This season, diehard VGK fan and legendary combat sports columnist Kevin Iole will be delivering columns a few times a month on Sundays.
Throughout this largely cursed Golden Knights’ season, there has been one constant. Just about anything bad that can go wrong in the 2021-22 campaign has, but that hasn’t impacted the one area which most directly correlates with the quality of their head coach: Their effort.
There have been games when they have been overmatched, most notably the 6-0 drubbing in Calgary on Feb. 9 and the 7-3 debacle in Winnipeg on March 22.
Through it all, though, the one constant has been that they played hard. That’s a credit to Coach Pete DeBoer. That was on full display, especially in the 3rd period, of Saturday afternoon’s pulsating 5-4 overtime victory over the Blackhawks. The Knights overcame a 3-0 deficit after 40 minutes to win in overtime, something that doesn’t happen if the coach has lost the team.
Whenever a team that is expected to win loses as much as the Golden Knights have lost this season, speculation mounts that the coach is going to be replaced. There is no denying that owner Bill Foley, president of hockey operations George McPhee and general manager Kelly McCrimmon showed a surprisingly quick trigger finger when they got rid of Gerard Gallant in 2020.
Particularly throughout the 0-5 road trip that saw them lose by a combined score of 23-11 to the Flyers, Sabres, Penguins, Blue Jackets and Jets, the anticipation that Foley and Co. would make a coaching change was intense.
Fans far too often believe a coaching change is the answer, when the truth is it’s usually a lot more subtle than that. This year, as the Knights have struggled to score — they entered Saturday’s game 12th in goals scored — fans have pointed to DeBoer’s system as a reason they’re not scoring.
That’s just a cop-out, an excuse, and has nothing to do with the real reason they can’t score. It has nothing to do with system. It’s far simpler: DeBoer had a lot better players to deal with last season.
Duh.
Mark Stone led the team in scoring with 61 points, and played in 55 of the 56 games. That’s 98.2 percent of all games. After missing Saturday’s game, Stone has played in 28 of 68 games, or 41.2 percent. Max Pacioretty has played in 29 of 68 games this year, 42.6 percent, compared to 48 of 56 last year, when he appeared in 85.7 percent of the games. Jonathan Marchessault has played in 91.2 percent of the games this year after suiting up on Saturday, but was in 98.2 percent of their games last year after playing in all but one last season.
There’s more, but you get the point.
DeBoer has been replacing guys like Stone, Pacioretty, Marchessault, Reilly Smith and others on his scoring lines with the likes of Jake Leschyshyn, Jonas Rondbjerg, Paul Cotter and Keegan Kolesar. News flash: They’re not going to score as much, or at the same rate, as Stone & Co.
It’s DeBoer’s coaching or his Xs & Os. Most experts would rank the Islanders’ Barry Trotz ahead of DeBoer as a coach, and there’s no argument about that here. Trotz will be in the Hall of Fame when he’s done. But the Islanders have been ravaged by injuries this season and guess what: It’s going to take a miracle for them to make the playoffs.
DeBoer’s newly emerged critics ignore the fact that last season, when the Knights led the league in fewest goals allowed that they also tied for third with Washington for the most goals scored.
There are only two ways to judge DeBoer’s work during this most trying of seasons: Are the players competing hard and is their structure sound? The answer to both questions is yes.
They’ve gotten awful goaltending at times, and while Logan Thompson’s recent play has been a massive upgrade on what Laurent Brossoit had been giving them, the goaltending department hasn’t been stellar this year when viewed from beginning to end, either.
So DeBoer is coaching a team which has gotten less-than-optimal goaltending for most of the way, has most of its goal scorers in the stands and has played with half or more of his regular defensemen out for months
But they battle. They skate hard. They don’t look disorganized and confused.
They haven’t given up when it would have been understandable if they had. It’s why they were able to come back and win on another mind-boggling goal by Evgenii Dadonov in overtime Saturday.
They’re losing more often because, with the players they have in the lineup, they’re not as good as they were.
Jack Eichel played his 20th game on Saturday against Chicago, and is just now rounding into form after underdoing next surgery.
These geniuses in the NHL media keep talking about the Golden Knights trying to manipulate the salary cap, but that’s so far from the truth it’s laughable. They are far less likely to make the playoffs than they are to make Lord Stanley’s tournament. So why would they keep guys on the shelf to compete in a tournament they may not even qualify for?
They’re not doing that.
Now, in going after and acquiring Eichel, McCrimmon put himself into an almost untenable position because the Knights were at the cap when they got him. If Stone, Pacioretty, Smith, Alex Martinez, Brayden McNabb, et al, hadn’t gotten injured, there would have been several big trades to make them cap compliant.
But to suggest they’re holding out Stone or Pacioretty right now to save them for a playoff run would mean that DeBoer would rather have Leschyshyn and Rondbjerg in his lineup as he’s trying to jockey this team into the postseason. If you believe that, you’ll also believe that Ken is going to beat Connor McDavid in a fastest lap competition before next season begins.
DeBoer is no Scotty Bowman, but he’s a good, above-average NHL coach. He’s a good enough coach to win the Stanley Cup with the players on the VGK roster, if those players were actually playing and not wearing suits in the press box.
VGK fans have been spoiled by the franchise’s unparalleled success since its inception. As recent vintage Maple Leafs’ fans will tell you, the Stanley Cup is not your birthright. It’s hard to win even when everything is going correctly.
When things are going as they are this season, well, it’s easy to blame the coach. But that would be the wrong thing to do.
**You can find all of Kevin’s tremendous boxing and MMA work at Yahoo Sports here.**
Daryl
Sorry, I disagree, they habemt always played hard. And with all the injuries, I don’t completely blame PDB. He does get some of the blame though. He has a history of not fixing issues. I bieve it was last year, when questioned about adjustments, he said he wasn’t changing anything. His defensive scheme isn’t working for the players he has but he will still use it. Spott is his man and the PP has been a problem. The fact that Spott is still around makes the PP PDB fault. Using Kolesar on the PP is PDB fault. And how do you give credit to PDB for an OT win against bottom feeder Hawks?
Again, PDB isn’t the only problem, but he is part of it… Just like RL isn’t the only problem but he has been part of the problem
JockEnvy
Best stat brought up during yesterdays game was that only Columbus has allowed more odd man rushes this season than the Knights. For a defensive coach, this should be embarrassing. It’s proof his scheme isn’t working and proof that he can’t make adjustments. Especially ones that are needed when you are relying on a subpar backup in Brossoit and a young Thompson between the pipes. While some of this may come down to personnel available, which takes away some blame, it does speak volumes as the top tier coaches find ways to adjust.
Corinne Claypool
Are you a professional coach of any sport? That is the first question I will ask.
Second, are you a professional athlete?
Third, are you a GM or CEO or in hockey operations?
If are one or the other or a person who can do everything, congratulations, you must get paid a lot of money to do it all!
Unless you are a TRUE fan or a professional, you do NoT know what you are talking about!
Thank you Kevin for a GREAT article on the issues of the VGK.
Richie-Rich
Well, I guess Kevin should just put out articles with comments turned off then. Fan opinions don’t matter at all. I’m good with that.
Daryl
Are you a professional coach? Are you a professional athlete? Are you a GM or CEO? If you didn’t answer yes to any of those questions you should not be allowed to Comme t on any if these threads either because you have no clue what you are talking about.
As for this article, the author is none of those things you listed either so many be he shouldn’t be posting articles.
