San Jose Sharks Fire Head Coach Peter DeBoer And Assistants In ‘Hockey Decision’

Home after a road trip that saw them go 0-3-1, get outscored 17-5 and drop to sixth place in the Pacific Division, the San Jose Sharks announced on Wednesday that they had fired head coach Peter DeBoer and three of his assistants.

Another former assistant, Bob Boughner, has been promoted to interim head coach. He’ll be supported by new associate coach Roy Sommer and new assistants Mike Ricci and Evgeni Nabokov. Dan Darrow remains with the team as assistant video coach.

DeBoer becomes the fifth NHL head coach to be replaced in the last three weeks. Media members who broke the story of DeBoer’s dismissal on Wednesday night were quick to emphasize that the move was strictly performance based.

It’s an important distinction as the league takes steps to address to improve its culture following recent allegations of past abuse by its coaches, and with the announcement coming just one day after Jim Montgomery was fired from the Dallas Stars for unspecified “unprofessional conduct inconsistent with the core values and beliefs of the Dallas Stars and the National Hockey League.”

The expansion Sharks joined the NHL in 1991 and have yet to win their first championship. No coach has gotten them closer than DeBoer, who took them to the Stanley Cup Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins in his first season behind the San Jose bench, in 2015-16.

DeBoer started his NHL head-coaching career with the Florida Panthers in 2008, spending three seasons there before moving on to the New Jersey Devils for three and a half years. He got the Devils to the Stanley Cup Final against the Los Angeles Kings in 2012 before being let go in December of 2014.

All told, DeBoer leaves the Sharks with a regular-season record of 198-129-34 for a winning percentage of .594 over five seasons. He took over when the team parted ways with Todd McLellan after missing the postseason for the first time in 10 seasons in 2015, and was given a two-year contract extension, reportedly worth $3 million a season, just last March.

That 2014-15 season is the only year the Sharks have missed the playoffs since Doug Wilson took over as general manager in 2003. DeBoer’s tenure also included a first-round loss to the Edmonton Oilers in 2017, a second-round defeat at the hands of the expansion Vegas Golden Knights in 2018 and a run to Western Conference Final last season — thanks to the stunning third-period comeback that knocked out Vegas in Round 1.

Had it not been for that comeback, DeBoer’s time in San Jose might have ended even before his contract extension kicked in.

Wilson has aimed to build the Sharks to win a championship. He hasn’t shied away from making big moves, such as trading for and offering big contract extensions to two-time Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Erik Karlsson (acquired in September of 2018) and, before him, scorer Evander Kane (acquired in February of 2018).

That’s why this season has been so disappointing. As they host the New York Rangers on Thursday to open a seven-game homestand that extends until after Christmas, the Sharks rank 24th in the NHL with an average of 2.67 goals scored per game. Their power play, traditionally a strength, sits 23rd with a success rate of just 16%.

Discipline has also been an issue — the Sharks lead the league with an average of 12:36 of penalty time per game. And after starting goaltender Martin Jones saw his numbers drop from a solid 2.55 goals-against average and .915 save percentage in 2017-18 to 2.94 and .896 last season, they’ve dipped even further so far this year — to 3.23 and .891, leaving him with a league-worst goals-saved above average ranking of -13.65.

Despite all that, the Sharks open their homestand with a playoff spot still well within reach. Heading into Thursday’s games, San Jose’s 15-16-2 record for 32 points has them 12th in the Western Conference, but still just five points out of the second wild-card spot.

Of course, last year’s St. Louis Blues set a new gold standard for mid-season coaching changes when they went from dead last in the league in January to winning a Stanley Cup in June.

The Calgary Flames are the latest inspiration for general managers with itchy trigger fingers. They’ve won six-straight games since Geoff Ward replaced disgraced Bill Peters behind their bench on November 27 and have moved within two points of first place in the Pacific Division. Over that same timeframe, the Sharks are 2-5-1.

DeBoer’s interim replacement, Bob Boughner, is a defensive specialist. Drafted 32nd overall by the Detroit Red Wings in 1989, he patrolled the blue line for six different teams during his 630-game, 10-season NHL career.

After his playing days were over, he moved on to coach junior hockey, winning the Memorial Cup with the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires in 2009 and 2010.

Boughner, now 48, initially came on board as an assistant with the Sharks when DeBoer was hired in 2015. In charge of the team’s defense, he had a hand in the 2016 Stanley Cup Final run and helped Brent Burns earn the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman in 2017.

Boughner’s strong performance earned him the Florida Panthers’ head coaching job in the summer of 2017. He returned to his old job with the Sharks after he was let go by the Panthers last April, one day before coaching legend Joel Quenneville was hired as his replacement.

Boughner’s record behind the Panthers’ bench was 80-62-22 for a .555 winning percentage. With 96 points, Florida missed the playoffs by a single point in Boughner’s first year behind the bench, then slipped back to 86 points last season.

With the dismissals of Steve Spott, Dave Barr and Johan Hedberg along with DeBoer, Boughner will be working with a largely fresh crop of assistants.

Roy Sommer, named associate coach, is returning to the NHL for the first time since serving as an assistant under Darryl Sutter with the Sharks during the 1997-98 season. In the two decades since then, Sommer has become the AHL’s all-time leader in games coached and in wins, all with the Sharks’ affiliates.

Sommer has promoted more than 130 players during his time as an AHL coach, including 19 who played for the NHL Sharks last season alone.

New assistants Mike Ricci and Evgeni Nabokov are both former players who had been serving in developmental roles with the Sharks — Ricci for the last 12 years and Nabokov for five. Ricci’s focus has been included face-off techniques, individual skill development and team systems integration with the team’s forward players and prospects. Nabokov has been a scout and goaltending consultant who has worked primarily with the Barracuda.

When announcing the coaching changes on Wednesday, Wilson praised DeBoer and his team, while driving home the changes he hopes to see.

“When you have had a level of past success, change is never easy, but we feel this team is capable of much more than we have shown thus far and that a new voice is needed,” said Wilson. “As a team and as individuals, our play has not met expectations this year and our level of consistency has not been where it needs to be. This group of individuals who will lead our team moving forward are very familiar with our players, and we think this change can provide our group with a fresh start.

“Under the leadership of Pete, along with Steve, Dave and Johan, our franchise accomplished some great things, culminating in reaching the 2016 Stanley Cup Final. We want to thank them for their contributions to our organization's success over the last four years.”

Will the Sharks get an immediate performance bump from the change? Probably. Here’s how the four NHL teams who have changed their coaches this season have fared so far under their new regimes:

• Toronto Maple Leafs - Sheldon Keefe - 6-3-1 since November 20
• Calgary Flames - Geoff Ward - 6-0-0 since November 29
• New Jersey Devils - Alain Nasreddine - 0-3-1 since December 3
• Dallas Stars - Rick Bowness - 1-0-0 since December 10