In The Wild: Real reactions to Dallas' firing of Pete DeBoer (plus some fancy stats on where things have gone wrong)

So much for staying the course.

Earlier today I wrote why Dallas should stay the course. I typically like to write things that don’t have a shelf life or if they do, at least not a tragically-timed one. Today is not that day.

I found out quick too. Straight from the Stars (quite wonderful, I should add) PR staff.

“After careful consideration, we believe that a new voice is needed in our locker room to push us closer to our goal of winning the Stanley Cup,” Nill said. “We’d like to thank Pete for everything that he has helped our organization achieve over the past three seasons and wish him nothing but the best moving forward.”

I’m of many different minds on this one. We’ll get to each one. But for now, Pete DeBoer’s record with Dallas deserves emphasis. In each of his three seasons with the Stars he had a winning record both in the regular season (149-68-29) and in the postseason (29-27). Across those three seasons, Dallas was 6th in expected goal share at 53.13 percent. Their power play was fifth in expected goals-for per 60 on the PP, and fourth in expected goals-against per 60 on the PK. That’s a hell of a record, really. And that’s what makes this decision all the more critical. How do you improve on that beyond simply winning the Cup?

Jim Nill will be available to the media at 12pm. We’re about to get more answers. Maybe even more drama. But I think there’s a lot to work through on its own not just in terms of considering DeBoer’s successor, but in terms of what DeBoer was lacking that made this possible.