As for me, I played semi-pro football for 3 years and coached football at the collegiate level for 4 years. So I probably have more room to talk than you do.
Try again smartass
JockEnvy
Can you send out the qualifications for what it takes to be a TRUE fan? I’m just interested because Daryl made references to some things like DeBoer’s comments on making adjustments that, in my opinion, only TRUE hockey fans would remember or reference. Or is it that by TRUE fan, you mean someone that never bad mouths the franchise and the decisions that they make? These threads are made for people to have an opinion. If you don’t like his opinion, great. But saying he’s not a true fan or has no idea what he’s talking about is extremely unfair, considering this site has tutorials on basic thing like goaltender interference due to the fact that most Knights fans have only followed the sport for 5 years.
Edward
I get so tired of people saying Vegas Fans know nothing about Hockey ! What you so called Hockey experts forget is that a very large percentage of people who live here are transplants from somewhere else. My parents are from Detroit and grew up with the red wings. We moved here when I was 15 and would travel to Anaheim and then Phoenix to watch a game or would watch on tv when ever the wings were on. My parents are gone now and my kids are now knights fans as am I. The wife grew up in San Jose so it’s fun when the sharks come to town. We’ve had season tickets since the beginning and luckily my dad got to see his beloved wings one last time. Most of the people around us that are season ticket holders all have similar stories they have been hockey fans way before the knights came to town. So if your going to voice your so called expert opinions as to what or why something has happened with the knights please try to leave us knowledgeable fans out of it. Besides one doesn’t have to have watched hockey all there lives to enjoy a good old hockey game , even if in the long run it is after all a business!
Richie-Rich
Exactly!
While I am not qualified to be an NHL Head Coach, or GM, I would be qualified to be an Owner (if I had the $). I have been a fan of hockey since the 60s. A Rangers & Devils fan (yeah, you can be a fan of more than one if you lived in NJ). Then later also a season ticket holder for the South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL) from 1992-1995, Jacksonville Lizard Kings (ECHL) from 1996-1998, and then again after I retired from the Navy, San Diego Gulls (Pacific) from 2003-2015.
If you’ve been around hockey and have been a fan for that long, you know the game. As a fan, we all have a right to our opinions (right or wrong). And that’s the story……
Daryl
@RR,while you might be able to be a fan of two teams, those teams couldn’t be the Rangers and Islanders lol.
I used to love going to see ECHL games. I used watch the Wheeling Nailers all the time. A good friend of mine was an official for those games and he would get us in free and give us passes to go just about anywhere. And talk about fights!!!!
JockEnvy
Boom. Glad someone finally said it. We do have people new to hockey in this fan base, which is amazing. But people like yourself (I’m a transplant from Boston) have been fans for decades and know the game. I grew up in Mass and played goalie. My favorite player was Patrick Roy. Not easy to be a Habs fan in Mass but I was and I have been an Avs fan since they came into the league. Became a Knights fan when my current favorite player, Paul Stastny, signed with the team. We may not be GMs by we know enough about hockey to have an idea of what we are talking about.
Herby
PDB has failed to find a line with Eichel that actually works in the O zone and in the D zone. The experiment with Karlsson on the wing with Eichel was a very big mistake that did cost the VGK points
Eichel has a very very poor Takeway Giveaway ratio: TA 13 GA 17 Ratio 0.76
and he has a -3 on top of this. Not nearly good enough for an elite player. And it has actually gotten worse in the last games.
The only VGK player that can compensate this on a line with Eichel will be Stone.
He is not availabe. PDB has tried almost every VGK center on the wing with the exception of Eichel! So far nothing really worked.
A good coach would try Eichel on the wing!
Jake
One of the best centers in the league, let’s put him on a wing with 3C (that’s what 71 and 20 are). Common Man!
Tim
Everyone has an opinion on DeBoer and Spot his running mate. My take is this yesterday they had a game the same time as my baseball teams preseason game and I chose to watch the preseason baseball game. Fortunately for VGK fans it turned out to be an exciting game and my loss. The reality is most games are so boring you have to be a glutton for punishment to watch. So that’s my take on the Knights, Deboer’s system, the PP and all other facets of the game you can tell people he’s a good coach but I disagree.
Julie
There is an interesting article on Yahoo!Sports about Vegas being one of the most hated franchises in the NHL. Out of about 11k fans, 48% said disloyalty to players is the #1 reason they don’t care about Vegas.
Gallant took a band of misfits to the SC the first year. Then, he took a crappy Canadian team to the gold. This Iole guy is respectfully missing the point.
The REAL TS
Yes, read it this a.m.. and I get the other fans’ dislike for us. To OTHER fans, seems like we got a really sweet deal to begin with, then discarded that improbable first team for those infamous Shiny Objects..no loyalty. Eye-opening look at the other side.
JockEnvy
Careful. You’re going to anger the hockey god with this nasty DeBoer talk.
This is a great point and one that is also expanded on in the other response to your comment. The franchise’s obsession with the next shiny object has been it’s downfall, and this includes DeBoer. Gallant and the Misfits mentality is what made the city fall in love with this team and not the run to the Cup, which I believe is a common misconception. The team had fight. It didn’t matter what the score was, they were never out of a game because they never gave up. They were a group of guys who were considered second class by their old teams. Gallant is a guy that saw the best in them and was able to bring it out.
DeBoer may not be a BAD coach but he is not the RIGHT coach for this franchise. He is not a motivator. He is not a locker room leader. His track record shows a pattern of inconsistency and the team has gotten worse each year he’s been our coach. The FO has done nothing to help him build a team that fits his mold so I wouldn’t put the blame on him completely. At the end of the day, it is much easier to replace your coach and GM than it is to replace the players. A fresh face behind the bench and in the GM box would do this team a world of good.
Julie
I agree with you, JE, TS and HD. I don’t think it’s all PDB which Daryl also said. Seems to me the head coach is the guy who can take what he’s given and do some great things. If he cannot inspire let alone address things like PP issues to at least get the team passionate about playing, it’s a big problem. Something is missing with this team, and while that isn’t entirely PDB’s fault, it’s his job to turn lemons into lemonade and the team this the fans will taste it. Even if it’s only in a Dixie cup.
As for the others claiming objectivity is hating on PDB, when they go for the insults first, that’s how I know they lost the argument.
Julie
‘thus the fans’…
Also, the FO didn’t do PDB any favors with messing up the Dadonov trade. That’s on them, as I see it. They look really stupid and it appears they tried to pull a fast one to get Stone, Martinez and Reilly back.
THE hockey GOD
“That’s on them,” no it isn’t , that is on NHL and NHL registry.
For first approving the trade, then messing it up by not checking it out with NHL vague non transparent NTC rules.
JockEnvy
The PP comment is key. Any assistant coaches been fired? Any new blood been brought in?
Players execute systems. So which one needs to go?
The REAL TS
Julie, you are a SMART hockey observer!! Being another female in this tough hockey world, it is so nice to read your comments from OUR perspective, not JUST the guys’…reasonable and respectful!!
Pistol Pete
JockEnvy, how then do you explain the downward slide of season 2 and the part of season 3 under Gallant. You need to check the W/L columns. It’s profound. It was a never ending series of struggles. DeBoer has done way better other than the injuries this season. Ken does not think history bears out the claim injuries are more frequent under the DeBoer system.
Daryl
Part of that record you mention comes from last year’s season when VGK had the easiest schedule of anybteam near the top of their division… And try to say otherwise about their division
Pistol Pete
Last season COL, MIN and STL were in their division. Plenty of competition. The other divisions were a similar top four out of eight. I’ve made this point before, how many times do we go over it? You are going to continue to use the basher’s weak division excuse for their success.
