The Dallas Stars have fired Pete DeBoer as head coach. In a statement released by the team, general manager Jim Nill said a new voice was needed. In the span of a few weeks, DeBoer went from being acclaimed — 9-0 record in playoff game-seven situations, knocked the Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the playoffs, and eliminated the President’s Trophy winning Winnipeg Jets in six games in the Western Conference semifinals to reach the Conference Fin for the third straight year — to being out of a job.
The Western Conference Final series against the Edmonton Oilers started off well enough. The Stars staged a massive third-period comeback to capture Game One. Thereafter, the Stars lost four games in a row in ugly fashion. Gave Five was the nadir.
DeBoer criticized Oettinger after elimination
Starting Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger allowed goals on the game’s first two shots on the way to a 6-3 loss. DeBoer pulled Oettinger in favor of Casey DeSmith with the score 2-0. In an of itself, the series loss and the goalie change in Game Five did not seal DeBoer’s fate.
Rather, it’s what happened after the game. In his post-game presser, DeBoer doubled down on the decision to pull Oettinger by essentially throwing the netminder under the bus.
Oettinger took the high road when later asked about his player-coach relationship with DeBoer and their ability to move forward together. DeBoer himself attempted to do damage control. Unfortunately for the veteran head coach, it was too late.
Nill is one of the NHL’s most patient and measured general managers. This time, he decided to pull the trigger and fire DeBoer.
I predicted wrong here, I admit. I thought Nill, after speaking to DeBoer (and Oettinger), would give it one more year to try and take the final step. The Stars, after all, have reach either the Conference Final or the Cup Final four times in the 2019-20 to 2024-25 span. The Oilers got in the way, year after year. Now, there was also unnecessary drama. Nill will explain his reasoning at an upcoming press conference.
DeBoer firing reminiscent of Terry Murray
DeBoer’s sudden fall from grace in Dallas reminds me of what happened with Terry Murray in Philadelphia in the mid-1990s. The Flyers missed the playoffs for five straight years before Murray (a former Flyers player) was hired prior to the lockout-shortened 1994-95 campain.
In year one, the Flyers won their division and came with two wins of the Stanley Cup Final before losing a hard-fought series to the eventual Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils. In year two, the Flyers finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference but were upset in six games in the second round by the Florida Panthers. In year three, the Flyers needed just 15 games in the playoffs to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 10 years.
“Murph’s” job seemed safe. That is, until the Detroit Red Wings swept Philly in the Cup Final. More than the sweep itself, what cost Murray dearly was an ill-advised comment between Games Three and Four. Murray said his team was in a “choking situation” against the well-prepared Detroit team that’d been swept by the Devils in the 1995 Final and lost a war of a series with Colorado the next year.
When Eric Desjardins, one of the team’s quiet leaders, was informed of the “choking” comment, he simply replied, “Aye, aye, aye!”
Not long after the Final, Murray was out as head coach and assigned instead to do a year of pro scouting to fulfill his remaining contract.
The situation in Dallas feels familiar. No matter how one slices it, if DeBoer had just fallen on the sword after Game Five, I think he’d be coming back for a fourth year in Dallas. He’s a very good coach.
I will never forgot how a lesser-on-paper Devils team dismantled the Flyers (under Peter Laviolette) in the second round of the 2012 playoffs. The Flyers had just beaten the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round — Pittsburgh was the near-unanimous pundit favorite to win not just the series but the Cup itself — and then DeBoer’s team systematically took apart Laviolette’s club.
DeBoer had a similar situation to 2025 — making ill-advised comments about his team’s goaltending — when he was coaching the Vegas Golden Knights. That, too, ultimately proved fatal to his tenure. Was it the only factor? No. Was it a contributing factor? Certainly.
2012?