Was DeBoer Sacking Justified?
This week it was out with the old and in with the new this week in the state of Springsteen as New Jersey Devils sacked head coach Peter DeBoer and swiftly replaced with him former Capitals coach Adam Oates and former captain Scott Stevens. A storm of controversy soon followed as the Caps protested that NJ should have asked permission first, but the matter was quickly settled with the minimum of fuss.
After leading the Devils to an unlikely Stanley Cup final appearence in 2012, DeBoer has struggled to bring consistency to his aging side and has left his side seventh overall in the Eastern Conference and over nine points adrift from the wild card slot! In his four years as coach, De Boer only registered a solitary playoff appearance. But his sacking doesn't appear to be been solely based on results.
Since the departure of stars Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk, New Jersey has failed to replacement them with a consistent goal scorer. This season in particular has been a pretty poor showing and currently the Devils hold the third lowest total of goals against in the NHL with only 77 goals, only the Carolina Hurricanes and Buffalo Sabres have a lower total- Quelle Surprise! Also their poor handling in the free agency market has also led to questions about their future. Jaromir Jagr has been the only notable success in this field. But the other attempts that bolstering the roster such as the questionable re-signing of Scott Gomez and hiring resident thug Jordin Tootoo to give a more tough guy image have failed to really raise their profile.
There has also been an alarming lack of youth development within this Devils team and only Adam Henrique has been the only real break out. Currently the average age of Dads Army is the youthful age of 34 which when you are trying to break to a team out a slump is the totally wrong approach.
As a coach Oates had a solid if unspectacular record of managing Alex Ovech... sorry the Washington Capitals, but his lack of real progress there in the two years he spent coaching may not thrill Devils fans. Previously I had predicted DeBoer for the sack and it really saddens me to see New Jersey sinking to this level after three Stanley Cup wins previously. Really hope that this team begins to turns things around soon.
After leading the Devils to an unlikely Stanley Cup final appearence in 2012, DeBoer has struggled to bring consistency to his aging side and has left his side seventh overall in the Eastern Conference and over nine points adrift from the wild card slot! In his four years as coach, De Boer only registered a solitary playoff appearance. But his sacking doesn't appear to be been solely based on results.
Since the departure of stars Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk, New Jersey has failed to replacement them with a consistent goal scorer. This season in particular has been a pretty poor showing and currently the Devils hold the third lowest total of goals against in the NHL with only 77 goals, only the Carolina Hurricanes and Buffalo Sabres have a lower total- Quelle Surprise! Also their poor handling in the free agency market has also led to questions about their future. Jaromir Jagr has been the only notable success in this field. But the other attempts that bolstering the roster such as the questionable re-signing of Scott Gomez and hiring resident thug Jordin Tootoo to give a more tough guy image have failed to really raise their profile.
There has also been an alarming lack of youth development within this Devils team and only Adam Henrique has been the only real break out. Currently the average age of Dads Army is the youthful age of 34 which when you are trying to break to a team out a slump is the totally wrong approach.
As a coach Oates had a solid if unspectacular record of managing Alex Ovech... sorry the Washington Capitals, but his lack of real progress there in the two years he spent coaching may not thrill Devils fans. Previously I had predicted DeBoer for the sack and it really saddens me to see New Jersey sinking to this level after three Stanley Cup wins previously. Really hope that this team begins to turns things around soon.
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