Daryl
@PP
And you will continue to defend this division. Sorry, but the top teams in this Division and the division as a whole were not and are not as good as others. Yes that is my opinion, but it is also the opinion of hockey experts, even the ones from Canada
VGK Fan
Pistol Pete, just to refresh your memory season 2 was a slow start mainly because of the Schmidt 20 games suspension and a SCF hangover. However, Gallant had turned the team around and they were on their way most likely to the SCF if not for the Not a Major Penalty.
Season 3 came apart early with death of MAF father.
Pistol Pete
VGK Fan, that is always possible they make the Cup Final, however finishing the regular season only 4 games over .500 represented a struggle. I remember myself rationalizing the slow start to Schmidt’s suspension but do we really think missing a D, albeit a key one, really should have been a difference maker–in hindsight I think not. They really blew round 1 after being up 3-1 in the series. I can’t say it was all Gallant’s fault. I agree with Iole’s theme that blamimg the coach can be a copout. As far as season three the passing of MAF’s dad certainly had an impact but after climbing into first place @ game 45 and then losing four straight including three at home to go one game under .500 @ 49 games the FO decided a coaching change was in order. I believe it was the correct decision–tough call but the right one.
VGK Fan
Pistol Pete, you failed to recognize how strong the west was in season 2 Calgary finished with 107 points and San Jose had 101 points and ultimately made it to the SCF.
Something else to point out VGK in their history had never been shut out in back to back games until this year and it happened twice. Also, in season 2 and 3 we never had a 0-37 PP streak or 7 game road losing streak.
Curtis Lovett
You are absolutely correct. He had to rely on Martinez to motivate the team for the 3rd period comeback after a poor two periods against Chicago.
Deboer will get this talented team and yes injured this year to Western Conference Finals. He has done that but NOT to the Finals and NOT a win in the finals. He will do the same as he did in San Jose and New Jersey…..fail to win the big one and lose the locker room, which it seems he has already done.
Judge him by the PP. If we sid that and his loyalty to Spott, he would’ve been fired after losing to Montreal.
I agree with Gallant. He is a Clown.
Rickster
Very well said…
Deboer has never motivated any team he has coached…
A piss poor leader when you need a leader to stand up.
Reminds me of biden!
Hdbiker7851
Julie – iole is PDB’s pr guy and knows less about hockey than some of the posters on this site. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see when players are giving their all. To read iole you would think they do that all the time. That is just one example of not knowing what he is talking about. PDB isn’t their only problem the problem starts with the FO. You can’t treat people like crap and expect anything better in return. Yes it’s a business but sound good run businesses operate with integrity- the knights don’t fall into that category. Rather surprising given Foley’s background but it is what it is.
Julie
Exactly, HD. It’s good business to treat employees well. I bet PDB doesn’t answer his phone when the team is getting on a bus. He doesn’t want to go out like Gallant, ha ha. If he doesn’t take the bull by the horns, they will literally leave him at the curb too. In business, this is called turning a challenge into an opportunity. They won the last two games. Let’s see what happens. In the words of Willie Wonka, “The suspense is terrible. I hope it’ll last.”
THE hockey GOD
yahoo
=
fake news
JockEnvy
About 99% sure this account is run by either DeBoer or McCrimmon. It’s not fake news. Almost every other fan base hates the VGK and their fan base. They call us entitled because we haven’t known what it’s like to struggle. They also DO comment on how poorly our FO treats our players and how anyone can be shipped out at any time. Most of the people commenting on how badly Fleury got the shaft were people outside of the VGK fan base.
A side note to other comments you’ve made on multiple threads, you are the biggest bully on this site. If it’s not your opinion, and I stress opinion, it is wrong and you have to try to make whoever makes the comment feel as stupid as possible about their OPINION. None of us, including you, work in hockey or for the VGK. You are a shameless troll that feels the need to talk down to anyone the thinks differently than you. These threads are made for people to express their thoughts and for people to have rebuttals but it’s unfortunate that no one can post without you treating their thoughts like they are nonsensical trash. Just my opinion.
The REAL TS
THANK YOU FOR TELLING IT LIKE IT IS!! YES SIR!! WE A-L-L HAVE FELT HIS WRATH, WHEN OUR OPINIONS ARE NOT H-I-S . NAME-CALLING, TAUNTING, NASTY COMMENTS ARE UNACCEPTABLE ON THIS OPINION- BASED SITE. PERIOD.
Daryl
Isn’t that where Iole as his articles???
Cindy
I’ll tip my coffee to that this morning!
VGK Fan
Julie thanks, I read the article, it did bring up several good points. It failed to mention Seattle was handed the same opportunity as VGK. It failed to bring up players still want to come back after poor treatment, Eric Haula for example.
As a STH, I can attest that fans from other teams visit our arena more than any other arena in the league. Every fan I’ve encounter from other teams have had nothing but good things to say for the most part except for the MAF treatment and yes saying Vegas was given an unfair advantage when entering the league, which has since been disproven by Seattle.
hdbiker7851
As a STH, I can attest that fans from other teams visit our arena more than any other arena in the league. VGK fan – Vegas is a tourist town what would you expect and fortunately that’s the case otherwise this p[lace would dry up and blow away. The last two years showed what a lack of visitors did to this economy which fortunately is turning around now. How many tourist show up in Ohio, Toronto etc in the winter. Fans in those areas are true fans not like many who are at T-Mobile. or post. Besides -“Every fan I’ve encounter from other teams have had nothing but good things to say for the most part” would you really expect anything different? I can’t believe your that naive. The organization was very smart when they started, contracting with potential season ticket holders, otherwise there would be more empty seats than there is now.
VGK Fan
HD,
As a season ticket holder I can attest to the locals supporting this team more in the past few years than the first couple of seasons. I personally attend almost ever game ever year and the people who sit next me in my section and the people I interact with find your comments below to simply be not true.
“Fans in those areas are true fans not like many who are at T-Mobile”.
I would suggest you personally put your money where your mouth is buy a quarter or half season plan and attend the games and you might have better understanding of what you are talking about.
hdbiker7851
VGK fan – you have no idea who is or is not a STH. Some people prefer not to blow their horn about that particular “status”, which I assume from your remark you consider to be the case. My understanding is fine.
Pistol Pete
Uphill battle Kevin. Armchair coach DeBoer haters present, your truly not among them.
Thank you for an insightful incisive analysis of the situation. Ken had a clue inviting to contribute here.
THE hockey GOD
Iole, you have a penchant for bringing out the fools and unsophisticated fans. They out themselves
every time they post with their idiocy, non facts, fake perceptions. Many of them have mental issues. Can’t see straight, nor is reasoning their strong suite.
Keep up the good work, everything you say is illogical and is commons sense.
THE hockey GOD
logical that is, typo
THE hockey GOD
common sense
Daryl
But wait, I thought yahoo was fake news??
THE hockey GOD
an Iole as you can see from the comment section there are a lot of fools on this forum, starting with no. 1 poster. Who doesn’t go to games, sits in hovel in Carolina hills, isn’t a true fan. AKA Gomer or Goober. Barney is his best friend.
