Knights before taking the Stars’ job in 2022-23.