{"id":142574,"date":"2025-09-14T04:39:03","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T04:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/142574\/"},"modified":"2025-09-14T04:39:03","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T04:39:03","slug":"deboer-discusses-oettinger-fallout-time-with-stars-in-sitdown-with-nhl-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/142574\/","title":{"rendered":"DeBoer discusses Oettinger fallout, time with Stars in sitdown with\u00a0NHL.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

BAYFIELD, Ontario — Three months after the fact, Pete DeBoer still has no reservations about pulling Jake Oettinger<\/a> early in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final between their Dallas Stars and the Edmonton Oilers.<\/p>\n

His one regret, however, is how he handled the postgame narrative on that fateful night of May 29, one that put the dour spotlight on the Stars goalie after the 6-3 loss that eliminated Dallas in the third round for a third consecutive season.<\/p>\n

\u201cListen, we were all to blame for coming up short again, and it starts with me,\u201d DeBoer candidly said in an exclusive sitdown with NHL.com, his first public comments since being fired by the Stars on June 6. \u201cIt was on me, it was on all the coaches, it was on all the players, it was on the organization as a whole. We all created the disappointment. We were all to blame, not just one guy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen all the questions at the postgame press conference were about Jake, I should have redirected the topic to reflect that this wasn\u2019t just about him, this was about all of us. We — and I stress the word ‘we’ — did not get the job done. We were on a run in which we\u2019d lost six of our past seven games against Edmonton in the third round dating back to 2024. In one of my answers, I said he\u2019d lost six of seven to them. But it wasn\u2019t just him. It was all of us. That\u2019s not on just one guy. I should have made that clearer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oettinger agrees, and said as much when informed of DeBoer\u2019s comments while meeting with NHL.com at the NHL\/NHLPA North American Players\u2019 Media Tour in Henderson, Nevada on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, I think I feel like he hit the nail on the head,\u201d Oettinger said. \u201cI agree with what his reflection was.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad he said what he said.\u201d<\/p>\n

And with that, Oettinger politely walked away, down the hallway at America First Center, another in a series of interviews in the books, off to prepare for a new season, a new chapter in his career.<\/p>\n

Just like DeBoer is.<\/p>\n

* * * *<\/p>\n

It is a windy September afternoon in this picturesque town bordering Lake Huron, and Mother Nature is flashing her teeth. From DeBoer\u2019s back deck you can see and hear the angry waves crashing into the normally pristine shoreline.<\/p>\n

Indeed, on this day, the deep blue waters are turbulent.<\/p>\n

In the same way DeBoer\u2019s past seven months have been.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou certainly could call it that,\u201d the 58-year-old says. \u201cIt\u2019s been some kind of roller coaster ride.\u201d<\/p>\n

Normally this time of year he\u2019d be preparing to attend training camp. For much of his adult life that\u2019s what he\u2019s done. As such, he calls not doing it this time around \u201cweird.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given his impressive track record, it\u2019s understandable why he feels that way.<\/p>\n

In three seasons with Dallas, DeBoer was 149-68-29 and had the best points percentage in the NHL (.665). The Stars were 29-27 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, trailing only the Oilers (34) and Florida Panthers (41) in wins during that time. He is 662-447-152 in 1,261 regular-season games with the Panthers, New Jersey Devils, San Jose Sharks, Vegas Golden Knights and Stars, and 97-82 in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Moreover, DeBoer’s teams made the third round of the playoffs six of the past seven seasons. He\u2019s guided two teams (Devils, 2012; Sharks, 2016) to the Stanley Cup Final. He ranks fourth among active coaches and 17th all-time in regular-season coaching wins; and fifth in all-time postseason wins.<\/p>\n

The one blemish on his resume: No Stanley Cup. To that end, no coach has more playoff victories without winning the title.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say he\u2019s not highly decorated. Anything but.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a two-time coach of the year recipient in the Ontario Hockey League and led Kitchener to the Memorial Cup in 2003. And in February, he was an assistant on coach Jon Cooper\u2019s staff with Canada for the 4 Nations Face-Off, a tournament they ended up winning.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was such a high, one of the great moments of my career,\u201d DeBoer said. \u201cAnd then we got Mikko Rantanen in a trade in Dallas shortly afterward. There was so much momentum. And then, we lost our final eight regular-season games and it was gone.<\/p>\n

\u201cRoller coaster,\u201d he repeated.<\/p>\n

The Western Conference First Round brought a meeting with the high-flying Colorado Avalanche, a daunting task considering the Stars were without star defenseman Miro Heiskanen and leading scorer Jason Robertson.<\/p>\n

Heiskanen had knee surgery Feb. 4 and missed the final 32 games of the regular season and the first 10 games of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Robertson, a 35-goal scorer, suffered a lower-body injury in the final regular-season game and would miss the entire series.<\/p>\n

No matter. The Stars eliminated the Avalanche with a 4-2 victory in the deciding game, upping DeBoer\u2019s record in Game 7s to 9-0 and solidifying his nickname as the coaching fraternity\u2019s Mr. Game 7.<\/p>\n