Humblefan
The fact that VGK is even in the playoff hunt is a small miracle. Some games, they have played with 9 of 19 starters out of their lineup (includes goalie). Any team with half the roster belonging to the AHL should lose more games than they win. Coaching has to be a contributor to the record VGK has. He won’t win coach of the year but the amount of players the team has used is insane. It’s difficult to develop any chemistry with a revolving door of players. I haven’t been a PDB fan but he has done a great job for us…especially this year.
Gary
I really appreciate the truth in your analysis. PDB may not be the best coach to ever stand behind a bench but I also think he has done a good job. And he stands up for his players which builds much needed confidence.
I feel that the fans got spoiled by the fantastic first season and have expected that ever since. Now facing the injuries etc that lead to an underperforming season, they have to find someone to blame. Why? As PDB has said, you do the best with what you are dealt. They are trying and probably doing better than most would have done given the problems. You can be honest about some players and their performances while remaining positive and supportful. The young Henderson group are given an opportunity to grow and show the coaching staff their ability which is good for our future.
Thanks so much to SinBin for inviting Iole and thanks for his perspective. Very much appreciated. Go Knights Go.
The REAL TS
Gary, Great post! So very reasonable! Great to read positive VGK posts, not Gloom and Doom accusations!
Mike StG
Kevin,
I agree with the essence of your piece. For the most part he’s making the best of what players he has available. And that is both now with many key players out, but also when healthy.
DeBoer’s system uses defense to drive offense. He’s got one of the DZ-OZ best passers in the league in Petro. He also has excellent puck movers in Theodore, Martinez and Whitecloud. Even Coghlan is starting to display that ability. That is effective generally, except when teams clog the NZ and create disruption.
Their problem is that when their transition game is neutralized by an opponent they don’t have an effective in zone offense game. But that is really more because they don’t have the forwards who can play that type of offense. Probably their best forwards in prior seasons for that type of game were Perron, Neal and Stastny, now gone. They now have Eichel who can improve their in zone offense a LOT. And I’d argue that Dadonov is very good in zone as well. Amadio and Howden too. IMO the measure of DeBoer’s coaching will be whether he’s able to develop in zone offensive play so they’re effective both off the rush and in zone.
THE hockey GOD
TO MIKE , and not to my stalker GOMER
Exactly, spot on.
Montreal/ NY Islanders who have had nearly as equal man games lost are not even in playoff hunt now. REmember HABS went to sC last year, have 46 points, and NYI have 65 points. While VGK have 76 points. If not for a road trip in which games were closely decided (every game was close and could have gone vGK way except JETS game), the VGK would be higher up in standings. This is testimony to the TEAM, the FRANCHISE, and COACH. EVERYONE involved, kudos to coach for holding team together in face of DEVASTATING and CONTINUING INJURIES. Every single opponent organization experts/analysts say the same thing in regard to franchise dealing with unprecedented injuries and covid. EVERY SINGLE ONE. AND I watch them because I can’t STAND the talking down, and constant inane JIBBER JABBER of our local “announcers”. The only guy who is half way decent is the fat guy, and sometimes he comes up with some whoppers. I like Darren Elliot too. But he’s really a LA KINGS homer.
.
This shiny object tangent, is bull shit. Nearly every organization makes trades. Just look at all trade dead line deals. Loyalty? ROLFMAO , there is no loyalty in sports business. There is very little loyalty in corporate america. Family businesses ? Look at how the GODFATHER and DON reward loyalty. Politics? Look how Jeff Sessions and AG bill bARR back stabbed Trump. Loyalty is a nothing more than a house of cards, and what have you done for me lately. Five year ago misfits are not same as today. They are five years older, five steps slower, and five injuries closer to retirement.
Unsophisticated fan base.
I give Foley five years before he is gone and NHL is looking at relocating a failed franchise to North of border where a Canadian team deserves another chance. .
Richie-Rich
LMFAO, ROFLMAO. Relocating the VGK?
Now, you’ve finally lost your mind.
THE hockey GOD
RR i have been saying REGINA for the last month, have you NOT BEEN PAYING ATTENTION ?????
WAKE UP
MORE COFFEE !!! MORE COFFEE.
Even did a piece from the Regina Daily Bee , or whatever they call their local rag up there.
Tyler Durden
Trump is a genius who knows how to bankrupt CASINOS.
Daryl
Is there anything up there in that head of yours???
Sick of the BS
Dude , get off your knees and get out from under KM’s desk please! Every person i know from NY and Canada to Cali has tired of the constant B.S with the FO .and youre wrong not EVERY CORPORATION is a piece of crap .You can be successful and not be an assh#$%
OH IM SORRY you prob dont understand that do you ? .you sound like an entitled pri$%
JockEnvy
This is hilarious. They play hard? And it’s all thanks to DeBoer???
This team consistently looks overmatched and outworked. They come out flat, more often than not. Yesterday was a gritty win that showed some heart. But where was that in the first two periods? Left in the locker room? Traded to Buffalo in the Eichel deal? Sitting on the couch with Mark Stone?
Something happened between periods 2 and 3 and I’d bet my salary for life that it wasn’t DeBoer. There are some guys (Martinez, Eichel) that have the presence in the locker room to invoke that change.
It’s ironic that we would have received Kessler in the Anaheim deal. The Knights already know what it’s like to have a piece of the team that’s on indefinite LTIR and that’s this team’s identity. Find someone to bring back that fire for more than one period. The season depends on it.
Side point, this team isn’t manipulating the salary cap? Why was it such a big deal to dump Dadonov? The plan before the Eichel deal was to hold Stone out until the postseason. Guess they didn’t plan on crapping the bed and needing him early.
THE hockey GOD
^^ another fool outed^^
Daryl
They don’t agree with you so they are the fool??? Notice how do many on here, the majority of them, do not agree with you on most things. That should tell you something but it doesn’t, which tells all of us a lot about you!!!
Blitz
You single handedly fuck up this comment section almost every article, but I am pretty sure you already know that.
Mike Brown
Want to see CONSISTENCY with healthy teams and NOT healthy teams.
Watch Florida, Tampa Bay and Colorado.
Forechecks, forechecks, forechecks EVERY shift ALL game. Something VGK does NOT do every shift.
Those 3 other teams do NOT bring the puck through the neutral zone ALONG THE BOARDS every fucking time or TRY to get the puck into the O zone by shooting it ALONG THE BOARDS.
Try driving a car through a tunnel with 1″ clearance on both sides without getting a scratch on the car. That’s VGK BOARD puck movement. Scratch after scratch.
Virtually NO chance. Same as using the boards for ANYTHING other than a forecheck or a ricochet pass.
Watch Roy or Eichel. They go through the middle of the neutral zone directly or at a 45% angle. That way it is harder for defences to jam them. If they do, they have the WHOLE wide of the rink to pass back to a paper and are NOT jammed on the boards.
Watch their passes from D zone to neutral zone. Like blind monkeys.
When I coached youth boys baseball and girls softball, I watched to see if they started to go away from basics during the game and started to “improvise”. Treat VGK like 10-12 years.
Scrimmaging and batting practice was fun to 10-12 year olds.
I HOUR straight of bunting practice was NOT fun.
1 HOUR straight of SLIDING practice was NOT fun.
One HOUR straight of outfielders RUNNING after line drives hit over their head was NOT fun.
Point is they got THE MESSAGE. Do it right all time.
Hockey has room for improvisation as the game goes along.
It does NOT have room for making the same stupid, disastrous and repetitive mistakes every shift.
DeBoer has done a good job with the shit show of injuries in 2022.
Every when they were healthy in 2021, they still made the same mistakes. Probably in 2022 is we don’t have the best shooters on the ice.
