Vegas Golden Knights Fire Peter DeBoer, See Ya

Well, another one bites the dust.

The Vegas Golden Knights fired head coach Peter DeBoer, making him the second coach to be put on the chopping block by the organization.

His firing comes after the team failed to make the playoffs for the first time since their 2017 establishment.

"We would like to thank Pete DeBoer for his commitment to the Vegas Golden Knights over the past three seasons," said Vegas Golden Knights General Manager Kelly McCrimmon on the team's website. "Since joining the organization, Pete and his staff have guided us through some of the most unique and challenging circumstances we've witnessed since our franchise entered the NHL. After lengthy discussions over the last two weeks, we believe that a new coach will put us in the best position to succeed next season."

For the previous two years, the Vegas Golden Knights reached the playoffs but failed to advance to the next round each time under DeBoer's coaching, according to the Associated Press.

DeBoer, who's 53, is now the fourth coach to lose his position since the regular season ended. He joins Jeff Blashill (former coach of the Detroit Red Wings), Mike Yeo (former coach for the Philadelphia Flyers)  and Barry Trotz (former coach for New York Islanders).

Longtime hockey fans will remember when 94 points and a 43-31-8 record would win you a raise. But with the whole overtime/shootout situation, five teams in the West (and all eight in the East) finished with 100+ points this year.

Have we mentioned that 94 points is the second-highest total in VGK history? Have we mentioned that key players like Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty, William Karlsson, and Reilly Smith all missed significant time?

We’re not editorializing, but that’s not an easy way to lose your gig.

However, social media users have been calling for him to be canned with brutal tweets and posts talking about his firing. And what seems to have cost him was going 3-7 in the final 10 games where 6-4 would've allowed the team into the playoffs. It also doesn't help that the team went 0-5 in February when they went on a road trip against teams where four out of five has losing records.

DeBoer was the second coach hired by Vegas during 2019-2020. He took over Gerard Gallant's position, who was also fired by the organization.

General Manager for VGK Kelly McCrimmon will be hosting a press conference at 1 p.m. today, May 16 to discuss this situation further.

We wish you all the best, DeBoer!

The Vegas Golden Knights won their season opener 4-3 on Tuesday night over Seattle. An enthusiastic crowd of 18,431 was in attendance at T-Mobile Arena as the Knights got off to a fast start against the NHL's newest team, the Kraken.

Vegas led 2-0 less than seven minutes into the game on goals by Max Pacioretty and Jonathan Marchessault. Vegas led 3-0 in the second period on Pacioretty's second goal of the night before Seattle got on the board with two goals in less than two minutes.

Seattle tied the game at 3-3 in the third period before Chandler Stephenson tallied the eventual game-winner with less than 12 minutes to go in the game.

Team captain Mark Stone supplied three assists for the Knights and Pacioretty notched an assist to go with his two goals.

Vegas next travels to L.A. to face the Kings on Thursday night at 7:30 pm.

Written by: Syd Gaddy