Vegas Golden Knights fired head coach Peter De Boer after missing the playoffs for the first time in the franchise’s history.
General Manager Kelly McCriman made the announcement Monday and thanked DeBoer for his work with the organization.
“Since joining the organization, Pete and his team have led us through some of the most unique and challenging circumstances we’ve seen since our franchise entered the NHL,” McCriman said. “After long discussions over the last two weeks, we believe that a new coach will put us in the best position to succeed next season.
Vegas failed to qualify for the playoffs after a series of injuries complicated by salary ceiling problems caused chaos in the squad, especially at the door. The Golden Knights were first in the Pacific Division at one point, but after 82 games they were three points behind last place with a wild card in the Western Conference, although they acquired center Jack Eichel in exchange for Buffalo and other moves along the way. made them a constant contender for the championship.
The organization with a short strap of head coaches is nothing new. De Boer has coached the Golden Knights for 2 1/2 seasons after being appointed in January 2020 to replace Gerard Galant, who led the team to the Stanley Cup final in their first season in 2017-18. and back to the playoffs in 2019.
Under DeBoer, they reached the playoffs in the previous two years, each time losing one round before the Stanley Cup final.
De Boer, 53, is the fourth coach to lose his job since the end of the regular season, joining Jeff Blaschill of Detroit, Mike Yeo of Philadelphia and Barry Trotz of the New York Islanders. The Islanders on Monday named longtime Trotz assistant Lane Lambert as his deputy.
Vegas joins the vacancy list, which also includes Winnipeg and Chicago, teams not expected to return interim coaches.
DeBoer coached his fourth NHL team after staying in Florida, New Jersey and San Jose. He took over
The new voice of the islanders
When the New York Islanders fired head coach Barry Trotz, general manager Lou Lamorielo felt the team needed a new voice.
This new voice comes from the same coaching room.
The Islanders nominated Lane Lambert as Trotsky’s deputy on Monday, giving his longtime assistant his first job as NHL head coach. It took him only a week to decide to move from Trotz with one year from his contract to conclude that Lambert was the right choice to succeed him.
“There is no doubt that there is a new voice,” Lamoriello said during a virtual press conference. “This new voice is here with Lane, and Lane certainly has different thoughts on different things.”
Islanders’ GM Lou Lamoriello says new head coach Lane Lambert, on the right, showed impressive leadership in January when former bench boss Barry Trotz, on the left, took time off to deal with a family issue. (Jim McIsack / Associated Press)
Trotz was sacked last week after the Islanders missed the playoffs for the first time in four seasons behind the bench, a disappointing turn of events with a significant 13-game trip and a series of coronavirus absences and injuries.
Lamoriello said the main reason for this move was the period in January, when Lambert took over the coaching duties from Trotz, who took leave to deal with a family issue and showed impressive leadership.
He received Trotsky’s blessing
“When he was given the opportunity or put in that role, he had no questions in his mind about decision-making, no uncertainty in the conversations I had with him and the homework he did before making some of the decisions. “He was completely comfortable in his own skin to make decisions that had to be made, no matter where we were and no matter what the game was.”
Lambert said he spoke twice with Trotsky and received his blessing.
“I spoke to Barry last week early after receiving the news, and he told me he hoped I would get the job,” Lambert said. “And then I just talked to him not long ago, and he uses the words that he’s ‘excited.’
Lambert, 57, has worked for the Trotz team for the past 11 years in Nashville, Washington and New York. He has a ring for the Stanley Cup from the Capitals title in 2018, after which Trotz resigned amid a dispute over a contract and joined the Islanders.
Trotz was also replaced by an assistant when Todd Reardon was promoted to the post in Washington. He was fired after two seasons and two appearances in the first round of the playoffs.
The fate of the assistants is unknown
Reardon, who is now at Mike Sullivan’s headquarters in the Pittsburgh Penguins, had no previous relationship with Trotz. Lambert began working under Trotz with the Nashville Predators in 2011 after four seasons as coach of their branch of the American Hockey League in Milwaukee and has been with him ever since.
Assistants Jim Hiller and John Gruden and goalkeeping coach Piero Greco remain under contract, with Lamoriello and Lambert expected to decide on their status in the coming weeks.
A native of Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Lambert played in 300 regular-season games and NHL playoffs in the 1980s and many more in the juniors and Europe since. He began coaching almost immediately after his playing days, becoming an assistant in 2002 with Moose Jaw of the Western Hockey League.
Lambert remained in the youth league, coaching Prince George for two seasons before jumping into the AHL. Next season will be his 22nd as a coach at every level and seventh as a head coach, although, of course, first at the highest level of hockey.
“You work hard and good things happen,” he said. “I just worked hard and prepared for the potential one day to have this opportunity.”
Doubtful point for game 1 against Panthers
Tampa Bay Lightning Center Braden Point is suspected of an Eastern Conference semifinal match against the Florida Panthers after suffering an obvious lower body injury on Saturday night.
However, Lightning head coach John Cooper told reporters Monday that Point will be every day after Tuesday’s opening.
The point was crushed on the ice in the first period in game 7 against Toronto, after his right foot retreated past the side boards. He writhed in pain, clutching his right thigh before the first intermission. He tried to come back after a 25-second shift at the beginning of the second period, but could not continue.
“He tried,” Cooper said Saturday night. “He would not go to [dressing] room. He would stay on the bench all the time, but he couldn’t go. “
Cooper did not provide an update on Point’s injury or condition until Monday.
Point scored two goals and four points in the series against Maple Leafs. Point scored the league’s highest 28 goals combined in the previous two post-seasons, both of which led to Stanley Cup titles for Lightning, which are trying to make a three-peat.
Add Comment