Comes down to Oilers losing a game when VGK wins a game.
My knowledge as a 73 old hockey fan goes back to Bobby Orr/Bruins when my home town area if Pittsburgh had no team. Then Penguins until the DAY VGK TOOK MAF in expansion draft which is when I switched loyalties.
Those who do not learn from their mistakes are doomed to repeat them.
Something VGK does well in 2022.
steve
DeBoer is garbage ! why u think sharks fired him. fails twice in semi dallas habs ! during habs he send 3 guys chasing and nobody in front so when they came out with puck it went to blue line ! then he can’t figure out how to beat habs ! Try parking someone in front of Price! Fianally couldn’t get Stone Smith or Karlsson to do anything! He had all the players but can’t coach m ! Yest 40 min hawks dominated and if Flower was in the net they lose to the shitty Hawks. Not to mention he can’t fire up team ! Top it off he dresses likes he shops at JC Penny. Slug and knight never should of fired Gallant or traded Flower ! Lehner always was head case and he not injured folks he was running his mouth in lockeroom! Hawks traded his ass for a reason with crawford retiring. That was red flag in its self ! Gallant was a players coach & got them to play hard ! This team has zero chemistry & De Boer will be fired ! Wish Quenville could coach again cuz he’s the guy ! Off season will be ugly knights r blame
Paul Smith
I agree 100% about Coach Quenville. He has Stanley Cup Experience!!!!!
I you want a better Coach, Find him, they don’t hide under rocks!!!!
Richie-Rich
Last year, last year, last year —
Last year the power play was shit, during the playoffs it was shit and for most of this season was shit.
Just call me a “Fool on an Errand”, because Gallant is a much better coach than DeBoer.
Enough is enough on DeBoer.
THE hockey GOD
RR you are fool and a fool’s errand.
now have another cookie and get ready for surgery, remember to shower, make sure all the crevices/cracks/holes are clean, put on clean small clothes (none with any sliders or skid marks), take a beano, and don’t make them let you wear one of those gowns with hole in the back. You definitely don’t want one of those gowns.
THE hockey GOD
fool on a fool’s errand, dang I can not type
STEPHANIE
Actually its been shit since yr 2 .getting far worse though
Richie-Rich
The McCrimmon/DeBoer and Lehner lovers will point out that we ran out of gas in the Conference Finals and that Fleury was the reason the team didn’t get another chance at the Cup.
Injuries wasn’t the problem during that run. Defense was pretty solid, and goaltending was too. It was the complete lack of any offensive strategy that eventually led to the VGK getting bounced. A complete lack of offensive strategy has been the one consistent theme and legacy of coach DeBoering. So, McCriminal goes out and mortgages the entire future of the team by gambling on Jack Eichel.
Granted, Eichel’s at a level above any of the forwards on the VGK. But, the moves he has made increased the average age of the team, meaning WIN NOW. Say all you want to about injuries. The truth is that injuries really haven’t impacted the offensive goals scored average a whole lot. It’s the defensive injuries and trades that have hurt this team the most this year, especially with Fleury gone. I think Fleury steals a few of those games that Lehner lost in December and early January (but go ahead MAF-haters, you gonna hate anyway). Bring it.
THE hockey GOD
PDB coached his butt off in the Hawks game last night, he pulled nearly every trick out of book to come back and win that game. And yet with another injury, a d man not fully up to speed, and two regular center men recently injured. And with hardly any depth in organization to boot.
Anyone who says otherwise is blind, brain dead, in a coma, just plain stupid. Some combination of above, or all of the above.
PS oh right, he lost the locker room, more unsophisticated FOOLs talk,
Daryl
Lol…. You have lost it
JockEnvy
I’m telling you. This dude is either Kelly McCrimmon or Pete DeBoer’s wife. Literally the only two possibilities for having this much love and affection for PDB. It’s his/her opinion, which is great, but my do you get the wrath of god, pun intended, if you speak ill of this FO.
Paul Smith
I agree 100% about Coach Quenville. He has Stanley Cup Experience!!!!!
I you want a better Coach, Find him, they don’t hide under rocks!!!!Is thf
Richie-Rich
No, Martinez talked them out the funk they were in. If not for Martinez & Dadanov that was going to be a loss. Also credit IKEA! That win had nothing to do with DeBoer. He just had a better seat than me.
VGK
Seriously what the f*** is up with you douche canoes referring to your team as VGK. Rhetorical, don’t care, just the stupidity of it is hilarious. No other fan base in ANY sport refers to themselves by TV initials…lmfao. what’s even more Comical is after 4+ years you think you’re the most knowledgeable fan base in hockey when you’re not even in the top 20.
Daryl
What makes you think any if these fans don’t have a clue? I’ve had several friends from around the Pittsburgh area who were huge Pens fans but are now VGK fans since moving to the area. Yes there are some knew VGK fans but most were fans of other programs longe before becoming VGK fans. I’ve been a Pens fan since the 70s and they are still my favorite team. I only became a secondary fan of VGK after my favorite player (Engo) came here
The REAL TS
To VGK: such an absurd complaint! We call our team VGK at times because it takes too damn long to type out VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS every time!! LOL….do you have a SERIOUS comment?
Daryl
The side is clueless…. A lot of teams do that. I’ve seen SJS and Sharks, COL and Avs, ANA did Ducks…. They’re are several teams that use those abbreviations. Most notably area when seeing names written down. But what’s the difference bettering fans using VGK and say Washington using Caps or Penguins using Pens???
William Goit
Vegas has undeserved arrogance.
The fans seem to think this team is one of the original six.
Blame of any kind is lame considering you will probably miss the playoffs.
Or perhaps enjoy eight long days when Colorado sweeps you.
Stephanie
Id say more than half the fans arent arrogant at all .Youre assuming this from a select small sample
Steve
Hockey God get off the kool aid. 40 min there were getting there ass handed to them from one of the worse teams in Hockey and took the worse team in hockey to choke to give your Genius clown coach a tie in reg and then OT win. Flower in the net knights would be booking tee times for summer. ! check yourself in a hospital cuz your on life support and knights will pull the plug !!
THE hockey GOD
@steve
coach made adjustments, saw what was wrong.
Bad coaches sit on bench with their head up their smelly butt, do nothing, and keep losing the game.
The end result proves me right, and you well. Brain dead, comatose? All of the above?
steve
@ Hockey God. what adjustments do you make playing a terrible blackhawks team. oh right he said to them in locker room Do you realize your playing even worse than the horse shit hawks lol.
THE hockey GOD
@ steve
March 24
Chi 4 @ LAK 3 (oT so )
victory. Terrible ?/?
GEt a freaking clue before posting garbage on internet.
Daryl
Steve… You will learn that the only poster on here who has a clue is the hockey goof
steve
thanks for the heads up. kinda figured it after one of his post !
Stephanie
The Hawks recently got rid of guys but theyre not AS bad as everyone says .yes they have 4 more losses than vgk , but basically colliton blew 20 games right from the get for them .They beat the Panthers the other week and the Kings etc and yea if Fleury was in net vgk wouldve lost .But dont think it was PDB as much as it was Martinez firing them up
Pistol Pete
None of us armchair guys spend time in an NHL locker room so what do we really know about coaching and how effective one coach is compared to another? Sports journalists are generally better informed than the fans when it comes to the individual sport they cover including info on what happens in the locker room. I’m not saying coaches don’t need to be fired. I’m saying in part I am more inclined to listen to Ken or Kevin than armchair critics in internet message boards. My favorite posters here are not unrelenting unfair critics. They are fans that offer upbeat analysis with fair criticism mixed in.
