It’s 2017-18. Not many people thought that the Vegas Golden Knights would possibly make it to the Stanley Cup Final. They were, after all, an expansion team playing their first season in the NHL. Still, this group of “misfits” didn’t care about the noise. Led by head coach Gerard Gallant, the Golden Knights reached the Stanley Cup Final, but lost 4-1 to the Washington Capitals.
Things are going so well that he won the Jack Adams Award in 2018. Life was good for everyone involved, both Gallant and the Golden Knights were happy. Everyone was happy when it came to a first-round matchup against the San Jose Sharks, a rematch of last season where Vegas beat Pete DeBoer and San Jose 4-2.
The defending Western Conference champions are doing well and are leading 3-1. It was only when the momentum shifted in San Jose’s favor in Game 6 that panic broke out. DeBoer took away the neutral zone and neutralized Vegas’ attack. This led to countless scoring opportunities that the Sharks took advantage of.
Of course, a major penalty was assessed in the second to last game, keeping the momentum on their side. However, this led to further hockey troubles, so he was fired on January 15, 2020. Ultimately, DeBoer took the job and coached Vegas for three seasons. Suddenly, the honeymoon was over and the breakup was in full swing.
It took less than three years for the Golden Knights to move on from their first head coach, which is almost unheard of unless you’re a struggling team. However, there must have been a good reason why he was suddenly fired for the coach who beat him out the season before. Here’s how his style ultimately led to his dismissal from the team.
Gerard Gallant wasn’t very eager to make necessary adjustments when called upon. That’s how Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup in 2018 and how the San Jose Sharks overcame a 3-1 deficit a season later. When Washington woke Ovechkin up, the former head coach had no answer. When DeBoer took away the neutral zone and applied pressure (similar to what he did with Dallas against Vegas this year), Gallant buckled.
Additionally, they relied heavily on veterans while never giving younger players a chance. The older guard and the Original Misfits were favored in the lineup, leaving no room for young players to flourish. When they were given a chance, they were put in positions that didn’t fit their style, making it hard for them to truly flourish.
Ironically, DeBoer was hired to replace Gallant as head coach, and things turned around (even though he called DeBoer a “clown”). Lineups were reshuffled and strategies changed when something wasn’t working. Names like Chandler Stephenson and Nicolas Roy, players who didn’t get a chance, grew in DeBoer’s shoot-first system. Although he was fired for missing the 2021-22 playoffs, Bruce Cassidy continued the tradition of making necessary adjustments. That led to the first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
