Hiring DeBoer with 4 games left was chance Islanders couldn't pass up

EAST MEADOW, N.Y. -- There's a memorable line in the 1995 comedy "Tommy Boy" where David Spade tells Chris Farley, "You're not your dad. He could sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves."

Peter DeBoer probably didn't need that much convincing, but shortly after running his first practice as coach of the New York Islanders, the 57-year-old admitted the sales pitch from general manager Mathieu Darche ultimately is what convinced him to replace Patrick Roy, who was fired Sunday with four regular-season games remaining. 

"Honestly, this did come out of left field," DeBoer said, sporting fresh Islanders gear. "I think the first communication I had with Mathieu was the Carolina game (4-3 loss Saturday), postgame. We really never talked until the next day, (then) got in-depth talks. It wasn't like I had been studying the New York Islanders; I'll be honest with you, I was following a lot more of the guys I coached at the Olympics (with Team Canada) and their teams, some of my old teams that I coached. It's been a lot of New York Islander hockey the last 48 hours for me, so I'm ready to actually get some live games in.

"There's a real familiarity to the group here, and Mathieu Darche, I think he really sold me. When I first picked up the phone, my initial reaction was probably exactly what you guys (the media) are saying -- ‘We're two weeks away from offseason, what's the rush?' And he sold me on the organization and the vision and the direction and their ownership. (Assistant) Bob Boughner's another guy I worked with twice that was already here. … There was a lot of familiarity with the division, this area of the country, the passion of the cities in this area. But most importantly, I think what Mathieu sold me on, the vision here."

Darche, a two-time Stanley Cup winner in the Tampa Bay Lightning front office, knew several teams likely would be calling DeBoer after the season. He didn't want to risk the chance of potentially losing out on DeBoer, whose 662 career wins are sixth in the NHL among active coaches behind Joel Quenneville (1,010), Paul Maurice (953), Lindy Ruff (946), John Tortorella (773) and Todd McLellan (664). DeBoer has coached 1,261 regular-season games for the Florida Panthers, New Jersey Devils, San Jose Sharks, Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars, and is 97-82 in 179 Stanley Cup Playoff games while also guiding New Jersey to the 2012 Final and San Jose to the 2016 Final, a six-game loss each time. His teams have advanced to at least the third round of the playoffs each of his past six seasons qualifying for the postseason, and in eight of his 10 overall.

DeBoer also brings experience of joining a team later in a season, albeit not with four games remaining. But in 2019-20, after being fired by San Jose, he went 15-5-2 in 22 games with Vegas before guiding it to the Western Conference Final. 

"Guys like Pete DeBoer don't stay on the market very long," Darche said. "His pedigree, I mean, he went to five of the last six conference finals. He's had success everywhere he's been. He's a very structured coach. I know with Hockey Canada, I've got a lot of friends on that group, he was in charge of the (defensive)-zone structure, of the (defensemen) and a lot of the systems. So, at this time, I think it's what we need moving forward.

"It's like grabbing the No. 1 free agent on the market. Pete's an outstanding coach. His success speaks for itself."

And, despite the fact the Islanders (42-31-5) have lost a season-high four in a row and seven of 10 games since March 18 (3-7-0), Darche still believes this season can be saved. New York is one point behind the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division, and the Ottawa Senators for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Each has a game in hand on the Islanders, who are off until Thursday when DeBoer makes his debut with them against the Toronto Maple Leafs at UBS Arena (6:45 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+, TSN4).

"It is partly about this year because, do we fully control our destiny? No, but what we control is the four games we're playing," Darche said. "So, moving forward, I felt (this) put us in a better situation, in a better opportunity, to win those games to be in the playoffs and going forward."

DeBoer said, "I think most of the League is in (the same) situation right now, and that's the beauty of the parity in the NHL. I mean, these races are coming right down to the wire. That's why we do this, and you've got to embrace that race for a playoff spot."

He also will embrace again being in the rather unique position of inheriting another elite offensive defenseman. Matthew Schaefer, the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, appears to be on his way to winning the Calder Trophy as the League's top rookie; the 18-year-old has 58 points (22 goals, 36 assists) and is plus-15 in 78 games while averaging 24:38 of ice time. Schaefer follows the likes of Brent Burns (then with the Sharks), Shea Theodore (Golden Knights), and more recently Thomas Harley and Miro Heiskanen (Stars) who thrived under DeBoer.

"I know he loves winning," Schaefer said. "I know he knows how to coach a team. Besides any of the coaching and things like that, just how great of a guy he is and a role model for guys like me and guys in this room. A lot of his teams have done so good; as a young kid, being able to get coached by a guy like that is pretty cool."

Still, Schaefer and his teammates felt they could have done more of late to save Roy's job. The Islanders were flat in a 4-1 home loss to Philadelphia on Friday, then were outshot 31-5 through the first two periods at Carolina on Saturday.

"We've won and lost as a team the entire season," captain Anders Lee said. "As a group, we underperformed at a tough time. It's on us as players. It's us on as a group in its entirety, and it's just disappointing. But this is a part of the business, unfortunately, and we all have to look in the mirror a little bit, like we have been, but take onus of this and take responsibility for it.

"And then you have to turn the page. Pete's coming in today, he's been great with us and implemented what he's wanted to implement in our first practice here, and we've got to move forward and make our push. Just definitely a lot going on in the last 24 (hours)."

And more to come later this week. The standings say it's not too late for New York, but after Darche's successful sales pitch, it's DeBoer's job to save the season. 

"We're going to tweak some things," DeBoer said. "I think it's important to say because I've done this and I've been on the other end of this -- I've got great respect for Patrick Roy. He absolutely worked his (butt) off here, and I've been Patrick Roy in other spots. The last thing I'm going to tell you is all the things that weren't going right that I'm going to fix. 

"There's four games left, and this is a good team with good people. They were doing a lot of good things for big parts of this year. Just trying to get that back on track."