I just don’t get the Gallant angle. Season 2 and the part of season 3 before he was fired were absolutely abysmal. I don’t understand how that can be missed.
Pistol Pete
43-32-7
4 games over .500 good for 3rd place and the infamous 1st round game 7 loss after blowing a 3-1 series lead. As Gallant stated following season 1, he “just wanted a group of guys that worked for each other”. That worked great in the unique circumstances of the first season and then fell flat. Not sure what his style is over there at NYR.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018%E2%80%9319_Vegas_Golden_Knights_season
Pistol Pete
Season 3 through # 49 even worse. Improved markedly when DeBoer came in.
VGK Fan
Pistol Pete,
I’ve been a season ticket holder since season two and I’m pretty sure you didn’t start rooting for VGK until DeBoer was hired based on your selective memory and the need to bash Gallant. Most people remember the awesome 1st season and how we had season 2 stolen from us on the “Not a Major” not sure why you chose to forget that other than you started rooting for VGK when we hired DeBoer and you maybe a closet Sharks fan.
But since you like facts under DeBoer 0-37 PP streak and current 7 game losing streak VGK shout out in back to back games twice this year never shut out in back to back games previously.
Pail Smith
Do you remember when Gallant said it was not his responsibility to motivate the players????
Dumb ass comment!!!!!!!!!!! He immediately landed on my SHIT LIST !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Daryl
I agree that wasn’t the best comment, but we are talking about professional athletes, MEN. They shouldn’t need the coach to motivate them, they should be able to do that themselves or among themselves. I don’t blame PDB for for not motivating the team, I blame him for how he leads the team, the adjustments or lack there of
VGK Fan
Pail Smith,
I’m really not sure why you are so angry at my post I was replying to Pistol Pete and stated facts maybe you were trying to reply to someone else.
Pistol Pete
VGK Fan lol. No, I have been a VGK fan from day one. I live here in Vegas since ‘93. Our two boys were born here. I skated from a young age and played high school varsity in a competitive league. Really, I just trusted the judgement of the FO on the Gallant decision. I don’t fancy myself an armchair coach or GM. Mostly I am a cheerleader and wishful thinker as a fan lol. I agree with you on the PP. Think it’s some kind of a mark against DeBoer in fact but it’s had better stretches over his tenure, right? It’s better with Eichel, quite a bit better which tells us something, right?
VGK Fan
Pistol Pete, I agree that the PP is better with Eichel.
My one other point Gallant did much better with far less talent getting to the SCFs and if not for the “Not a Major” he was on his way to his second SCFs.
Richie-Rich
That’s exactly why DeBoer won’t win the hearts of a large percentage of the VGK fanbase. He’s got, on paper, a ton more talent. Gallant will be in the hearts of the fanbase until he wins a cup with that talent. Anything short of the cup isn’t going to win me over. But why do you ask? The way this all went down, and the way this FO has treated players is the primary reason. The coaching styles are the secondary reason.
Daryl
Kevin is nothing more than a fan of VGK as you and I are. You are just as qualified to write an article on this subject as he is.
Pistol Pete
I welcome the opportunity to come out from behind the board and meet fellow posters in person. I generally attend practices when they fall on Monday or Tuesday meaning I will be in attendance at 11am tomorrow 28th. I am middle aged, of average stature and wear a gray VGK jacket. Peter
The REAL TS
Hey, pp, I may just take you up on the suggestion! I, too, attend some practices..
I may go this a.m., and will look for the guy in the GRAY VGK jacket!! GEE, THAT SHOULD BE EASY TO SPOT…
Pistol Pete
Yes a gray jacket. Not the light team jacket I ofen wear because it’s warm outside today so I will be wearing a short sleeve under it. Two tone gray with a large VGK logo on the back. That will be me! Hope to meet you!
The REAL TS
Pp: attended Monday practice. Saw 14 gray VGK jackets on 14 middle age men of medium stature!! LOL. I wasn’t about to ask every one if they are YOU,so….anyway, maybe another practice!
The REAL TS
BRAYDON MCNABB practiced monday!! No- hit jersey, though he worked on checking with Whitecloud. Great to see him.out there!
steve
@HOCKEY God. so what r trying to say the Hawks r good cuz they beat kings. who i also think suck ! We have gave the WoRSE div. and if Vanc plays Demco all 3 games vs us and win 2 of 3. what bulshit will u come up with then and there’s no guarantee seattle don’t steal a gm. Seriously dude they have zero chemistry on this team cuz they hired a fired Slug who got lucky Pavs pulled a face off fall to give them 5 min pwr play cuz that was a elimination gm for De Slug and by the way i was at 1971 hawks habs stanley cup. and forgot more than u will ever know. So here’s your ass
Emilio
This man is blind. Only reason the Knights came back in the 3rd is because someone else took lit a fire under their assess in that locker room (Martinez) and the Hawks are dog shit. The Knights have had their best players in their roster and still all those “better” players have gone on long droughts. The D is shit. Either the guys don’t feel motivated under PDB, there’s a locker room problem, or his systems are shit. Maybe a combo. Either way they came back for other reasons not because of PDB.
Steve
well put Don’t need to add a thing to your comment
Jim
“We changed a few things in our system this year and that’s going to take time to adjust and I think now we’re starting to see it become second nature for us. You’re starting to see what we want to do throughout games with those systems.” -Alex Pietrangelo Nov 10
That is proof that they changed the system to a 1-3-1, which has turned them into one of the more porous defensive teams in the league.
what do I mean? simple, they give up more odd man rushes than any other team except Columbus, thus the PDB system is absolutely equally at fault for the defensive falloff this year compared to last season.
The surest way to expose an inexperienced, injury-decimated d corps and goaltender is to allow lots of 2-on-1 and 3-on-2 rushes against game after game.
And how about the PP? notice that it got better recently after Ryan Craig took over from DeBoer’s boy Spott. and this is after people were calling for Spott’s head for MONTHS before they finally admitted failure, and changed the PP coach. apparently for months PDB was a stubborn fool who would rather lose games than take the reins away from his SJ buddyboy.
Richie-Rich
The 1-3-1 requires an elite goalie. We don’t have one and haven’t had one for a while. Fleury was elite at times but at his age needed to be spotted more often. Lehner gave him the rest he needed and as a result was the Vezina winner last year. Sure, it was a shortened season. This year, the less than stellar goaltending put a lot of pressure on the offense to score (4 or more on average per night against the top tier teams). You would think that a coach would stop trying to shove a 1-3-1 down the throats of a team that can’t play that strategy. Sure, maybe with the full complement of all the defensmen that are out, possibly. But, his inability, refusal or stubbornness to adjust has the team in a tight spot right now.
knights fan in minny
thg getting lambasted
Richie-Rich
Let’s just say it. The fan base is not going to accept DeBoering until when and if he ever brings a Stanley Cup to Vegas. If he gets that done the name Gerard Gallant will be a footnote of history. Until then…….. DeBoer gets measured, not by his wins & losses or playoff appearances, but by going all the way and winning a Cup.
