Pete DeBoer was fired as coach of the Dallas Stars on Friday.
“Today was a tough day,” Stars general manager Jim Nill said. “I spoke with Pete this morning at 9 o’clock. Great conversation, he was very professional and he understands. We have a good relationship and that’s probably what makes this the hardest.
“I have the utmost respect for him as a person and as a coach. In the end, it’s my responsibility to make a decision that’s the right decision”
No replacement was named.
DeBoer guided Dallas to a 50-26-6 record this season. He led the Stars to the Western Conference Final for the third straight season. However, the 56-year-old was critical of goalie Jake Oettinger in a Game 7 loss to the Edmonton Oilers in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final on May 29, pulling the team’s No. 1 goalie after he allowed two goals on two shots 7:09 into the first period.
During Dallas’ final availability, Oettinger said being removed from the game was “embarrassing,”.
“Any time you get pulled, doesn’t matter if it’s the playoffs or the regular season, you just want to go right off the ice and crawl into your bed and not talk to anyone,” he said.
Nill said after exit interviews were completed with the players and an internal assessment of the season was completed.
However, Nill did not dismiss the idea a change was being considered prior to the Stars’ playoff exit.
In three seasons with Dallas, DeBoer was 149-68-29 and had the best points percentage in the NHL (.665).
“I’m sitting up here and I just let (go) a guy who went to the conference finals three years in a row,” Nill said.
DeBoer’s teams have made the third round of the playoffs six of the past seven seasons. He has guided two teams (Devils, 2012; Sharks, 2016) to the Stanley Cup Finals.
DeBoer ranks fourth among active coaches and 17th all-time in coaching wins.
Nill said the process for finding a new coach is just beginning, and that it is “wide-ranging.”
The Stars are the only NHL team without a coach; the Boston Bruins filled their coaching vacancy by hiring Marco Sturm on Thursday.
