Two years in, DeBoer finding success leading Vegas, but Stanley Cup goal remains

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Chase Stevens/AP

Vegas Golden Knights coach Peter DeBoer watches during the third period of the team’s NHL hockey game against the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021, in Las Vegas.

Sat, Jan 15, 2022 (2 a.m.)

Two years ago, Las Vegans woke up to the news that Pete DeBoer was the new coach of the Vegas Golden Knights. Given a contentious history between the coach and this city’s NHL franchise, some may have thought the story was fake.

“I was probably as surprised by the call I got as people were and you were by the announcement,” he chuckles. “It was a blur.”

The stunning announcement to bring in the former San Jose Sharks coach came two years ago today, and what a two years it’s been. With DeBoer calling the shots, Vegas has the second-most regular-season wins in the NHL.

Twice, the Golden Knights have come within a few wins of the Stanley Cup Final, as DeBoer has successfully navigated the COVID-19 world as well as anyone could expect. It’s been part of the process in all three seasons he’s coached the franchise.

“Like the rest of the world, it’s been a whirlwind,” DeBoer said of his time coaching Vegas. “But I wouldn’t trade it.”

Here is where the Golden Knights and DeBoer stand, two years since he became the boss.

Vacation cut short

DeBoer remembers just where he was when he got the call that brought him to Las Vegas, and if you’re not familiar with the tale, it’s a good one.

DeBoer was vacationing with his family in Florida, a month after dismissal as San Jose Sharks coach. He figured he’d get another job at some point, but how often does a top-tier coach have Januarys off? The Florida sunshine sounded a lot better than trudging through a Canadian winter.

Well, so he thought.

He was poolside when Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon’s number appeared on his phone. DeBoer had crossed paths with McCrimmon before, but said he had no idea what this call would be about.

“My mind didn’t even really go to the potential of the Vegas job. I thought maybe it was a Hockey Canada call or maybe it was about a player that I had coached before,” DeBoer said. “When he called and said ‘would I be interested’ it really came out of left field at me.

“But at the same time having coached in the division, and coached in this building numerous time, knowing the area, knowing the team, it didn’t take me more than a couple of seconds to recognize the opportunity.”

Besides, the Golden Knights had a coach.

Gerard Gallant was 18 months clear of the 2018 Jack Adams Award as coach of the year after leading the Golden Knights on a miraculous run to the Stanley Cup Final in their maiden season.

But they were ousted in the first round by DeBoer’s Sharks the following postseason in a series Vegas fans haven’t forgotten. The Sharks scored four goals in five minutes after a major penalty was called on the Golden Knights, erasing a 3-0 third-period deficit in the decisive Game 7 to steal the series.

In their third season, the Golden Knights were struggling in January. Having lost three in a row to close out a homestand, Vegas dropped the first game of a long road trip to fall to 24-19-6.

McCrimmon made the decision to pull the trigger, shocking the hockey world by firing Gallant and hiring DeBoer to replace him.

“There’s nothing easy about those decisions or those days,” McCrimmon said. “I think with respect to the comfort level I had hiring Pete, I was really comfortable that he was going to do a great job coaching our team and he has done that.”

DeBoer hopped on a plane from Florida to Ottawa, where he rushed into town to coach the Golden Knights the next day against the Senators. The Golden Knights won DeBoer’s debut 4-2, and haven’t done a lot of losing since.

“He was a good change for our group from the start,” defenseman Shea Theodore said. “When we play his style and what he wants, more times than not we’re going to come out on top. He’s been a good voice for our group for a while now, and I think things are starting to really click.”

What's happened since

DeBoer was named Golden Knights coach on Jan. 15, 2020, and in the 117 regular season games and 39 playoff games that have followed, almost no one has been better than Vegas.

The Golden Knights have 78 regular season wins, topped only by Colorado. They have 22 playoff wins, topped only by the Tampa Bay Lightning and the New York Islanders, and only Tampa Bay has more than Vegas’ four playoff series victories.

Add it up and only Tampa Bay, the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, has more than the 100 victories the Golden Knights boast since DeBoer was hired.