Anything short of that will not be acceptable to this fanbase (or at least those of us who are like minded on the issue).
steve
@Richie Rich. How about this , He was fired by the Sharks for good reason and the quick trigger knights took him ! Gallant goes on to win it all for Canada comes Back has rangers turned around in first year ! De Boer will get it cuz he couldn’t beat habs for so many reason i can’t list but huge question is who will replace him ! Unfortunately the only Guy that’s over qualified is in hot water that’s Quinville
Richie-Rich
Just think what a feel good and uplifting story would be if they brought Manny up from Henderson. I know a lot of you will shit on that idea, but the players would play their hearts out for Manny. Sure, he’s untested in the bigs, but so too were all the others. I can remember Jared Bednar playing for the South Carolina Stingrays in 1992 in Charleston. He’s now the HC of the Avalanche.
JockEnvy
So are they not playing their hearts out for PDB? The narrative in this article, and through most of this thread, seems to be people saying that they are playing hard for PDB.
sb
Iole is correct. The problem this season is not with DeBoer. It’s injuries. How can you win with 11 starters out of the line up? So what’s the claim? That DeBoer is responsible for the injuries? B. Trotz is dealing with the same issue, but everyone gives Barry a pass this season. But Deboer? Nope. The no-nothings on this site blame the coach. Right around January 1, DeBoer had coached his 82nd game with Vegas. His win percentage was .730. Only one coach in NHL history has had a higher 82 game win percentage and that is Scotty Bowman. Since he’s not coming out of retirement, stick with the Number 2 guy.
ulf
Over NHL history there have been a host of championship teams that were riddled with injuries and still played more effectively than the Knights.
Detroit in the 90s. Montreal in the 80s and 90s. Colorado in the late 90s and early 2000s. The list goes on.
Good coaches adapted their systems to accentuate what the team had available. For example during the Avalanche’s second Cup run, Peter Forsberg (arguably their best player, although Sakic could be too) had his spleen removed and the forward depth on the Avs wasn’t so great that season. The coach loaded up Sakic’s line and had the other 3 lines play a more defensive game. Overall they didn’t score as much as they usually did but they won their second Cup.
DeBoer is pretty inflexible in systems management and sure the lineup would be a test on any coach, but he’s not the right guy for the job.
Richie-Rich
Colorado lost Landeskog, probably its top player and they’re still rolling. The Kings have been wrecked and they’re several games ahead.
The point I’d like to make is that the offensive woes didn’t start this year. The power play sucking didn’t start this year and the regression in goaltending didn’t start this year.
Points made. DeBoer likes to ride the wave of a team that is stacked and healthy. He comes in and takes over something someone else built, wrecks it and then gets rehired someplace else. You’d think owners would figure it out by now.
ulf
Secondly about win percentage – unfortunately that doesn’t mean what it used to, since records went out the window when the NHL introduced the shootout to resolve games almost 20 years ago. DeBoer has only been coaching in the NHL since AFTER the shootout was introduced.
Put up DeBoer against any of the elite coaches that aren’t in the game at the moment and coached during the regular OT era – morality aside – Quenneville, Babcock, Lemaire from recent history – and DeBoer isn’t close.
You might want to look at the NHL Head Coaching records. DeBoer is on the list but he’s way below the top, even forgetting about the fact that new era coaches will never get tie games on their record.
ulf
https://records.nhl.com/records/coach-records
Daryl
They also changed OT so that it’s 3 on 3 instead of the regular 5 man rotations
Daryl
He is correct simply because you agree with him. If he said the other you would say he is wrong.
Pistol Pete
Hi sb. If you ever go to practices I would like to meet you!
Galdom
This is probably a cop out but with all these injuries it’s really hard to assess DeBoer. First of all he’s a good coach so anyone who thinks he’s not a good coach is probably out to lunch. That’s not an arrogant you’re not allowed to have an opinion type statement. He has a track record. After a very long and decorated junior hockey coaching career he he started coaching in the NHL in 2008 and has never been without a job since. All coaches get fired as they all have a certain shelflife but as soon as he is available another team hires him and that’s for a reason. When DeBoer’s time runs out in Vegas there will be another team that will hire him. He might not be the right guy to coach this team but let’s see what he does with a healthy roster next year. Without getting into detail about his pros and cons my main point is that he’s not an idiot because you can’t be an idiot and coach 14 straight years in the NHL.
Daryl
I think he’s an above average coach, not a good coach. Every team he’s taken over has declined under him. I agree that he will go on to another team when his time here is over. He has had and will continue to have a long coaching career
Pistol Pete
By “decline” you must be referring to losing in the Final and not being able to pick up the pieces the next season. Probably a pretty common scenario. According to that view every coach that makes it to a Final and loses is not a “good” coach. “Above average” but not “good”.
Daryl
Look at his record…
FLA
41-41 (3rd)
32-50 (5th)
30-52 (5th)
NJD
48-34 (4th)
19-29 (48 games) (5th)
35-47 (6th)
12-24 (7th)
SJS
46-36 (3rd)
46-36 (3rd)
45-37 (3rd)
46-36 (2nd)
15-18 (33 games) (8th)
VGK
15-7 (22 games) (1st)
40-16 (1st)
36-32 (4th)
Yes, I expect a drop off when the team makes it to the Cup or Semi but except for SJS, his record gets worse under him. And you can say what you want but from top to bottom the Pacific is the easiest conference, which has helped his record at SJS. And that isn’t my opinion, but the opinion of the experts including the experts from Canada.
JockEnvy
There’s a pattern but I’m not sure if I can speak on it as I may not be a TRUE fan.
My point from the beginning about DeBoer is that he is not a leader. He cannot motivate. Look at the rosters the year before DeBoer takes a nose dive and see who is missing. Outside of Florida, who replaced him with an outstanding leader in Kevin Dineen, look who is missing in that final season.
New Jersey – Martin Brodeur
San Jose – Joe Pavelski
Vegas – Marc-Andre Fleury, Ryan Reaves
Every time DeBoer loses the locker room leader, he loses his team. He’s a smart guy but he has no ability to motivate. This team needs that. Stone may wear the “C” but he’s not a vocal leader. He leads by example. Martinez is the vocal leader. Gallant was a leader.
DeBoer needs to be in the right situation to succeed. This situation is no longer primed for that success. Based on the cap situation, this team will not look like it did to start next season as it did to start next season and not in any type of positive way. McPhee has a vision. DeBoer has a system. McCrimmon has ADHD. They don’t mesh well. DeBoer isn’t a bad coach. He’s just not the right coach for the direction of this franchise.
Pistol Pete
Pretty hard to have two law degrees and be an idiot. He’s also a damned good athlete. He was good enough to be drafted and played two seasons in the IHL (at the time considered equivalent to the AHL) and amassed a very respectable 102 pts. (nearly half of which were goals). He probably saw himself a step slow to be a fulltime NHL player and retired. Smart.
Pistol Pete
Another point I’ve made about Pete is his excellent sense of humor and how often he laughs. That probably translates to the locker room.
With all due respect myself included, probably nobody on this board is qualified to judge the job DeBoer does. The FO is way more qualified. Just look at McPhee and what a player he was, Even McCrimmon played for Michigan. These guys know a lot about hockey.
Daryl
And knowing about hockey doesn’t mean you can coach hockey. Two completely different things/jobs. And while none of us are qualified to judge PDB, we are all qualified to give an opinion based on what we see.
You think PDB is a good coach. I do not. We each have a right to our opinion and nothing makes either one of us right or wrong
Pistol Pete
He’s 91–47-8 VGK regular season through game #68 2021-22.
Abnormal volume of injuries this season. Per ad nauseum, all divisions basically have four tougher teams and four weaker ones.
Still the armchair bashers say he’s a lousy coach. Either disgruntled fans or not fans at all.
