(Las Vegas) Dallas Stars head coach Pete DeBoer couldn’t hide his joy when his team beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-0 last January.
DeBoer was fired by the Golden Knights after last season.
There’s now a lot more on the table for DeBoer and the Stars, who begin the series in Vegas on Friday.
Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy, who was fired by the Bruins after last season, said DeBoer could have some advantages as he knows the strengths and weaknesses of some of his former players.
However, the Golden Knights have two assistant coaches on staff who have coached with DeBoer, along with another, John Stevens, who has been behind the Stars’ bench for the past three seasons.
Cassidy said he needed time to get to know his new players when he arrived, something that wasn’t necessarily the case for DeBoer when he debuted in January 2020.
DeBoer has taken the Golden Knights to the Conference Finals two years in a row. When the team missed the playoffs for the first time in its young history last season, DeBoer was fired.
The Golden Knights were the only team this season where five goaltenders earned at least two wins.
They set an NHL record by winning four straight games with four different goaltenders.
Adin Hill picked up where Laurent Brossoit left off after he was injured in Game 3 of the second-round series against the Oilers.
Hill finished the series, winning three of four games, finishing the series with a 2.19 GAA and .934 save percentage.
Behind Hill is Jonathan Quick, who won two Stanley Cups with the Kings. Quick was added to the squad through the deal market at the end of the season.
Stars forward Joe Pavelski, 38 and 17e season in the NHL, will play in his sixth conference final since 2010 (second with the Stars, four with the Sharks). Pavelski is still chasing his first Stanley Cup.
LINDSEY WASSON PHOTO, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Joe Pavelsky
Stars defenseman Ryan Suter, also 38 and in his 18e season, will be making its first appearance in the Association final. Suter played a total of 1,470 games in the league (1,362 in the regular season and 108 in the playoffs), the highest total for a player reaching his first conference final.
Stars forward Roope Hintz has been about a point-per-game player for three regular seasons; he currently has 19 points (nine goals and 10 assists) in 13 playoff games. The 26-year-old athlete is in his fifth season in the NHL.
“I knew he was a really good player and he did exactly what I thought he would do this season,” DeBoer said. However, doing it during the playoffs is something completely different for young players. »