DeBoer canned after missing playoffs
The Vegas Golden Knights fired coach Peter DeBoer on Monday in the aftermath of missing the playoffs for the first time in their five-year franchise history.
GM Kelly McCrimmon thanked DeBoer for his work with the organization, but also said the team was looking for a fresh voice roughly four months before training camp opens.
“The decision was made based on next year, the decision was not based on last year,” McCrimmon said. “I'm not going to be critical of Pete or point out specifics as to why this decision was made. I've got a lot of respect for Pete as a man, I've got a lot of respect for him as a coach. These decisions are made for the future.”
Vegas failed to qualify for the playoffs after a barrage of injuries compounded by salary cap problems that wreaked havoc on the lineup. The Golden Knights at one point were first in the Pacific Division but after 82 games found themselves three points back of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference despite acquiring center Jack Eichel in a trade with Buffalo and other moves along the way designed to make them a perennial championship contender.
The organization having a short leash on coaches is nothing new. DeBoer
coached the Golden Knights for 2 1/2 seasons after being named in January 2020 to replace Gerard Gallant, who guided the team to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season in 2017-18 and back to the playoffs in 2019.
DeBoer, 53, is the fourth coach to lose his job since the regular season ended. ISLANDERS NAME NEW COACH >> When the Islanders fired coach Barry Trotz, GM Lou Lamoriello believed the team needed a new voice. That new voice is coming from inside the same coaches' room.
The Islanders named Lane Lambert as Trotz's replacement, giving his longtime assistant his first head coaching job in the NHL. It took just a week from the decision to move on from
Trotz to conclude that Lambert was the right choice to succeed him.
“There is without question a new voice,” Lamoriello said. “That new voice is here with Lane, and certainly Lane has different thoughts on things.”
Lambert, 57, has worked on Trotz's staff the past 11 years with Nashville, Washington and New York. He has a Stanley Cup ring from the Capitals' run in 2018. FLAMES FINISH OFF STARS >> Johnny Gaudreau scored 15:09 into overtime to lift Calgary past Dallas 3-2 in Game 7 late Sunday night, giving the Flames just their second playoff series win in the last 17 years.
Gaudreau got a rebound and put a sharp-angled shot over Jake Oettinger, who made 64 saves for Dallas — a franchise record for the most stops in a Game 7.
The Flames will now face Edmonton in the first postseason Battle of Alberta since 1991.
SECOND ROUND GETS STARTED >> The two-time defending Stanley Cup champions on one side. The Presidents' Trophy winners on the other. Franchises separated by just a couple hundred miles of highway. And two teams that don't like each other very much.
Tampa Bay and Florida. For the state championship — and so much more.
The Lightning and the Panthers are meeting in the playoffs for the second consecutive season, with Game 1 today on Florida's home ice. Tampa Bay needed six games to oust the Panthers a year ago in the first round.
Colorado and St. Louis don't like each other much too, especially after Avalanche center Nazem Kadri concussing Blues defenseman Justin Faulk with an illegal check to the head in last year's series that prompted an eight-game suspension.
“I think it's in the back of guys' minds, for sure — they were not too happy about it, as was nobody in the organization,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “We've got to focus on now. Yeah there's motivation, for sure, but you're in the playoffs. You're trying to win. What more motivation do you need?”