Confirmed with Link: Coach Pete DeBoer Is Fired

[HellOnIce]

I think the phrase "he needs his horses for his system to work" is a pretty big joke to be honest. A good coach gets the best out of his players no matter what. I also think the best coach is the one that not only has a good system in place, but one that can motivate his players. I have absolutely no inside information, and this is completely my opinion, but he did not seem to be a motivating factor for us at all.

I think the Devils by and large did get the most of the players the last few years. Wasn't perfect, but it was what it was. We were in a great position to get in last year and we didn't because a shootout and Brodeur. This year the wheels fell of the wagon.

 

[JK3]

That's not how it works... it's team + coach = results.

Edit: Lol for some reason I read it as you were defending the guy. Forget about my equation

Not defending him at all.

I think the phrase "he needs his horses for his system to work" is a pretty big joke to be honest. A good coach gets the best out of his players no matter what. I also think the best coach is the one that not only has a good system in place, but one that can motivate his players. I have absolutely no inside information, and this is completely my opinion, but he did not seem to be a motivating factor for us at all.

Exactly. Was so freaking tired of hearing about this great "system" the last 3 years that didn't do ****. Jagr mentioned how tired the team was playing that style, how hard it was to pressure in all 3 zones, running yourself into the ground with old and slow players instead of adapting and catering to the type of players we have NOW.

 

[MadDevil]

Sorry nothing to write home about. Average team + average results = average coach. Can't believe people still defend this guy.

What were you expecting given the team we were icing? Take the top three goal scorers off any team and see what happens. I think we actually did pretty well given the personnel losses we suffered. It wasn't really until this year where everything fell apart.

 

[Benedict Parisechuk]

I think the phrase "he needs his horses for his system to work" is a pretty big joke to be honest. A good coach gets the best out of his players no matter what. I also think the best coach is the one that not only has a good system in place, but one that can motivate his players. I have absolutely no inside information, and this is completely my opinion, but he did not seem to be a motivating factor for us at all.

Yup. The only time his system was ever successful was when he had 3 of the top 20 wingers in the league and got a fluke 30 goal season from Clarkson. Even with all of those guys, that team was still painfully average for the first 4 months of the season. In his entire NHL career, hes had one half season of impressive showings. Everything has been average to below average. I just don't get why people are so impressed by him.

 

[NJDevs26]

At this point I kind of hope he gets a job with a contender so we can end this back-and-forth one way or another with Pete. I don't want to see him go to another bad/broke organization and have another round of excuses at his next stop. It is comical how NO other coach gets these excuses.

 

[theking72]

I want a Pete press conference

There is no way that his severance isn't tied to his total silent and non-disparagement of the Devils

This makes me sad

 

[Emperoreddy]

Yup. The only time his system was ever successful was when he had 3 of the top 20 wingers in the league and got a fluke 30 goal season from Clarkson. Even with all of those guys, that team was still painfully average for the first 4 months of the season. In his entire NHL career, hes had one half season of impressive showings. Everything has been average to below average. I just don't get why people are so impressed by him.

He also had two excellent assistants in Oates and Big Bird. How much of that season was actually Pete?

 

[Devs4L]

I think the phrase "he needs his horses for his system to work" is a pretty big joke to be honest. A good coach gets the best out of his players no matter what. I also think the best coach is the one that not only has a good system in place, but one that can motivate his players. I have absolutely no inside information, and this is completely my opinion, but he did not seem to be a motivating factor for us at all.

Until this year, I'm not sure when that was ever something you could view as a clear issue for Pete.

In 2012, he got the best out of a handful of players that other teams didn't want, like Ponikarovsky, Zidlicky, Sykora, Carter, and Bernier. People look at some of these players as key players on that team...but they weren't key players at that time anywhere else but here.

Same goes for players like Gionta and Henrique (a rookie). Clarkson should be giving part of his contract to Deboer.

Combine this with a solid but mostly nameless defense that had a few aging players, plus two 40 year old goaltenders, and the idea by some that that was a roster Pete had little to do with getting as far as it did, and Parise and Kovy were the whole team, isn't objective at all.

That was a good team, but wasn't great. Pete did a great job with that team. If you're being fair, I'm not sure how anyone can say anything else.

 

[Bleedred]

I think the Devils by and large did get the most of the players the last few years. Wasn't perfect, but it was what it was. We were in a great position to get in last year and we didn't because a shootout and Brodeur. This year the wheels fell of the wagon.

And who was at fault for Brodeur playing so many games? That's why I love when DeBoer backers blame Brodeur, but don't go after the guy calling the shots. The guy who decided it was a good idea to play Brodeur so many games.

Brodeur playing so many games, is a constant excuse for Pete. Isn't he the one who chose to play him though?

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

below average head coach.

results speak for themselves.

 

[Bleedred]

below average head coach.

results speak for themselves.

Yeah but he had to start Brodeur all those games (as well as Hedberg in 2013) and lost all those wingers.

If Lou really canned Pete with how depleted this team is right now, that really speaks VOLUMES to me.

I don't blame him too much for not getting more out of this team with all the injuries/illness (though some of the efforts were abysmal. See Pete's last game against a POS opponent), but he wasn't getting much out of this team when they were healthy. Other than 5005859 blown leads.

