Is Pete DeBoer’s Fate in Dallas Holding Up Decisions in Pittsburgh and Boston
Dave Pagnotta and Dennis Bernstein of the Fourth Period joined Steve Kouleas on Siirius XM NHL Network Radio Power Play on Tuesday, when discussing the situation in Dallas with Peter DeBoer. If he will be let go or not, the topic of why the hirings in Pittsburgh and Boston are taking so long was brought up. One of the factors might be that they are waiting to see what happens to Pete DeBoer.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
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Dave Pagnotta: “Jay Woodcroft is in the running for both Pittsburgh and Boston. Marco Sturm is in the running in Boston as well. I was told Mitch Love is out of the mix in Pittsburgh.”
Steve Kouleas: “Oh, okay. Is this new?”
Pagnotta: “Yes, I was told this a couple of days ago. I tried to ask around before I said it. I’ve now said it, but my understanding is he’s out of the mix in Pittsburgh. He is in the mix in Boston. So he may stay in Washington at the end of the day, when all is said and done. A lot of people are a little bit surprised that both the Bruins and Penguins haven’t figured out their coaching strategy.”
Kouleas: “Is this taking too long?”
Dennis Bernstein: “It is taking too long. It’s taking longer than a shooter. There are only two candidates, presumably, maybe there’s another X Factor. But I would go back to DeBoer for a second.”
Kouleas: “Maybe that’s the X Factor.”
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Bernstein: “Yeah, maybe you’re waiting for a shoe to drop in Dallas. Here’s the thing. They did the exit interviews, which are different than when going in front of the media and doing your exit interviews with the media. They did them. Then this chatter started coming out. I think the whole thing around DeBoer is did he lose the room? Did he lose the room? Based on the exit interviews with these players and the timing of it, it tells me Yes, and the players just, and you saw the visual with Ray Ferraro and Jake (Oettinger) on the bench. That’s if you almost feel sad for the player, and now he got the response that he gave after that game. It was almost like it was premeditated, like he had that holster. It was almost like, if Jake doesn’t start, well, I’m pulling him out. I’m gonna have the answers to people.”
Pagnotta: “And that’s something that the players that concerned and ticked off the players, I can tell you that. And I’ve heard this from multiple individuals around that team. This isn’t just one guy with a beef. These are multiple individuals, more than two, that have voiced this.”
Kouleas: “You know what this reminds me of a little bit then, but quicker time frame is Bruce Cassidy was coming back to Boston. Then the exit interviews, they paused, and then they fired him.”
Bernstein: “And the narratives were the same, though, they didn’t like that coach either. They were great. They didn’t like that coach. They didn’t like coach he was tough on them. And yes, same thing here. And then he wound up winning a championship. So maybe Pete look, if it happens and they pull the trigger on Pete, he’s gonna have one year left on his deal. So he doesn’t have to rush and get another job. He can sit there and wait for a team that comes out of the box cold and step into a role.”
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Kouleas: “Yeah, so it is now a sexy topic, with everything that happened on the weekend. You want to tag before we move on.”
Pagnotta: “And I do two people just messaged me. So they’re listening around the league that said, maybe Boston and Pittsburgh have been waiting to see what plays out in Dallas. Don’t be surprised, and not necessarily involving Pete DeBoer, but they’ve got a couple of assistants there as well. So if they make changes, it may be a broader change than just the head man. So we’ll see. Because, again, a lot of people are confused as to why it’s taken Boston and Pittsburgh this long, right?
Maybe that’s part of the equation. But what would concern me if I’m part of this mix, if I’m one of the guys in the running, Marco Sturm and Jay Woodcroft, for example, have interviewed three times with Boston. Multiple times Woody has with Pittsburgh. DJ Smith is very much in the mix with the Pittsburgh Penguins. I think he’s a finalist for it. So there’s other elements here that are in play. This Dallas thing kind of really, really changed the dynamic of it in the last 24 hours.”
NHLRumors.com Note: If this is the case with Boston and Pittsburgh, why go through the process of bringing in coaches if you are waiting to see what happens with other teams? Look, we saw what happened in St. Louis. The Blues wanted Jim Montgomery last offseason, but didn’t get him.
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But once the team struggled and Montgomery was fired from Boston after a poor start, the Blues pounced and got their man. It was not fair to Drew Bannister, who was there and probably should have been let go in the offseason.
But we have seen in the past that these things take time. But if the Dallas Stars are going to make a move, they have to know something better is out there. Let’s see what happens with Alain Nasreddine and Misha Donskov. They could be on the move as well. However, it is somewhat peculiar that decisions have not been made in Pittsburgh and Boston yet.
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