Richie-Rich
Definitely disgruntled. DeBoer has to win a cup, go one step beyond where Gallant took us before he gets any credibility with me.
Daryl
Back to this whole, you have to agree with me or you aren’t real fans…. Love these people. The only opinion you are allowed to have is theirs. You, the hockey goof, and Doc all belong together
Daryl
R strong teams and 4 weaker teams, but those stronger teams aren’t as strong and their weaker teams are weaker
Daryl
There are a lot of idiots who have degrees… And when I say idiots I’m talking about common sense. He might be book smart but that doesn’t make him smart in what he is doing
Pistol Pete
If course one can be a real fan and disagree with me. You’re killing me. The point is with you is that for a “real fan” it would be nice if just one freakin’ time you could be supportive instead of finding something negative in every positive situation. And that is barely an exaggeration if one at all. Maybe I should just pretend I have you on ignore lol.
Daryl
Like I said to someone else, if all you do is look at the positive, you will never get better. I gave RL credit for that 4 game road trip against Eastern teams. I guess some on here took it as a negative when I said the defense played great as well since maybe that takes away from what RL did. How often do you look at the negative??? Again, with a negative there is no progression. I’ve said a lot of positive things about this team but I will also point out the negative. You seem to only look at the positive and ignore all of the negative
Pistol Pete
Has anyone besides me attended a full practice and seen DeBoer in action with his whistle?Anyone other than The REAL TS?
Btw Pavel Dorofeyev was at the practice. With Carrier out looks like he’ll get his shot. HSK leading scorer 23 G/18 A. Only HSK player in top 50 (#49). Just 21. Think he may be a greasy in front of the net type guy. Would love to see it translate at this level.
hdbiker7851
Please PPete – you don’t have to be a brain surgent, rocket scientist etc to blow a whistle. Statements of that nature just proves what Daryl was saying. Agree to disagree, right or wrong doesn’t matter, as opinions are like a–holes everyone has one.
ulf
DeBoer has a history of being inflexible in his approach and of teams tuning him out after a few years. It’s still early(ish) in the latter regard, but to say the team has been “working hard” the whole season is a stretch.
have another donut
apparently he is such a good coach that Florida, NJ, and San Jose just could not get rid of him fast enough. he lasted about 3 years with each team.
Richie-Rich
Fuck it. Ted Lasso could do a better job.
Blitz
Ted Lasso builds team chemistry and gets the most out of his players. He also has Coach Beard who is a giant step up from Spott. So I agree.
Galdom
I haven’t gotten around to watching that show yet. Heard it is awesome.
Blitz
It’s a really great show and I don’t even like soccer. I would recommend it.
have another donut
Let’s clear up the NHL phony win % scam.
If you count OT and SO wins as wins, then you MUST also count OT and shootout losses as LOSSES.
So, let’s look at PDB record.
in Fla he had 103 wins and 143 losses
in New Jersey 114 wins—-134 losses
in San Jose 198 wins—-163 losses
total 415 wins—440 losses
Scotty Bowman? more like Spott-y record—- and then GG coat tails
Pistol Pete
VGK
Regular season: 91 wins/55 losses
Playoffs: 22 wins/17 losses
Daryl
You know that isn’t fair… You can’t use those numbers because it doesn’t look favorable.
Richie-Rich
SIGN WILL SMITH RIGHT NOW.
VGK NEEDS AN ENFORCER….
ROTFLMAO
By the way, the only person with any class at the Oscars was Kevin Costner.
Daryl
The man is nothing but Class!!!
Pistol Pete
R-R good luck your knee procedure. Probably too late to consider it if you haven’t already but there was guy in Henderson who does stem cell for knees. Probably not covered by insurance but could be by now. I used two amniotic stem cell treatments for myasthenia gravis back in 2018. I went from disabled to functional. So far so good. There are loads of cases with knees where the cartilage regenerated. That may not be your issue.
Barney
Season is done like dinner for this year. Next year will be interesting.
Outlook? Bleak
Galdom
This is a reply to Herby’s comments in regards to Jack Eichel having 17 giveaways and 13 takeaways and thinking that’s a bad thing. I believe the Jaromir Jagr led the league almost every single season in giveaways. Wayne Gretzky gave away the puck a lot. That’s what creative hockey players do. Leon Draisatl is third in the league in giveaways with 75. Johnny Gaudreau who is making a late bid for MVP is seventh in the league in giveaways with 69. I think what you don’t want is for an uncreative third line tape player to have a lot of giveaways. It’s kind of a flawed stat. The last thing that you want is for Jack Eichel to be less creative. When you get a creative player like Mark Stone having much more takeaways then giveaways that is more of a freakish thing which makes Stone so special.
Connor McDavid who is the best player in the world has 64 giveaways and 55 takeaways. On that same team is a stay at home defenceman Evan Bouchard who has 67 giveaways and only 25 takeaways. That’s a bad thing because he is not a offence generating player.
Richie-Rich
Best post I have seen from Galdom yet! Just like anything in hockey. Is a giveaway something that could have been avoided like a shitty pass or bad decision or was it done trying to make something happen. Basically, was the hockey move or pass cutting edge that could have created an opportunity or not. I don’t think those stats are broken down to that level, but I bet teams track it.
Daryl
I agree with you and Galdom. If you look at the best offensive Forwards they usually have more turnovers than takeaways because they are trying to make plays and great passes. Those passes don’t always get thru. Those giveaways are mostly deep in the offensive zone.
What I worry about are turnovers from defenseman, whether offensive or defensive minded players. If they turn the puck over in the offensive zone it leads to odd man rushes. When they turn the puck over on the defensive zone it gives the other team possession in our zone and it also limits line changes
Pistol Pete
Kraken beat the Kings in LA implying the VGK has their work cut out for them on Wednesday and Friday.
Pistol Pete
Whupped em 6-1!
Pistol Pete
Based on the Kings schedule the next eight games, I like VGK’s chances of taking over 3rd if they can win 5 of the next 6 which is probably something of a tall order lol.
Pistol Pete
Winning two in SEA and 2 out of 3 vs. VAN with ARI in between will not be easy. Doable but not easy.
Daryl
Considering they have more players out than VGK, I is possible. I’m more orried about the teams behind us not catching up
Richie-Rich
I am concerned about Lehner returning to the ice. He obviously has a bad knee and his comments about it not being that bad isn’t sitting well with me.
I would rather have a 100% healthy Brossoit or Thompson than an 80% injured Lehner in net.
VGK Fan
I hope you are right but we have lost 7 straight road games against 4 bad teams, lets start by getting one win.
Pistol Pete
Beating VAN two of three lessens VAN’s chances of placing leaving WPG and DAL as the WC competition. DAL has four games in hand meaning they really have to poop themselves. I think VGK’s best chance is to overtake LAK which would likely set up a first round with EDM. The hardest part is going 10-4 or even 11-3. Going to be tough. I do like LAK’s chances to drop though.
Pistol Pete
NSH looks to be the first WC but anything can still happen.
Barney
Thought I would look they some player stats at players who used to on the knights.
Suzuki…. OMG how did they let this kid go?? What the hell!!
Krebs … OMG how did they ever draft this kid? Of the 219 rookies he is 214th rating in worst plus minus. No rookie has played fewer games and has a worse plus minus. The kid is brutal. What the hell was mcrimmon ever thinking drafting that dog. Wasted a puck. Anyway.. sure makes the Eichel trade look a hell of a lot better.