Pete DeBoer is back in Dallas this weekend, coaching against the Stars for the first time since the team fired him following a stormy exit last spring.
DeBoer, now head coach of the New York Islanders, led his team through practice Saturday ahead of Sunday’s game at American Airlines Center, the opener of a three-game road trip. Asked about facing his former club, DeBoer kept his answer brief.
“I’ve done this a few times [in] a few different spots,” DeBoer said. “Your first game back’s always a little special. Just because a lot of people you spend time with and work with and players. So it was a great chapter in my coaching career. I’m now coaching the Islanders and focused on that.”
DeBoer coached the Stars to the Western Conference Final in each of his three seasons behind the bench. His tenure ended abruptly after a decision in the 2025 playoffs that drew heavy scrutiny. With Dallas trailing the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 in the series and down 2-0 just two shots into Game 5, DeBoer pulled starting goaltender Jake Oettinger in favor of Casey DeSmith. The Stars lost the game anyway, and were eliminated.
In the aftermath, DeBoer’s comments about the decision drew criticism for appearing to single out Oettinger.
“We had talked endlessly in this series about trying to play with a lead, and obviously, we were in a 2-0 hole right away,” DeBoer told reporters at the time. “I didn’t take that lightly, and I didn’t blame it all on Jake, but the reality is: If you go back to last year’s playoffs, he’s lost six of seven games to Edmonton. And we gave up two goals on two shots in an elimination game. So it was partly to spark our team and wake them up. And partly knowing that status quo had not been working and that’s a pretty big sample size.”
Less than a week later, the Stars let DeBoer go. He later acknowledged regret over how he handled the moment, telling the NHL’s website in a September 2025 interview that he “should have redirected the topic to reflect that this wasn’t about [Oettinger], this was about all of us.”
On Saturday, DeBoer offered little elaboration when asked whether he and Oettinger had spoken since the firing. He confirmed the two crossed paths at the Winter Olympics in Milan last February.
“I did run into Jake and chatted with Jake; yep,” DeBoer said.
DeBoer, who was out of coaching until the Islanders hired him with four games left in last season, said the Olympics gave him a chance to reconnect with several players he had coached in Dallas, not just Oettinger.
“You’re running into all kinds of players. I had [Marek] Zidlicky, who I coached at the New Jersey Devils; he was coaching with the Czech team. I ran into him in the meal room,” DeBoer said. “I ran into all the Finns, obviously, that I coached in Dallas. We had a big contingent of Finnish players that I really enjoyed working with. So I ran into all of them. Just about everybody.”
DeBoer’s Islanders arrive in Dallas playing well, with points in five straight games heading into Sunday’s matchup. Defenseman Ryan Pulock credited DeBoer’s attention to structural detail for the team’s recent stretch.
“I think right now, you just keep building your game,” Pulock said. “I think we keep working on all our little details in practice, talking about them daily. You’re starting to see it in game: limiting chances, limiting time spent in our own zone, doing a good job in the neutral [zone]. We played some skilled, fast teams and we’ve controlled the neutral zone pretty well. I think what he brings in is his structure, his leadership. Everything that he preaches, guys listen. It’s really starting to show in the way we’re playing.”
