New Stars head coach Pete DeBoer joined The Musers on Sportsradio 96.7 FM/1310 The Ticket [KTCK-AM] on Wednesday and he broke down his first impression of Jake Oettinger, how much the NHL has changed since his first head coaching job and what he loves most about his profession.
Here are some highlights:
In the 15 years or so since you became a head coach in the NHLhow much has the league changed?
Pete DeBoer: “From a play perspective, I just think the game has changed — it’s done a 180. It used to be such a clutch grab, slow you down, run interference game. It was physical, there was obviously a lot more fighting. I think that element we’ve kept, the physicality is still there, but the speed of the game you can’t even compare. When you watch an old clip of a game, if you watch the Dallas Stars Stanley Cup final game and then put a game on today, the speed of the game looks like it’s in fast forward.
“From a fan perspective, that’s a great thing. You actually get to see the skill, it opened up the game for a lot of smaller players. Back in the ’80s, if you weren’t six feet or bigger, you didn’t have a chance to play. Now we’ve got all kinds of great small players that are courageous enough to play and really have changed the game for us.”
What was your view from afar of Jake Oettinger?
DeBoer: “I actually knew Jake a little bit, my son and him played together at Boston University for a year. My son was coming in, Jake was just leaving, it was his last year. So we crossed paths, I was coaching a different team at that time so I wasn’t working with him or anything. But I got a chance to watch him there and was really impressed.
“The impressive thing about Jake is, you watch his game you’re impressed but when you meet him and talk to him he’s even more impressive. This guy’s a professional, he approaches the game the right way and he’s got a great demeanor. I dug in when I got the job and I actually watched some of his games last year, you realize the level he was playing at. I think he’s just scratching the surface, I think this guy’s gonna be a long-time elite starter in the NHL and we’re happy to have him.”
In the NHL, it seems like you’ve got two years to make something good happen. It’s such a volatile job, but what do you love about it?
DeBoer: “The juice of playing and being on the ice, in the competition and in the dressing room. There’s nothing like that. The next closest thing is coaching and being on the bench, you’re involved and you’re part of the group. You’re making an impact in a small but certain way.
“That’s the juice that I think drives you to coach and that’s something that keeps me going. You don’t have a long time, I think the NHL is the shortest tenured group of professional coaches across any sport. I don’t really get it. When you look at the two teams in the finals last year, Tampa and Colorado, they both have the longest tenured coaches. You hope that maybe they’ll take a page out of that and have a little more patience, but we know what we signed up for. You don’t go into it thinking about the end, you go into it thinking you’re gonna work here for the next 10, 20 years.”
Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here