Peter DeBoer is the new man behind the bench for the Vegas Golden Knights and his appointment was met with a lukewarm reaction to say the very least.
We are still picking through the wreckage of the bombshell news that emerged on Wednesday as the Vegas Golden Knights decided to can Head Coach Gerard Gallant, naming DeBoer as his replacement at the same time.
It was a stunning move that came completely out of the blue and Vegas Golden Knights Twitter was certainly an interesting place to be.
For starters, most if not all fans were upset to see Gallant go and that is understandable given the success the bench boss enjoyed with this franchise.
More from Vegas Hockey Knight
- The moment the Vegas Golden Knights have been waiting for
- 3 Golden Knights players deserving of the Conn Smythe Trophy
- If Golden Knights win Stanley Cup, who should Mark Stone pass it to first?
- Why are Vegas Golden Knights fans obsessed with flamingos?
- Just one more game for Golden Knight supremacy
He brought a group of misfits together and crafted them into a formidable juggernaut that rolled their way through the 2017-18 NHL regular season on their way to making a magical run to the Stanley Cup Final.
Gallant then kept the Golden Knights on track and led them to the postseason again last year, while they were heading in that direction this year despite enduring an inconsistent season.
And then there is the flip side of this with many fans not happy at the appointment of Peter DeBoer, who will take charge of the Vegas Golden Knights for the very first time tonight in Ottawa.
It is important to keep in mind that DeBoer was the Head Coach of the San Jose Sharks for the last five years, with the Sharks and the Knights having carved out a bitter and heated rivalry.
DeBoer and Gallant exchanged a war of words last year, with the latter calling DeBoer a clown, while there is still a lot of ill feeling in the wake of the controversial major penalty call that led to the Golden Knights being beaten in Game 7 of the First Round of the playoffs by the Sharks last year.
However, DeBoer has proven throughout his coaching career that he’s a winner and he has clearly been brought to Vegas to help the Golden Knights take that final step and win a Stanley Cup.
On that note, let’s delve into the three main reasons why we think the Vegas Golden Knights hired Peter DeBoer as the second Head Coach in franchise history…