He should have been sacked after that Black Friday disaster.

 

[Devs4L]

What were you expecting given the team we were icing? Take the top three goal scorers off any team and see what happens. I think we actually did pretty well given the personnel losses we suffered. It wasn't really until this year where everything fell apart.

I think this is what a lot of people fail to realize. Just because the results are largely the same, doesn't mean how they're happening, the tendencies, and the reasons are the same.

You can't make blanket assessments about the past few years off of what was going on this year. What was going on this year - how it was happening - looked, and was, different.

 

[Mr.Krinkle]

I really can't pin this on Pete, granted he wasn't a great coach, but holy hell did the roster this year suck donkey balls. Burns couldn't turn this team into a playoff team. That said, he made the mistake of sticking with the same mentality after we lost everyone important from the Cup run except the fourth line - pile on the complete mishandling of the young kids, forget it.

 

[Bleedred]

I don't really wanna bag on the guy anymore, but I'm baffled by all the excuses he gets.

I'm over him at this point.

 

[Devils Dominion]

I don't really wanna bag on the guy anymore, but I'm baffled by all the excuses he gets.

I'm over him at this point.

I wish him well since he's always been a classy guy.

He should have never lasted this far

Not sure who has a bigger fan club here, Pete or Conte.

 

[Benedict Parisechuk]

I don't really wanna bag on the guy anymore, but I'm baffled by all the excuses he gets.

I'm over him at this point.

I don't even think guys like Babcock, Quenneville, or D. Sutter get the amount of excuses as Deboer does. It's remarkable.

 

[Devs4L]

I don't even think guys like Babcock, Quenneville, or D. Sutter get the amount of excuses as Deboer does. It's remarkable.

They shouldn't. Their rosters bury ours. If Pete had their rosters and the results were what they've been here, the excuses would be trivial, and he'd have likely been fired long ago with good reason.

 

[Uli Hiemer]

I wish him well since he's always been a classy guy.

He should have never lasted this far

Not sure who has a bigger fan club here, Pete or Conte.

Add Lou to that list.

 

[MadDevil]

I don't even think guys like Babcock, Quenneville, or D. Sutter get the amount of excuses as Deboer does. It's remarkable.

Yeah, those are really fair comparisons. Just look at how similar our team has been to the Hawks or Kings the last few years.

 

[RSeen]

below average head coach.

results speak for themselves.

The teams he had were awful except for one season and he made it to the finals that year. Lou should have lost his job not Pete. This team is awful under any head coach in the world.

 

[Devilsfan992]

The teams he had were awful except for one season and he made it to the finals that year. Lou should have lost his job not Pete. This team is awful under any head coach in the world.

The year after the cup team started off as the 2nd best team in the East. Deboer didn't know how to adjust once Marty went down (Started Hedberg every game when we had Kinkaid who probably would have done a better job). Then once Kovy went down it was a lost cause.

That team played like a playoff team the first quarter of the season. They could never reach that level of play for the remainder of the season.

 

[Benedict Parisechuk]

Yeah, those are really fair comparisons. Just look at how similar our team has been to the Hawks or Kings the last few years.

That's not really my point. The way people defend this guy, you'd think he was a top 5 coach in the league, when in reality hes bottom 10. I don't know how he got this mystique about him but its annoying as all hell. Hes done nothing to prove the detractors wrong, except for one good 4 month stretch.

The teams he had were awful except for one season and he made it to the finals that year. Lou should have lost his job not Pete. This team is awful under any head coach in the world.

Right, lets fire one of the best hockey minds the game has ever seen and keep Pete ****ing Deboer. The guy who's missed the playoffs every year hes been in the league, except once. And I'm one of Lou's biggest detractors too. Last year's team should have been in the playoff's and the collapse from late February onward after the lockout ended was pathetic. This guy didn't deserve the benefit of the doubt.

 

[billingtons ghost]

Yeah but he had to start Brodeur all those games (as well as Hedberg in 2013) and lost all those wingers.

If Lou really canned Pete with how depleted this team is right now, that really speaks VOLUMES to me.

I don't blame him too much for not getting more out of this team with all the injuries/illness (though some of the efforts were abysmal. See Pete's last game against a POS opponent), but he wasn't getting much out of this team when they were healthy. Other than 5005859 blown leads.

He should have been sacked after that Black Friday disaster.

I think we can officially drop the Brodeur cost us those 14 wins he lost fallacy considering Cory's record with the same (actually better) team in front of him this year.... It's pretty clear who was the better all-round goalie at winning games.

Pete won because he stepped into a situation where the team was already stable, and he needed to make minor tweaks to already established lines that had already been formed and had momentum.

He is terrible at BUILDING a team - but he was fine pushing his players into a more aggressive forecheck system that suited their games.

Once we lost those speedy forechecking players, he started floundering in the exact same fashion JMac floundered in - frantically swapping lines and benching players.

Same result.

 

[Benedict Parisechuk]

If we lost in game 6 or 7 to the Panthers, not one person on the planet would be defending this guy. That run gave an extra life to too many people in the organization.

 

[Devils090]

If we lost in game 6 or 7 to the Panthers, not one person on the planet would be defending this guy. That run gave an extra life to too many people in the organization.

was still worth it beating the rags