Ahead of the matchup against the Maple Leafs, Islanders head coach Pete DeBoer discussed his impressions of a much-changed Toronto team, Gavin McKenna, Jim Hiller’s coaching style, Matias Maccelli facing his former club, and much more.
What are you feeling on the first day of the new season?
DeBoer: Excitement. Butterflies. It never gets old, starting a new season. It is a fresh start for your team to write their own chapter.
I think our guys are excited. You always hope you can work yourself into the game. When you watch the games last night, you see some of the nervous energy around the league and some of the mistakes being made. That is par for the course in these early games. But I think our guys are ready to go.
What stood out when watching the Leafs last night? There are so many new players. They have a first-overall pick and brought in Kirill Marchenko.
DeBoer: Listen, we’re similar. What can’t be overstated, either: a new coaching staff, new systems, and a shortened training camp. We are dealing with it on our end, too. We were talking this morning; it’s really hard to implement everything you want to put in over such a short time. The teams with new coaching staffs are probably paying the bill a little bit early here for that. We are all in the same boat, and we have to make it work.
Were your games with the Islanders at the end of last season a benefit in that way?
DeBoer: Huge benefit. I’ve said it before. There is a little bit of systems, although they wouldn’t remember systems I put in in April after a summer off. It’s more from a philosophy (standpoint). Through those last four games and the exit meetings, I think they understood how I wanted to play and what was important to me. They carried that into this year’s camp so we weren’t starting from scratch there.
There are also other little things for myself, just the familiarity of where to live, the home, the practice rink, and all of those things. I feel much further ahead than, as an example, Jimmy (Hiller) would over there.
What do you know about Hiller and his coaching style?
DeBoer: I’ve always had a lot of respect for Jim. I have watched his career and have good friends in the coaching fraternity who worked with him in a bunch of different places, including back to the Island when he was there, and then into LA with DJ Smith, who speaks really highly of him and I have a tremendous amount of respect for.
Prepared. His teams have an identity. I thought he did a good job in LA. You knew, when you played against them, exactly what they were trying to do, which is probably the biggest testament to a well-coached team.
You were a couple of weeks away from becoming one of the most sought-after free-agent coaches when you took the Islanders gig. You couldn’t have known that Toronto for sure would’ve had an opening, or Edmonton. But to remove yourself from the market and jump at this opportunity, what was that like?
DeBoer: It is a great question. I’ll be honest: My initial thought was to wait. What is the rush? I had gone in mid-season in places, but I had never gone in with four games left. You are wondering, “Can I really make a difference with four games left?” We didn’t get in the playoffs, but I am glad I did it.
The reason I took it: As I dove into the situation, I really liked the group, starting with a generational player in Schaefer, great goaltending, some really good veterans; I’d had Bo Horvat at the Olympics. But it was Mathieu Darche and the ownership, more than anything, that sold me on the opportunity and vision of where they thought this was going and the resources they were pouring into it.
One of the nicest buildings in the world to play our home games in. A great practice facility. Back in the East, I am not on those long flights. I have been in the West for 12 years. There were a lot of selling features for me.
What have you made of Gavin McKenna in terms of scouting him?
DeBoer: I haven’t seen a lot. I mean, I followed him a little bit in his draft year a little bit, but you don’t go first overall — or are in that company of player — unless you have elite skill.
When you are looking at the Toronto Maple Leafs, the benefit he has is that he is behind other elite, skilled guys. He is not the only guy coming in having to do it. He is behind Willy, Matthews, Tavares, and those guys.
He has a little bit of protection there from both expectation and having to do things himself.
Matias Maccelli is making his return to Toronto. What has jumped out about him in training camp?
DeBoer: He has come as advertised. I saw him a lot in the West when he was in Arizona and Utah, as well as our pro scouts. What we all liked about him is that he is an offensive guy with a lot of skill, and he wants the puck. He is not skating around the ice waiting for it to get to his stick. He is working to get the puck because he wants the puck on his stick in order to make a difference and make plays.
He has been a real big help for us on the power play. I think he is going to be going forward. I can already see how his skill levels translate to helping our power play.
He’s fit in really well in the room.
Matthew Schaefer gets to play this season opener in his hometown of Toronto. What is your sense of him going into his second season?
DeBoer: Firstly, what a privilege to coach a player like that. He is even better live and in person than he is on tape. I watched a lot of tape of him last year while we were scouting for the Canadian Olympic team. To actually stand behind the bench in those last four games with him out there…
He is a real difference-making player, and there are very few of them in the world. He is one of them. It is great to have him on our bench.
He is really unflappable. Very few guys can come in and do what he did last year. We had the unique year where two guys did that — Celebrini and him — which is really rare. He is an unflappable guy with quiet confidence. He is already one of the leaders of our team. He is wearing a letter. He is not afraid of having a voice in the room, but it is a mature voice, which is really rare for a just-turned-19-year-old.
How close was Schaefer to making Team Canada?
DeBoer: He was really close. He was in our discussions right up until the last day. In hindsight, if we turned back the clock, Morrissey got hurt in the first game. He probably could’ve helped us.
The EBUG rules have changed, requiring you to carry one adjacent to your roster. What are your initial thoughts on that?
DeBoer: It might be the best job in hockey, right? Fly on the team charter, stay in all the best hotels. Other than the paycheque, I think it is probably a pretty good gig.
It is an important position. What we have realized, and the reason we’ve gone to it, is for when you get in that unique situation where they actually have to play that game because of injuries. More than that, with the day-to-day grind of an 84-game schedule now, and the importance of rest for your goalies, everybody is talking about bringing the number of games down, especially for your starters. That also includes practice time. We will get our money’s worth out of him.
