As Darche alluded to, it wasn’t one game that spurred the change, but a recent trend, one that DeBoer could help fix. DeBoer brings a resume as an experienced coach with a defensive focus and while it might take longer than three practice days to enact his system, Darche felt the opportunity to get a top coach was beneficial in the long term.
“Guys like Pete DeBoer don’t stay on the market very long,” Darche said. “His pedigree, I mean, he went to five of the last six conference finals. He’s had success everywhere he’s been. He’s a very structured coach.”
A quick refresher on DeBoer’s resume. His 662 coaching wins are 18th in NHL history. His 97 playoff wins are fifth in NHL history. He’s 9-0 in Game 7s. He’s taken two teams to a Stanley Cup Final (both in his first full year behind the bench) and was in six of the last seven conference finals, with three different teams.
“It’s like grabbing the number one free agent on the market,” Darche said.
As positive as Darche was about the hiring of DeBoer, he touched on the tough decision to move on from Roy, who he said brought the team a long way in a year.
“It’s not a fun day. It’s not a fun thing to do,” Darche said. “Patrick has been awesome for the organization. He moved it forward. He’s an awesome person, passionate, and I just felt it was it was time just to move the group forward. It was time to make a change.”
“By no means is this all on Patrick,” Darche added. “Sometimes it’s just a circumstance that you need a change and a different voice, and that was the time right now.”