Pete DeBoer uttered several variations on the “I don’t know” theme last night after the VGK lost yet another game, 4-3 to the Chicago Blackhawks, they absolutely had to win. It’s been a common refrain of late.
He claimed he didn’t know that Robin Lehner needed surgery a few days ago. How does a head coach not know his #1 goaltender requires surgery? I’m not buying that he’s not in the loop on who will be available to him come game time. This isn’t pickup hockey or a pond skate where you’re not sure if you will have 2 goaltenders. This is an NHL club that cost Bill Foley $500 million just to establish. Is there this much of a disconnect within the organization? Or is it PDB’s marching orders?
The answer is he knows everything that’s going on 24 hours a day with the club, so why the misdirection? On Friday, it was a maintenance day for Robin, then it became 2 maintenance days when Robin was MIA on Saturday. Reports were circulating from multiple reliable sources that Lehner needed surgery. Yet despite these reports, the coach and the team kept denying them.
After Robin skated onto the ice for the Sunday game vs. San Jose, it looked like the reports might not be true. Then we found out that the team asked him to dress as a backup for cap-compliance issues.
Finally on Monday, the team announced that Robin will undergo season-ending surgery. I fully understand the team does not want to disclose the nature or area of the injury, but if he needed surgery as of Monday, was he really going to be able to play if Logan Thompson could not go the entire game the night before? Were the VGK going to risk further damage to Robin’s shoulder just so they could save face by hiding what was really going on?
Was it Lehner himself who reached out to multiple sources to inform them of his prevailing condition? If so, his tenure with the VGK may be in jeopardy. The team was unhappy when Fleury’s agent posted the image of a sword sticking out of Fleury’s back with DeBoer’s name on it. That was the beginning of the end for Fleury as a VGK. Is this the beginning of the end for Lehner?
Has Logan Thompson’s surprising level of play given the VGK the mindset that they could move on from Lehner in the off season? You already know how this organization hates any breaks in rank from players or coaches. Just ask Gerard Gallant or Marc-Andre Fleury if you don’t.
It’s really a sad day in VGK Land. The loss last night eliminated them from the playoffs. Yes, it’s been a trying season injury-wise. But lately, they’re as close to a full team as you could expect at this point of the season. And when you look at their last 8 games and the teams they faced, a record of 2-6 is inexcusable.
You have a team of savvy veterans — former captains of other NHL teams and 3 Stanley Cup winners — in the locker room. You cannot and should not lose important games to the San Jose Sharks who only have 32 wins in 80 games, then lose for the second time to the Chicago Blackhawks this season who had only 27 wins before last night’s game. The Blackhawks earned 5 points out of 6 possible points against the VGK this season, one of the reasons the VGK players will be at Bear’s Best Golf course in Summerlin starting on Saturday.
All 3 of the last must-win games VGK wound up tied after 65 minutes of play, which sent them into a shootout. The VGK went 0-17, while Logan Thompson stopped 14 of the 17 shots he faced. Vegas let 3 important points slip away just in the last 3 games and will miss the playoff by a few points.
Unlike PDB, I do know what happened and I do have an explanation. The adjustments to the power play came much too late. Adjustments to shooting the puck from the perimeter never happened. And getting players to sacrifice their bodies by going to the front of the net was a lost cause, not in the DNA of this coaching style.
Greasy goals are required in the NHL if you want to win consistently. We all love to see end-to-end rushes and toe drags around the defensemen, but if you’re not willing to go to the blue paint, you should be getting limited ice time; if you are, you should be rewarded with less time riding the pine.
This is the first time in their five NHL seasons that the Golden Knights failed to qualify for the playoffs. Maybe, just maybe, this will force Bill Foley to address issues that need attention.
At this point, I’m not sure if a blog post is warranted for the last game on Friday at St Louis. For the first time in team history, they’ll be playing for nothing. I’ll make that decision after watching the final game of a very frustrating season. But Eddie Rivkin and I will be doing a Hockey Knights in Vegas podcast where we’ll wrap up the season and give out report cards on the players and the coaching staff. That podcast is sponsored by the Las Vegas Advisor and will be found here on the home page sometime early next week or at the link that’s contained at the bottom of all of my posts.
If there’s no recap of the last worthless game, I want to thank everyone who took the time out of their schedules to read my thoughts and opinions for the last 81 games and offer their own opinions that sometimes differed from mine. Your feedback is always appreciated. Have a great summer and don’t forget to tune into the podcast for the season wrapup.
Other game notes and quotes
“I don’t know,” DeBoer said. “I don’t know how to explain it. I feel bad for Logan Thompson. LT did a great job in the shootouts (three goals on 17 shots), giving us a chance. And how do you explain that so many good players don’t find the net? I don’t have an explanation for it.”