“Well we’ve got the most points in the league since he was hired, so I think that speaks to the work that he has done,” McCrimmon said last week. “Use whatever metrics you want to use, he’s done a tremendous job.” (Vegas has since been surpassed by the Avalanche for most points)

The Golden Knights are again atop of the Pacific Division after winning it in DeBoer’s first season and leading the NHL in wins last season (though losing out on the division in a tiebreaker).

This year has been one of the most impressive coaching performances of DeBoer’s storied career. Only three players — Reilly Smith, Keegan Kolesar and Brayden McNabb — have played every game as injuries and COVID-19 have ravaged the roster all season long.

Team captaion Mark Stone has missed 17 games. Max Pacioretty has missed 23, William Karlsson 24 and Alec Martinez has missed 28. And yet there sit the Golden Knights, looking down on the rest of the division from the perch.

For his efforts, this week DeBoer was named the coach of the Pacific Division for the NHL All-Star Game, which is Feb. 5 at T-Mobile Arena.

Click to enlarge photo

Vegas Golden Knights coach Peter DeBoer leaves the ice at the end of the first period during an NHL hockey game against the San Jose Sharks in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021.

DeBoer’s coaching style

When DeBoer arrived with the Golden Knights, he inherited a veteran group that has only added more respected leaders to its ranks. Stone, Pacioretty, Smith and Brayden McNabb and others were already in place in the leadership group, and Vegas has since acquired defensemen Alex Pietrangelo and Alec Martinez, both of whom have played on Stanley Cup-winning teams.

“Those are the guys that drive your messaging but also drive the identity of the team you’re building and the identity of how you want to play,” DeBoer said. “Those guys are critical.”

DeBoer likes to lean on his veterans as almost extra coaches on the bench and on the ice. Inside the locker room, he pretty much leaves the older players to do their own thing, to hear Pietrangelo tell it.

“I think the important thing is he has a lot of respect for us as players and he lets us do us,” Pietrangelo said. “I’ve only been here for a year with him, but to have that communication, for me, is important. For him to listen to us and understand what the coaches want and what we need and find common ground on that. He’s a real good communicator.”

But teams rarely win with just veterans, and the Golden Knights rely on younger talent as well.

Sometimes things don’t work out. Nicolas Hague, Zach Whitecloud and Nicolas Roy have taken on larger roles and have become mainstays in DeBoer’s lineup.

And some players just have to clench their teeth and do what’s asked, like last season when Kolesar was put through the ringer because of cap constraints. He was in and out of the lineup, which made it tough to adjust.

But this season Kolesar has played in every game and is settling into a nice role in the rotation. He scored the first power-play goal of his career on Tuesday in a spot appearance on the special teams unit.

“Very fair, honest coach. Respects his players a lot and equally gets respect back,” Kolesar said. “He’s been my coach for the main part of my career. He’s helped me a lot, given me a lot of good advice and played me in some key games and some key moments. Nothing but good things to say.”

What's to come

There’s no question DeBoer’s tenure so far has been successful. The record speaks for itself.

And yet there remains those who believe the Stanley Cup champion had a successful season and everyone else failed. It’s a nihilistic way to look at sports to be sure, but if players and coaches are judged by the rings on their fingers and the trophies they raise, it’s fair to point out DeBoer hasn’t won the big one yet.

He’s come close. He guided both the Sharks and New Jersey Devils to the Stanley Cup Final, and twice brought Vegas to the league’s final four. Last year’s second round series against Colorado was a masterclass in coaching the way his systems helped shut down arguably the best line in hockey, before the Golden Knights’ offense sputtered in the semifinal round for the second year in a row.

DeBoer was blunt about his own coaching performance.

“I’m not handing out any letter grades or hanging the success title on anything we’ve done,” DeBoer said. “I think the success lies in our daily approach to showing up here, trying to get better and trying to move this organization closer to a Stanley Cup, which is the hardest trophy in pro sports to win.”

It’s clear though, that the Golden Knights are in good hands with DeBoer at the helm. It took a gutsy move by McCrimmon to make such a coaching switch, and the Golden Knights have been an elite team basically since the day DeBoer took over.

The Golden Knights are a near-lock for the playoffs, and will have another crack at the Stanley Cup this summer. And they feel confident, two years later, they have the right man to lead the way.

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