The coaching carousel spins crazily in the National Hockey League.
A coach fired by the Vegas Golden Knights is now the head coach of the Dallas Stars — yes, the same Dallas Stars who eliminated the Vegas Golden Knights in a Game 7 on Sunday.
The coach at the helm of the Stars, Peter DeBoer, 55, was fired in 2022 after Golden Knights owner Bill Foley’s hockey team failed to make the playoffs that season. As ABC News reported at the time, the Golden Knights fought through injuries and lineup challenges to finish with a 43-31-8 record, missing the playoffs by four points.
VGK General Manager Kelly McCrimmon said at the time, “Our team is capable of more than we have demonstrated this season.”
In three seasons in Vegas, DeBoer, had a record of 98-50-12. But the irony runs deeper: DeBoer was hired by Foley on Jan. 15, 2020, after his San Jose Sharks defeated the Golden Knights in the Western Conference playoffs and a controversial Game 7.
DeBoer’s successor today is Bruce Cassidy, who led the team to their win of the Stanley Cup in the 2022-23 season. But it was the 58-year-old Cassidy, who sometimes goes by the nickname “Butch,” who was on the losing end Sunday to the coach he replaced in a game decided by a 2-1 score.
The Vegas Golden Knights coaching carousel has seen some other wild spins during the Knights’ seven-year history.
DeBoer replaced Gerard Gallant, the Golden Knights very first coach, who was fired in mid-season in 2020 by Foley after leading the team to a Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season. Gallant later coached the New York Rangers but was fired in 2023 after the Rangers lost a Game 7 to the New Jersey Devils, 4-0. In two years as head coach of the Rangers, Gallant, 60, compiled a 99-46-19.
Now what? Cassidy landed the VGK head-coaching job on June 14, 2022, only eight days after being fired by the Boston Bruins.
“I think a couple of our players will probably not sleep tonight, because if you look at what transpired in the game,” Cassidy told ESPN after the game on Sunday. “We hit a post, take them down, they score 10 seconds later. … It’s a little bit of hockey sometimes when two close teams play.”
Indeed.
But how well is Cassidy sleeping? The NHL coaching carousel spins erratically. Who will go where next?
