Killer Instinct: What Does Peter DeBoer Bring To The San Jose Sharks?
By Felix Chow
After a season filled with inconsistencies and drama, the San Jose Sharks and former head coach Todd McLellan decided it was time to part ways.
Now, with former Devils’ coach Peter DeBoer set to become only the eighth head coach behind the bench in Sharks’ history, I take a closer look at the style of play DeBoer has to offer in order for Team Teal to have a shot at the playoffs again next season.
According to an article on NHL.com, DeBoer is known for being defensive-minded and stressing puck possession. This is what he himself said at his introductory press conference:
“I believe in pressure hockey. The more pressure you can put on the other team in all three zones — defensively, in the neutral zone, and in the offensive zone — the better off you’re going to be. I think players want to play that way, and I think fans want to watch that type of hockey.”
– Sharks’ head coach Peter DeBoer on his style of play
So, what is “pressure hockey” anyways?
Jason Byun from Pucks of a Feather, breaks it down as this:
“It’s pressuring the puck/puck-handler: an aggressive forechecking game designed to force quick decisions (and hopefully, errors) from the opposition.”
Sounds simple enough, right? Of course, offensively the players are just forcing turnovers trying to get off as many offensive chances as possible and (hopefully) score some goals.
In terms of defense, because pressure hockey involves forcing turnovers, players will spend less time defending. With pressure hockey comes dump-and-chase hockey, which some (or most) fans hate. However, more or less every team in the NHL runs that kind of system, so I mean… it is what it is. Besides it’s not that bad, at least in my opinion.
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As with any other strategy in hockey, execution becomes key. I’ve emphasized this in past seasons as well. All the little details (winning 50/50 puck battles, face-offs, stringing together tape-to-tape passes, etc.) are important.
The Sharks are well-known to be a strong puck possession team, and with DeBoer — should he be successful in doing so — San Jose should once again become an elite puck possession team. Now, with having a successful system also comes the task of managing the players’ ice time well (assuming that GM Doug Wilson puts the right pieces on the roster and lets DeBoer do his job). There have been a lot of mixed reviews on how he coaches, but generally speaking — according to Phil DeHaven of Pucks and Pitchforks — he likes to put together line combinations that make sense. He’s not afraid to mix up the lines if the game doesn’t go as planned. He’s a demanding coach and knows how to push a team to get better.
However, one major criticism of him is how he’s handled the young players. For example, because of his favoritism, he had majorly delayed the development of Adam Larsson, a young 22-year-old defenseman of the Devils. That is something he is going to have to change coming into San Jose, working with guys like Tomas Hertl, Matt Nieto, Mirco Mueller, etc.
Overall, this should be an interesting offseason to see what DeBoer has to work with, not to mention the whole captaincy issue still has yet to be resolved. The next season will be the big test for DeBoer and Wilson. In the end, there’s nothing much we can really do about it even if the majority of us Sharks fans hate the hiring. We’ll just have to wait and see.