Some thoughts on the Red Wings slide and the Islanders Pete DeBoer gambit
Let's talk about some hockey news on Sunday.
I’m not really sure what to write anymore about the Detroit Red Wings.
Sunday was another embarrassing loss. A 5-4 setback against the Minnesota Wild, where they only mustered eight shots in the first two periods, and watched their playoff odds continue to crater as another disastrous March turns into another doomed April. Even if they made it close and tied the game before Patrick Kane’s horrific penalty led to the game-winning goal, the first two periods were embarrassing for a team allegedly in desperation mode.
The spring collapse has become an annual thing, in fact the Red Wings dismantling themselves in every way possible in March and April is more predictable than the midwestern weather that embattles the state.
In back-to-back nationally televised games this weekend the Red Wings all but sealed their fate in losses to the New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild, not only losing, but finding baffling new ways to elicit more boos from hometown fans.
As I’ve written before, this won’t damage Steve Yzerman, but this trend has — or at least it should — lead to a full-blown review of the franchise and the makeup of the team. Tough choices need to be made, and it would probably behoove the Red Wings to do some research on why and how players often seem to succeed once they leave the organization, like Vladimir Tarasenko who put a dagger into his old team in the second period on Sunday.
The weird part of this, and maybe the most painful for Red Wings fan, is the fact that there are still five games remaining and they have a chance to theoretically figure it out.
It’s a five-game purgatory, where technically the elevator can still go either way.
While the Red Wings will have tough decisions in the summer, the New York Islanders made ballsy move on Sunday morning when they fired Patrick Roy with four games remaining and hired Pete DeBoer.
For DeBoer, the timing of this feels intentional.
I don’t know the exact ins and outs of how much was still owed to him from the Dallas Stars, but I do know most of the $4.25 million he was paid to not coach in Dallas had already been deposited into his account.
So DeBoer was able to make close to $4 million from Dallas, coach as an assistant coach for Team Canada at Olympics, and then take over a team in playoff position with four games remaining.
Pretty nice work if you can get it.
There’s some irony in the reasoning for DeBoer’s hire, too. As Emily Kaplan reported, the Islanders felt Ilya Sorokin wasn’t getting enough help.
And if you remember back to last May, DeBoer lost his job with the Stars after the Western Conference Final partially because of how he left his goalie, Jake Oettinger, out to dry as the reason Dallas lost in back-to-back Western Conference Finals to the Edmonton Oilers.
DeBoer will help Sorokin and the Islanders defensively, even if it’s more of a long-term fix than something you can tweak in a short window, but he’s also got a history of blaming the goalie when something doesn’t go his way.
I think as an organization you have to understand what you’re signing up for with DeBoer. He’s a smart tactical mind, he can put a plan into place and enforce it, but he’s not great at in-game adjustments or accepting responsibility for his inability to make those changes.
Having spoken to many people who have worked and played for DeBoer, I’ve gotten the impression he’s a taskmaster with a very particular set of skills, but also one that isn’t willing to adapt to anyone else’s view of things.
In fact, in one of his final moments as the coach of the Stars, after his now infamous press conference, I spoke with DeBoer as he walked out of the arena and he was adamant in the moment that goaltending was the difference. He later did damage control, stating he should have chose his words more closely, but the Islanders — and any Islanders fan — should know DeBoer’s actions and history are likely reflective of his future.
And that can work, for the Stars it led to three consecutive final four appearances and more playoff wins than any team outside of Florida during that time period. It’s going to be fascinating what it means for the Islanders both in the next three weeks and the next three seasons.