Vegas Golden Knights fire head coach Gerard Gallant, hire Peter DeBoer
By Mary Clarke
In a shocking move, the Vegas Golden Knights have fired head coach Gerard Gallant and replaced him with former San Jose Sharks head coach, Peter DeBoer.
The Vegas Golden Knights turned the hockey world on its head on Wednesday morning with the announcement that the team has fired head coach Gerard Gallant after two and a half seasons. In his place, the Golden Knights have hired former San Jose Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer as his immediate replacement.
Assistant coach Mike Kelly was also let go by the Golden Knights in Vegas’ shocking announcement. DeBoer is set to join Vegas in Ottawa for the Golden Knights’ upcoming game against the Senators on Thursday, Jan. 16.
Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon had this to say in the press release the Golden Knights put out:
"In order for our team to reach its full potential, we determined a coaching change was necessary. Our team is capable of more than we have demonstrated this season. We would like to thank Gerard and Mike for their service to the Vegas Golden Knights. They were both instrumental to the success we have enjoyed in our first two-plus seasons and we wish them all the best moving forward. In Peter DeBoer, we have a proven, experienced head coach who we believe can help us achieve our ultimate goal."
The move from Vegas is shocking, to say the least. As of Jan. 15, the Golden Knights are fifth in the Pacific Division with a 24-19-6 record, but are three points out of first in their own division. The Golden Knights are tied for a wild card spot with Vancouver and Winnipeg, with both teams having two games in hand on Vegas.
Gallant was the Golden Knights first franchise head coach, after taking over the team in 2017-18 and steering Vegas to a 51-win season that got them to the Stanley Cup Final in their first season of existence. During that season, Gallant won the Jack Adams award for coach of the year. He will end his Vegas tenure with a 118-75-20 record.
Gallant also had one year left on his contract that he originally struck with the Golden Knights before the 2017-18 season.
DeBoer will take over for Gallant as he looks to lead the Golden Knights back into a playoff position. The former Sharks’ bench boss is a lifetime 415-329-111 head coach and took San Jose to the playoffs in each of his four full seasons with the team.
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