The dust is starting to settle on the Dallas Stars’ season after it ended with a thud against the Oilers and was added to with the dismissal of the team’s head coach, Pete DeBoer.
Stars GM Jim Nill recently explained the thought process behind Dallas firing DeBoer after a third straight run to the Western Conference finals. Now some of the Stars players are starting to speak on the matter, starting with one of the team’s seasoned NHL veterans, Matt Duchene.
Duchene joined Sportsradio 96.7 FM/1310 The Ticket (KTCK-AM) on Tuesday to discuss the end of the Stars’ season and the departure of DeBoer, who Duchene calls “an unbelievable coach and a really good person.”
Nill intimated in his own appearance that DeBoer’s handling of the Jake Oettinger situation contributed to his firing. If you listen to Duchene, though, it doesn’t seem like a scenario where the locker room turned on the former Stars coach.
See what Duchene had to say below. Click here to listen to the full interview.
Question: How have you been digesting how the season came to an end?
Matt Duchene: “You know, the further you go, the harder it is to lose out, especially as you get a little bit older like I guess I’m getting in terms of my hockey career. It gets harder every year. So, yeah, disappointing. It was a bizarre series. It’s funny even talking to you guys about it, because I’ve tried to almost completely detach myself from it, I find that’s a little bit easier than kind of going through the emotions of it.
“But yeah, I know it was a bizarre series, and, you know, Edmonton feels like a team that might be destined here, just with what happened in our series. And I haven’t watched a second of the Finals, and I won’t watch a second of the Finals because I’m a little bit bitter. But, you know, that team’s like trying to hold water in your hand. You feel like you got it for a second, and all of a sudden it gets through your fingers and it’s gone. ...
“It’s kind of funny how expectations kind of temper how you feel based on where you end up. I think at the end of the day, it’s a blessing, the last two years, to have gone as far as we did. And I’m grateful, very grateful for it. And I know the experience is only going to help us going forward. So, trying to look at it through that lens, even though it’s tough.”
Q: Were you surprised to see Pete DeBoer shown the door with one year left on his deal?
Duchene: “I don’t know. I think the end of the season was a little chaotic, I’ll put it that way. And I don’t have a ton to say about it, because, you know, Pete’s an unbelievable coach and a really good person, and I can’t thank him enough. He was a huge person for me in my time in Dallas, in terms of bringing me in and wanting me there and helping me with my game. I’ve learned a lot from Pete.
“If there’s one thing I’m thinking about a lot from the season, it’s probably how that all went down and that ended. It’s really hard to put it into words how I feel, because Jim Nill, in my opinion, is the best GM in the business, and probably the best man in hockey, like person, human being. I mean, you can’t beat him. So, I think as people, we always want to take a side, one side of the other, and I truly can’t, because I am in a situation where both have had such a great influence on me, and I feel like I’ve had such a great relationship with both of them. So it’s very tough to kind of put my thoughts into words right now with that whole thing.
“Obviously Jim, like I said, Jim is incredible at what he does, and I have full trust in him. But at the same time, it’s hard to see a good man and a good coach in Pete go and, you know, I believe Pete has a very bright future as a coach. And I wish him absolutely nothing but the best.
Q: Have you talked to Pete since last week?
Duchene: “I haven’t. I’m leaving that alone for a little bit. I’m going to reach out to him the next few weeks, I want to give him a call and just thank him. And, you know, kind of put a bow on things. Like I said, he’s had a really good impact on me and, you know, like, I said, he’s a good man and a great coach. So, nothing but the best for him.”
Listen to the full interview here.
