As soon as the words came out of Pete DeBoer's mouth after Game 5 of the Western Conference final, speculation about his job security began to run rampant.
And for good reason. A little more than a week after DeBoer pulled goalie Jake Oettinger, then didn't exactly endorse his play in the Dallas Stars' loss to the Edmonton Oilers, the Stars fired DeBoer, with GM Jim Nill saying in a statement that, "a new voice is needed in our locker room to push us closer to our goal of winning the Stanley Cup."
That voice presumably will be a little softer and sound a little less edgy. Firing coaches because they're hard on the poor dears is not exactly a new thing. The NHL is a players' league and when they're not happy with the man behind the bench, for whatever reason, that guy is almost always replaced, whether he's led the team to three straight appearances in a conference final or not.
Watch today's video column for more, and share your thoughts.
Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.