By Pierre LeBrun (The Athletic)
The call from Team Canada general manager Doug Armstrong was timely, to be sure.
Peter DeBoer was fired by the Dallas Stars near the end of the coaching hiring cycle in June, so there was going to be a gap to fill before whatever comes next in his NHL coaching career.
Enter the many tasks in preparation for the Milan Olympics. DeBoer was put to work.
The timing of it was near-perfect.
“It’s been a real blessing,” DeBoer told The Athletic on Monday. “One of the first calls I got after I got fired, after I talked to my wife, was Doug Armstrong calling me, and he said, ‘I don’t know what you have planned, but we’d love to put you to work for as much as you want to do if you’re not back in a (NHL) spot.’
“It was a great call to get, because it has made it a softer landing for not working for the first time in 17 years in the NHL.”
And not working for the first time in 30-plus years, going back to his junior coaching days. It’s a new reality for DeBoer, but one that’s been greatly enhanced by his Olympic prep duties as Team Canada assistant coach.
“There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work,” DeBoer said. “I didn’t even realize how much goes into it when you go to one of these events. And the Olympic level has compounded that, compared to a worlds or World Juniors. It’s been real interesting for me to be a coach’s voice in the meetings, both logistical meetings, going over to Milan and having boots on the ground, seeing the hotels, seeing the meeting space, seeing the rink.
“But also in the roster-selection committee meetings — giving a little bit of a different perspective, from a coach’s point of view. The fact that Doug was secure enough to let me in there and actually welcome that coach’s opinion, that was really great.’’
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