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Jets' Playoff Opponent Fires Coach Following Third-Straight Conference Finals Loss
Winnipeg's final opponent of the 2024-25 season has determined it needs to change direction.
On Friday morning, the Dallas Stars announced the firing of head coach Peter DeBoer. The move comes after Dallas dropped the Western Conference Final 4-1 to Edmonton, after beating Winnipeg in six games to eliminate the Jets.
Photo by Jerome Miron/USA Today
'After careful consideration, we believe that a new voice is needed in our locker room to push us closer to our goal of winning the Stanley Cup,' Stars' GM Jim Nill said in a statement. 'We'd like to thank Pete for everything that he has helped our organization achieve over the past three seasons and wish him nothing but the best moving forward.'
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Joining the Stars for the 2022-23 season, DeBoer got Dallas to the Western Conference Final each of the past three years at the helm, going 149-68-29 in the process. His Stars earned the Central Division banner last year.
The other 'Mr. Game Seven' didn't even make it to a sixth game in the Western Conference Final this time around, as DeBoer pulled starter Jake Oettinger after his backstop allowed two goals on the game's opening two shots.
He then publicly ostracized Oettinger for his performance not only in the game but lifetime against the Oilers in the playoffs.
"I didn't take that lightly and I didn't blame it all on Jake," the veteran coach said. "But the reality is if you go back to last year's playoffs, he's lost six of seven games to Edmonton, and we gave up two shots on two goals in an elimination game. So, it was partly to spark our team and wake them up. And it was partly knowing that the status quo had not been working. That's a pretty big sample size."
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The 26-year-old goaltender went 36-18-4 this season with a respectable 2.59 goals against average and a .909 save percentage. he won four of six games against Winnipeg in the second round. 2024-25 was the first season of his eight-year, $66 million contract extension.
For DeBoer, it was the penultimate season of his contract, to which the season ending with a Conference Final loss was no longer deemed good enough.
For his career, DeBoer is 662-447-152 with Florida, New Jersey, San Jose, Vegas and Dallas. He lost twice in the Stanley Cup Finals, having not made it to the dance since 2016.