“That’s why you play,” Chandler Stephenson said, referring to the playoffs. “From the beginning of the year, [training] camp, you’re getting ready for the playoffs. It’s obviously disappointing. It’s not where we want to be, but again, injuries and crazy injuries, too, throughout the year. Yeah, it’s tough, for sure.”
Stephenson has 43 assists. Only David Perron (50 in 2017-18) and Jonathan Marchessault (48 in 2017-18) have more assists for the Golden Knights. Stephenson had his four-game goal streak end, but has seven points (four goals, three assists) in the past five games.
Max Pacioretty said, “There’ll be a lot of regret this summer, a lot of reflection. But I never lost hope. Right now, it makes it even more difficult to digest.”
Interesting fact: The season ended on the stick of Michael Amadio, while PDB still had Roy, Karlsson, and Dadonov sitting on the bench. Was he saving them for rounds 8, 9, and10?
If I’m the coach, Amadio is my last choice of these 4 players, but what do I know?
My 2 stars of the game (yes, 2 were all I could find): Chandler Stephenson (3A, and a +3, meaning he wasn’t on the ice for any Chicago Blackhawks goals), and Logan Thompson (who stopped 37 of the 40 shots he faced in 65 minutes, along with 6 of the 7 shootout shots)
Next game is Friday vs St. Louis at 5 p.m. Pacific time if you want to put the finishing touches on a season that had so much potential, but came up shorter than Gary Coleman 🙂
Your comments and opinions are welcome here at Las Vegas Advisor or you may contact me directly at [email protected] or on my Facebook page or the Facebook page of Vegas Hockey Guy or on Twitter @TheRealJoePane
For more VGK content, check out the Hockey Knights in Vegas Podcast that can be found at this link or on my Facebook page.
One other note: If you’re reading this blog from Facebook or Twitter and would like to access it earlier in the morning before I share it on social media, it’s usually published by 8 a.m. the morning after a game on LasVegasAdvisor.com. What better way is there to enjoy your morning coffee than reading my take on last night’s VGK game.
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Drew Thrasher sent this in
It’s the coach, same problems last year no offense same problems this year
Erik Fredrickson wrote
I think they need to move on from coach. They looked outplayed and outworked in last year’s Conf Finals, and again down the stretch they didn’t play with much fire. Must win games you can’t come out flat, not with this roster. Yeah, there are some underperforming players, injuries killed us, and questions about the goalie position … but the quickest, easiest change is to the coach. I’d argue maybe it should have been done a month ago, light a fire under the team.
I totally agree
Marianne Coninx submitted this question
Do you think Deboer survives off season?
Ian T Roach responded to Marianne question
Marianne Coninx Let’s hope not.
Nicholas Roop added this to PDB status
Marianne Coninx DeBoer will be fired by Monday.
Diana Armijo asked Nicolas
Nicholas Roop who will be next head coach?
Nicholas Roop responded
Diana Armijo I’m actually really on board for Rick Tocchet. He already lives in Vegas. He was recently on Spittin Chiclets and was talking about how important it is for a coach to talk to all of his players frequently.
Nicholas
Tocchet did a good job with a team that was not very talented in Arizona. He would be a good fit and I also think this team can use a coach like John Tortorella he just might be the sandpaper this team needs. And trust me they will go to the front of the net and block shots if they want ice time with Tort’s
Joe P.
Nicholas Roop responded
Joe Pane the thing I don’t like about Torts is his shelf life. I think he can get old fast.
Nicholas Roop, he does but he gets the most out of his players where PDB doesn’t seem too
Coaches move often the VGK need a coach they will get them to buy into a system that will work with the players they have. One who has won a Stanley Cup before. I would love to see Torts here even if it’s just for 3-4 years and it produces a winning attitude and a Stanley Cup.
Joe P.
Nicholas Roop wrote
Joe Pane haha I can see Torts benching Eichel for a period because he won’t back check and makes stupid fucking passes out of the defensive zone.
Nicholas Roop trust me that will happen if Eichel does this.
Joe P.
Dave Schweiger responded to Marianne
Marianne Coninx Hoping, they fire him on Friday.
Dave Schweiger has this opinion
The VGK organization is scattered these days, he may not have known.
I guess this is it until the Fall. Also I guess there will be many changes. Thank,Joe for the interesting reads. It’s only hockey!! With all that’s going on in the world today!😢😢❤️🩹. War in Ukraine 😢 and floods,wildfires ,climate change!! These above problems seem small—- hockey season for the VGK is over but they will be back!!🏒🥅🖤🧡🇨🇦🍁#goknightsgo#
Judy unfortunately we will have a long spring and summer without VGK hockey. Thank you again for your continued support of my articles.
