{"id":542635,"date":"2026-04-05T20:19:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T20:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/542635\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T20:19:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T20:19:16","slug":"some-thoughts-on-the-red-wings-slide-and-the-islanders-pete-deboer-gambit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/542635\/","title":{"rendered":"Some thoughts on the Red Wings slide and the Islanders Pete DeBoer gambit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not really sure what to write anymore about the Detroit Red Wings. <\/p>\n

Sunday was another embarrassing loss. A 5-4 setback against the Minnesota Wild, where they only mustered eight shots in the first two periods, and watched their playoff odds continue to crater as another disastrous March turns into another doomed April. Even if they made it close and tied the game before Patrick Kane\u2019s horrific penalty led to the game-winning goal, the first two periods were embarrassing for a team allegedly in desperation mode. <\/p>\n

The spring collapse has become an annual thing, in fact the Red Wings dismantling themselves in every way possible in March and April is more predictable than the midwestern weather that embattles the state. <\/p>\n

In back-to-back nationally televised games this weekend the Red Wings all but sealed their fate in losses to the New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild, not only losing, but finding baffling new ways to elicit more boos from hometown fans. <\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve written before, this won\u2019t damage Steve Yzerman, but this trend has \u2014 or at least it should \u2014 lead to a full-blown review of the franchise and the makeup of the team. Tough choices need to be made, and it would probably behoove the Red Wings to do some research on why and how players often seem to succeed once they leave the organization, like Vladimir Tarasenko who put a dagger into his old team in the second period on Sunday. <\/p>\n

The weird part of this, and maybe the most painful for Red Wings fan, is the fact that there are still five games remaining and they have a chance to theoretically figure it out. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a five-game purgatory, where technically the elevator can still go either way. <\/p>\n

While the Red Wings will have tough decisions in the summer, the New York Islanders made ballsy move on Sunday morning when they fired Patrick Roy with four games remaining and hired Pete DeBoer. <\/p>\n

For DeBoer, the timing of this feels intentional. <\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know the exact ins and outs of how much was still owed to him from the Dallas Stars, but I do know most of the $4.25 million he was paid to not coach in Dallas had already been deposited into his account. <\/p>\n

So DeBoer was able to make close to $4 million from Dallas, coach as an assistant coach for Team Canada at Olympics, and then take over a team in playoff position with four games remaining. <\/p>\n

Pretty nice work if you can get it. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s some irony in the reasoning for DeBoer\u2019s hire, too. As Emily Kaplan reported, the Islanders felt Ilya Sorokin wasn\u2019t getting enough help. <\/p>\n

\"X<\/p>\n

Emily Kaplan@emilymkaplan<\/p>\n

On Islanders firing Patrick Roy with four games remaining: <\/p>\n

Heard NY felt they were leaving Ilya Sorokin exposed and needed better defensive structure. There\u2019s more term than Torts deal so Isles are getting ahead of the cycle before someone else hired DeBoer this summer.<\/p>\n

5:13 PM \u00b7 Apr 5, 2026 \u00b7 121K Views<\/p>\n

29 Replies \u00b7 77 Reposts \u00b7 957 Likes<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

And if you remember back to last May, DeBoer lost his job with the Stars after the Western Conference Final partially because of how he left his goalie, Jake Oettinger, out to dry as the reason Dallas lost in back-to-back Western Conference Finals to the Edmonton Oilers. <\/p>\n

DeBoer will help Sorokin and the Islanders defensively, even if it\u2019s more of a long-term fix than something you can tweak in a short window, but he\u2019s also got a history of blaming the goalie when something doesn\u2019t go his way. <\/p>\n

I think as an organization you have to understand what you\u2019re signing up for with DeBoer. He\u2019s a smart tactical mind, he can put a plan into place and enforce it, but he\u2019s not great at in-game adjustments or accepting responsibility for his inability to make those changes.<\/p>\n

Having spoken to many people who have worked and played for DeBoer, I\u2019ve gotten the impression he\u2019s a taskmaster with a very particular set of skills, but also one that isn\u2019t willing to adapt to anyone else\u2019s view of things. <\/p>\n

In fact, in one of his final moments as the coach of the Stars, after his now infamous press conference, I spoke with DeBoer as he walked out of the arena and he was adamant in the moment that goaltending was the difference. He later did damage control, stating he should have chose his words more closely, but the Islanders \u2014 and any Islanders fan \u2014 should know DeBoer\u2019s actions and history are likely reflective of his future. <\/p>\n

And that can work, for the Stars it led to three consecutive final four appearances and more playoff wins than any team outside of Florida during that time period. It\u2019s going to be fascinating what it means for the Islanders both in the next three weeks and the next three seasons. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019m not really sure what to write anymore about the Detroit Red Wings. Sunday was another embarrassing loss.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":542636,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5110],"tags":[5,122,3328,159,5190,5189,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-542635","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-islanders","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-islanders","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-islanders","12":"tag-newyork","13":"tag-newyorkislanders","14":"tag-nhl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116353956705479933","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/542636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}