Pete DeBoer Finally Opens Up on Regretful Jake Oettinger Comments
It's been 3 1/2 months since the Dallas Stars were eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference finals. Stars head coach Pete DeBoer was fired a week later, with much of the buzz centering around his throwing his No. 1 goaltender Jake Oettinger under the bus after the decisive loss. Finally, DeBoer is expressing regret over his comments.
In an interview with Mike Zeisberger of nhl.com, DeBoer admits he should have handled it differently.
Listen, we were all to blame for coming up short again, and it starts with me. 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, 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. ...It was all of us. That’s not on just one guy. I should have made that clearer.
DeBoer left nothing to the imagination of his thoughts on his starting goalie and why he pulled him early in his post-game press conference after the Stars' Game 5 elimination to the Oilers.
As for Oettinger, he's glad to hear his former head coach come clean and clear the air.
“I mean, I think I feel like he hit the nail on the head,” Oettinger said. “I agree with what his reflection was. “I’m glad he said what he said.”
DeBoer posted a 149-68-29 record in his three seasons behind the Dallas bench, and had the best points percentage in the NHL (.665) over that time.
But he won't be attending an NHL training camp this month. Instead, he'll be focusing on his assistant coaching role with Team Canada for the upcoming Winter Olympics.
“It’s time to look ahead and move forward," concluded DeBoer, who said he won't be talking about the Oettinger incident again.