Joe P.
Enjoyed your posts hopefully next year with a few tweaks, rid of some players that are injured more than they play and coach changes, better defense and players that can put a puck in the net at shootouts we might make the playoffs and get to that Cup
Anne
Thank you for your kind words. I do believe you will see more than one of 2 players no longer with the team come Oct. As far as the coaching staff goes, I think PDB survives only because of the vast number of injuries they team suffered with for the entire season. The front office may be another story.
Joe P.
Keith Westergaard has this opinion
If the front office survives the off season I will be surprised.
I’m not sure of the status of Lehner going forward as I’m being told the surgery he will have will keep him out till Feb of 2023. If this is true, they will not be able to move him and his contract easily.
Joe P.
It would be very hard to move him with his contract, plus the money going out the next 2 years is more than his cap hit. No other club will entertain a trade before he plays again after surgery. They don’t have the draft picks to make a trade attractive
Christopher Couch sent this comment in
I wish I had something insightful to say, but I don’t. I’m just disappointed, and not surprised at all. They have not looked like VGK at all this year. (except for the month of December.) I hope something changes to get it straight for next season.
Christopher Couch the looked great in their 4-game road trip back to the East coast in December, Bos – NJ- Rangers -Islanders all 4 wins
Joe P.
Robert Franco had these words.
0-17 is all you need to know.
Robert Franco so so true 🙁
Joe P.
Charlie Anzalone sent this comment in
How does all our fire power including the 10-million-dollar man not get a goal in the shootout? I wondered why all our shots were right at the goalie’s body and nobody going top shelf
Kevin Logan wrote this
It’s a huge shame elite NHL players couldn’t get the job done, no excuses these last few games, like you said they were back to near full strength, they should be embarrassed and ashamed, better bow their heads on golf course. Yes, I’m pissed, great write up Joe as usual. Looking forward to Oct!! Go Wild!!
Johnny Lawless wrote
I couldn’t believe the Dadanov trade fiasco. After that, I can believe anything.
Bill Dickerson wrote this
Did they hear the fans cheering encore to the previous night as it seemed like a repeat performance?
Marie Archuletta-Nabit had this to say
Going to be a long summer but we will all be waiting till next season in the meantime probably going to hear some chirping from Robin Lehner he can’t seem to say out of the limelight he was a bad seed from the beginning, and has Max Pacioretty said there will probably be some fall out from this year they have no one to blame but themselves!! And on a sidenote, I wish they would dispose of McCrimmon! Lol
Antonio C Amante sent this comment in
Management mistake
Antonio C Amante there have been a few of these. Especially in the blue paint area
Joe P.
Robin Lehner was never suited to be a 1A goalie for Vegas. He would have been an outstanding backup goaltender to MAF, but KM fumbled this and gave the Panda starting goalie monies, 5 years, 5 million. Lehner is a great 2A backup goalie, period. You cannot depend on him for the lion’s share of work in an 82 game season and that is now a proven fact.
Major mistake that isn’t easily corrected.
Robin Lehner was already underperforming prior to any injuries this year. It was a mistake to think he could be the guy in net for this franchise over an 82 game season, and it should have been even more obvious when they were thinking about playing him with a torn labrum and fractured patella.
Yet, these idiots thought that it would be better to have an injured Robin Lehner in net or on the bench the past few months instead of going out and looking for a rental. Logan Thompson has played well, but again he’s a rookie and at times looked like one.
One has to wonder who the doctors are that are paid to evaluate players ability to be in the lineup. What were they telling the front office? Just hit him up with cortisone or worse and send him out there injured?
It’s also quite obvious that Stone was rushed back into action and still injured.
Just plain stupid. The front office could care less about its players. That much is obvious.
Foley needs to have the key card access for McCrimmon, DeBoer and his staff, as well as team physicians removed. Send them all a text that they’ve been fired.
Richard Santomauro sent these comments in
Robin Lehner was never suited to be a 1A goalie for Vegas. He would have been an outstanding backup goaltender to MAF, but KM fumbled this and gave the Panda starting goalie monies, 5 years, 5 million. Lehner is a great 2A backup goalie, period. You cannot depend on him for the lion’s share of work in an 82-game season and that is now a proven fact.
Major mistake that isn’t easily corrected.
Robin Lehner was already underperforming prior to any injuries this year. It was a mistake to think he could be the guy in net for this franchise over an 82-game season, and it should have been even more obvious when they were thinking about playing him with a torn labrum and fractured patella.
