Why Gerard Gallant didn't pan out

It's 2017-18. Not many people were thinking about the Vegas Golden Knights possibly going to the Stanley Cup Final. They were an expansion team playing their first season in the NHL, after all. Still, this group of "Misfits" didn't care about the noise. Led by head coach Gerard Gallant, the Golden Knights made the Stanley Cup Final, losing to the Washington Capitals, 4-1.

Everything's going so well that he won the Jack Adams Award in 2018. Life was good for everyone involved, with both Gallant and the Golden Knights happy. Everyone was fine when a first-round matchup against the San Jose Sharks came. It's a rematch from last season, where Vegas defeated Pete DeBoer and San Jose, 4-2.

The defending Western Conference champions are doing well, holding a 3-1 lead. It wasn't until the momentum shifted in favor of San Jose in Game 6 that it was panicking time. DeBoer took the neutral zone away, leaving the Vegas attack neutered. It led to countless scoring opportunities which the Sharks capitalized on.

Of course, a major penalty was called in the penultimate game, keeping the momentum on their side. However, that snowballed into more struggling hockey, where he was fired on January 15, 2020. Ultimately, DeBoer took that job and coached Vegas for three seasons. Suddenly, the honeymoon was over and the separation was in full swing.

It took less than three years for the Golden Knights to move on from their first head coach, almost unheard of unless you're a struggling team. However, there must've been a good reason why he was suddenly let go for the coach who beat him the season prior. Here's how his style led to his eventual firing from the team.

The style of Gerard Gallant compared to Pete DeBoer

Gerard Gallant wasn't too keen on making necessary adjustments when called upon. It's how Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals won the 2018 Stanley Cup and how the San Jose Sharks came back from a 3-1 deficit a season later. When Washington woke up Ovechkin, the former head coach had no answer. When DeBoer took the neutral zone away and pressed (similar to what he did this year with Dallas against Vegas), Gallant folded.

There was also a heavy reliance on veterans, where the younger players never got a chance. The older guard and "Original Misfits" got preference in the lineup, leaving no room for prospects to flourish. When he did give them a chance, they were placed in positions that didn't fit their style. Therefore, it made it tough for them to truly flourish.

Ironically, DeBoer was hired to replace Gallant as the head coach, where the tides turned (despite calling DeBoer a "clown"). Lineups were shuffled and strategies shifted if things weren't working. Names like Chandler Stephenson and Nicolas Roy, players who weren't given a chance, grew in DeBoer's shoot-first system. Although he was let go because they missed the playoffs in 2021-22, Bruce Cassidy continued the tradition of making necessary adjustments. That led to the first Stanley Cup in franchise history.