San Jose Sharks: All-Decade Team for the 2010s
By Justin Fried
Head Coach: Peter DeBoer
This one’s topical, isn’t it?
At the time of writing, head coach Peter DeBoer was fired mere days ago and the impact of his departure is still being felt. And yes, choosing him for this list will likely be the most controversial decision, but it’s one that could be supported.
DeBoer took over as the Sharks coach ahead of the 2015-16 season and he would go on to lead the team to their first Stanley Cup appearance in franchise history. Just for doing that, DeBoer might be deserving of the nod.
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His teams would never reach those heights again but the Sharks did qualify for the postseason in each of his four full seasons in San Jose. And in each of those seasons, the Sharks lost in a different round, coming oh so close this past season before falling to the eventual-champion St. Louis Blues.
Some will claim that the talent carried them in those seasons, but it’s hard to argue with success. And even the circumstances surrounding his firing lend themselves more to a scapegoat move than a true fault of his own.
If not DeBoer, the only other individual to coach a game for the Sharks this decade — aside from the newly-promoted Bob Boughner — is Todd McLellan.
McLellan coached the team from the 2008 season until the 2015 season but he never could quite find that same playoff success that DeBoer had. McLellan never reached the Stanley Cup Finals and his team didn’t even make the postseason at all in his final season in San Jose.
That 2014-15 campaign remains the only season this decade that the Sharks didn’t make the playoffs, and that ultimately hurts McLellen’s case.
DeBoer wasn’t a perfect coach for the Sharks, but he achieved something not coach in team history had ever done. And until a new coach comes along (perhaps Boughner?) and leads the Sharks to their first Stanley Cup victory, DeBoer will hold that distinction.
Next. Golden State Warriors: All-Decade Team for the 2010’s. dark
And for that reason, he captains the San Jose Sharks All-Decade Team for the 2010s.