Yet, these idiots thought that it would be better to have an injured Robin Lehner in net or on the bench the past few months instead of going out and looking for a rental. Logan Thompson has played well, but again he’s a rookie and at times looked like one.
One has to wonder who the doctors are that are paid to evaluate players ability to be in the lineup. What were they telling the front office? Just hit him up with cortisone or worse and send him out there injured?
It’s also quite obvious that Stone was rushed back into action and still injured.
Just plain stupid. The front office could care less about its players. That much is obvious.
Foley needs to have the key card access for McCrimmon, DeBoer and his staff, as well as team physicians removed. Send them all a text that they’ve been fired.
Richard Santomauro also added this
DeBoer’s comments about Lehner and focusing on the players who are here to do battle were shameful and are grounds alone for him to be fired by Foley.
Richard how quickly did the love affair between DeBoer and Lehner disappear. He stood behind Lehner in the Edmonton playoff Bubble pushing Fleury to the side and now these 2 seem to be as far apart as they could be.
Joe P.
The face of the franchise was sacrificed because of DeBoer. Fleury’s jersey was the #1 seller and he put fans into seats here. Very bad move in hindsight. Well, actually I thought it was a bad move at the time and thought it was actually a joke at first, like an April fools thing or something. Turns out that Bill Foley is very loyal or trustworthy like a true Knight.
DeBoer is most definitely lying about not knowing how serious Lehner’s injuries are. His comments about focusing on the players who are here to do battle were shameful and grounds alone for Foley to fire him. At the same time Foley needs to take a look at the team’s physician organization as well as McCrimmon. VGK is in a state of flux and I think things are a lot worse behind the scenes than we realize.
I’m being told by a very reliable source that Lehner does not want to meet with PDB alone. He doesn’t trust him and doesn’t want his words to DeBoer to be misconstrued. The off-season saga is already in Mach speed.
Joe P.
Connie Dallas sent this in
Thank you, Joe, for all your insight. Being on the East Coast I don’t get much ‘feel’ what’s going on in LV. I do feel sad today about the outcome of the last 3 games and them missing the SC playoffs for the 1st time. I’m sure the ‘boys’ feel awful, too. Having 5 key players out at one time or the other I’m sure didn’t help the cause, either. One more to go and hope they can ‘bring it home’……..GO KNIGHTS, GO!!
Nadia Bellezza has this opinion
We need a new coach and a new Manager!!!
Bryan Sandrock said this about my comment about playing for NOTHING
“For the first time in team history, they’ll be playing for nothing” … very profound. I agree.
Bryan thanks I hated that I even had to write that.
Joe P.
On a bright? side:
Marchy – just have to think this guy is the heart and soul of the team….
Stephenson – MVP for this season?
LT – Hopefully will be a contributor to this team into the future!
Honorable mention to Carrier who has played like a man possessed these last few games after coming back from injury.
Joe, looking forward to the podcast when you and Eddie take a deep dive into what went wrong and how does it get fixed?!
Gene thank you Eddie and i hope we can break it down and look to where and what needs to be done going forward for a team with a lot of talent that seemed to never get it going even in their last few games where they had a somewhat healthy lineup.
Joe P.
Thank you for all your great write ups. I look forward to reading them after every game. It sure appears something is rotten in the front office. I understand the need to limit information about injuries, but they have taken it to another level. At best they have been disingenuous and at worst deceitful. As a retired naval officer I am astounded that a West Point graduate like Bill Foley would tolerate that kind of behavior. He is either disengaged or he has forgotten the honor part of “duty, honor,country”.
thanks for all your great posts Joe…always fun reading..for better or worse!
I’ve enjoyed reading your posts more than I’ve enjoyed watching VGK. When they traded away so many of the original “misfits” it just felt like the heart and soul of the team went with them. The spirit that the knights used to play with just wasn’t there this year. Even if you have some of the most talented players if you don’t have that “we’re in this together” or “all for one one for all” attitude from the managers to coaches to players you end up with the kind of season we had. Just no enthusiasm etc. hard to say exactly what it was but this year just didn’t have that VGK magic that we’ve all come to love. Sure hoping in the off season they figure it out!
I know this is tough VGK fans, but I have been a loyal NHL fan for over 30 years, and I know that a team with as much talent as the VGK will be back to the playoffs very soon, most likely next year.
Sounds like a coaching change is in order. Take the time to find a good fit.
hi joe. thanks for all the good hockey articles you write. i read them all. i have a question for you. will the vgk give a good effort tomight (4-29-22) against st. louis or will they tank because they are no longer chasing a playoff spot? let me know. thanks. dave from minnesota. go wild go.