Next up were the Winnipeg Jets, who’d won the Presidents Trophy for most points (116) in the regular season. Dallas eliminated the Jets in six games and advanced to meet the Oilers for a second consecutive time in the Western Conference Final, buoyed by the presence of Heiskanen and Robertson back in the lineup.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t go as planned.<\/p>\n

After winning the opener 6-3, the Stars lost the next three games by a cumulative score of 13-2, setting up a must-win Game 5 at American Airlines Center. And after Oettinger was beaten twice in the first 7:09 of play — albeit on shots he had little chance to stop — DeBoer called a timeout and delivered a tongue-lashing to his team.<\/p>\n

Then, with Oettinger starting to return to the net, the coach waved to the goalie to come back and replaced him with Casey DeSmith<\/a>. Oettinger would later describe his pulling as \u201cembarrassing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know the stories immediately came out that I\u2019m hard on goalies,\u201d DeBoer says now. \u201cBut the fact is, I only pulled Jake once in 57 games in the regular season. That\u2019s a fact.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first 30 seconds of that timeout was me blasting our team and, if I could have, I would have blasted myself and our coaches too. I mean, you’re mad and disappointed in that moment, at everything, at the team, at the start, at the goalie, at yourself, at everybody. Why are we in this spot? You know, we have this opportunity and we’re in this spot. So, it’s a scattergun of anger, of bitterness.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it was made out to be about Jake Oettinger. But that wasn’t the case. I love Jake Oettinger, and Jake and I met after the season ended. He knows how much respect I have for him as a goalie and even more as a person and a family man. And you know, I’ve said repeatedly throughout our playoff run, we would have never even gotten that far without Jake.<\/p>\n

\u201cStill, I felt our group had got to the same spot three years in a row and we needed a shock to the system at that point. And there was nothing off limits at that point to try and shock us back.\u201d<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t work. The Oilers eliminated the Stars 6-3, leading to DeBoer\u2019s emotional postgame comments. Upon further review, he wishes he could take them back. He can\u2019t. It doesn\u2019t work that way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt our group had been to this point for a third year in a row and you could tell that in the group, there was a defeatism to them. You could feel it. I could feel it on the bench. And so, at that point, you use every tool you have in your box in order to try and shock them out of that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you’ve been a coach long enough in high-pressure situations, you know you\u2019ll get scrutinized one way or the other. And in the moment, when you are doing something like pulling the goalie, you can’t worry about that. So when people might say, \u2018Hey, Pete DeBoer, if you could do it over again, would you?\u2019 Yeah, but when people ask you that, you don’t know what the outcome is. You just know there could be repercussions if it doesn\u2019t work out.\u201d<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t. And there were. Indeed, a week later, he was fired by general manager Jim Nill, a possibility DeBoer knew might become reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, if we\u2019d made the first round my first year, the second round my second and then the third round in the third, you could say we were making progress,\u201d he said. \u201cBut getting to the third round three straight years, we weren’t able to get over the hump. I get it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nill decided the dressing room needed a different voice. At the same time, his respect for DeBoer\u2019s abilities behind the bench hasn\u2019t waned.<\/p>\n

\u201cPete did a great job for us in three years.,\u201d Nill told NHL.com. \u201cThe results speak for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

* * * *<\/p>\n

So, what now for Pete DeBoer?<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long for him to get the answer.<\/p>\n

Less than an hour after his dismissal, he received a call from St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong, the man who oversees the Canadian Olympic team. He wanted to reassure DeBoer that his role as an assistant with Canada was safe and, for that matter, his responsibilities would increase in the months leading up to the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cJon Cooper called me too,\u201d DeBoer said. \u201cIt was really meaningful to me. Both told me: \u2018You know what, this doesn’t affect anything that we’re doing. Regardless of what happens here, we’re going to make sure we keep you busy. And this actually might be a big benefit for Team Canada, and that you’re going to have the time to concentrate on Olympic things maybe we don’t have because we\u2019re dealing with our NHL teams every day.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n

To that end, DeBoer is scheduled to take a trip to Italy in the coming weeks to check out the state of the Olympic hockey facilities. After that, he\u2019ll be bouncing around various NHL cities scouting potential candidates leading to the final roster announcement in January.<\/p>\n

\u201cPete is an outstanding coach and when one door closed in Dallas, the Olympic door opened wider,\u201d Armstrong told NHL.com Friday. \u201cWith Pete\u2019s resume he will be on everyone\u2019s short list when an NHL job becomes available. Until then we will fully immerse him in our preparations for the 2026 Olympics.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an opportunity DeBoer is fully embracing, especially after going through the elation of the 4 Nations experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember going into the dressing room when we first got together and, even after coaching in the NHL all these years, pinching myself looking around the room at all the collection of talent in there,\u201d DeBoer said. \u201cAnd during that Saturday game in Montreal against the U.S., the crowd, the atmosphere, the fights, it gave me chills. And the same thing happened when we won.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now, to represent my country at the Olympics, it\u2019s such a thrill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Go into DeBoer\u2019s recreation room above his garage and you\u2019ll find a bubble hockey game and various memorable photos from his career. One of his favorites — the official championship photo from 4 Nations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt always brings a smile,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAYFIELD, Ontario — Three months after the fact, Pete DeBoer still has no reservations about pulling Jake Oettinger…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142575,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-142574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142574\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}