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Ownership of the Vegas Golden Knights has set a pretty high bar for its coaches.
Peter DeBoer, who made deep playoff runs each of his first two seasons as the head coach, has been fired by the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Knights failed to make the playoffs this season after a second-half-swoon that enabled the Nashville Predators to sneak in by a mere three points.
Moving On
Vegas only entered the NHL during the 2017-18 season.
With coach Gerard Gallant at the helm, Vegas made an amazing run to the Stanley Cup Finals in its first season as an expansion team.
This is virtually unheard of in professional team sports.
After a slow start at the beginning of the 2019-20 season, Gallant was terminated and DeBoer was brought in.
While DeBoer managed to get the team some deep runs in the playoffs, he did not bring them back to the finals.
This year, the team started off as one of the hottest teams in the league, but Vegas swooned during the second half, allowing Dallas, a team that struggled horribly at the beginning of the season, and Nashville to beat them out for the wildcard spots.
Vegas Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon announced the firing on Monday, stating, “We would like to thank Pete DeBoer for his commitment to the Vegas Golden Knights over the past three seasons.
“Since joining the organization, Pete and his staff have guided us through some of the most unique and challenging circumstances we’ve witnessed since our franchise entered the NHL.
“After lengthy discussions over the last two weeks, we believe that a new coach will put us in the best position to succeed next season.”
DeBoer is unlikely to be on the sidelines for long, as there are plenty of franchises struggling with coaching right now that will be interested.
DeBoer is now the fourth NHL head coach to lose his job after the regular season.
