*Photo from Sportsnet*
In the 5 year existence of the Vegas Golden Knights, a second head coach has bit the dust. The Golden Knights announced on Monday that head coach Pete Deboer has been relieved of his duties, first reported by Pierre Lebrun of TSN.
Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon said of the decision to fire Deboer that "We deliberated on this long and hard. We did not make this decision quickly. And once George and I were aligned in terms of what we thought the best course of action would be, we met with our owner, Bill Foley, late last week. Bill offered his support for our decision."
In the 2021-2022 season, the Golden Knights finished 3 points out of a playoff spot, the first time in their 5 year history that they failed to make the postseason. Deboer is out the door after two full seasons, being hired by Vegas in the middle of the 2019-2020 season after Gerard Gallant was fired. The Golden Knights finished 98-50-12 in Deboer's tenure.
The overhaul doesn't stop with the firing of Deboer. The Golden Knights also fired assistant coaches Ryan McGill and Steve Spott on Monday. They chose to retain assistants Misha Donskov and Ryan Craig, with goalie coach Mike Rosati's fate to be up to the new head coach.
McCrimmon said in his press conference that "We missed the playoffs, which is humbling for a team no matter what the reasons were for how that happened, and I think what it's going to give us is an opportunity in the fall to be incredibly rested, rehabbed, recharged, excited, and as we went through it, I felt that we could enhance that by having a new voice leading our team into next season. The decision was made based on next year. The decision was not made based on 2021-2022."
The firing of Deboer makes him the 4th head coach fired by a team this offseason, joining Barry Trotz, Mike Yeo, and Jeff Blashill. Currently, there are 5 head coach openings in the NHL, with Lane Lambert filling the slot vacated by Trotz, and the Chicago Blackhawks and Winnipeg Jets conducting head coaching searches.
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