The Dallas Stars’ 2024-25 season ended unceremoniously with another Western Conference Finals exit against the Edmonton Oilers.
One big talking point after the loss was former head coach Pete DeBoer’s decision to bench starting goaltender Jake Oettinger in the first period of Game 5 after he allowed two goals. The resulting controversy ultimately played a part in DeBoer losing his job.
In the immediate aftermath of the benching, Oettinger called it “embarrassing” while DeBoer didn’t address the controversy until more recently saying he should have handled the situation differently in an interview with NHL.com.
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“Listen, we were all to blame for coming up short again, and it starts with me,” DeBoer said. “It was on me, it was on all the coaches, it was on all the players, it was on the organization as a whole. We all created the disappointment. We were all to blame, not just one guy.
“When all the questions at the postgame press conference were about Jake [Oettinger], I should have redirected the topic to reflect that this wasn’t just about him, this was about all of us. We — and I stress the word ‘we’ — did not get the job done. We were on a run in which we’d lost six of our past seven games against Edmonton in the third round dating back to 2024. In one of my answers, I said he’d lost six of seven to them. But it wasn’t just him. It was all of us. That’s not on just one guy. I should have made that clearer.”
Ahead of the Stars’ home opener, Oettinger spoke to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan and revealed new details about the night that followed the benching against Edmonton.
“When you get pulled, it’s the most deflating feeling ever. You kinda just want to crawl under your bed and cry,” Oettinger said. “It’s the tough part about this sport. You put everything you have into something and you risk it all in front of millions of people on TV.”
Oettinger then revealed that former Stars Mason Marchment and Matt Dumba went to his house the night after the game to comfort him.
“They drove right over to my house after the game, didn’t even go home, just to check on me, make sure I was doing alright,” Oettinger said.
Dumba and Marchment also gave their sides of the story.
“Went over there to check on the big man. I think we ended up shaving our beards and then we started having some beers,” Dumba said.
“Everything kind of got let out,” Marchment added. “I don’t think you ever can really put that kind of situation behind you, but I think Jakey is so good at using to fuel him and be better because of it.”
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