Peter DeBoer Fired by New Jersey Devils: Latest Details, Comments and Reaction

The New Jersey Devils fired head coach Peter DeBoer on Friday, just three seasons after he led the team to the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Devils confirmed the report:

TSN's Bob McKenzie first broke the news.

General manager and team president Lou Lamoriello talked about who would coach the remainder of the season, according to the team's official Twitter feed:

Lamoriello also talked about potential replacements, per Tom Gulitti of The Record:

DeBoer became the Devils head coach prior to the 2011-12 season after three campaigns at the helm with the Florida Panthers.

Aside from his magical run to the Eastern Conference title in 2012, however, DeBoer has never managed to lead a team to the playoffs. With a record of 12-17-7 this year, the Devils were a long shot to qualify for the postseason.

With that in mind, the 46-year-old native of Dunnville, Ontario, Canada, now finds himself out of a job.

The Devils are currently seventh in the Eastern Conference's Metropolitan Division, and there is little doubt that the front office felt as though a shake-up was needed.

Firing DeBoer may have been the easiest move, but TSN's Travis Yost doesn't believe that the coaching was the biggest reason for New Jersey's struggles:

Because of that, Matt Larkin of The Hockey News believes he will find a new gig soon:

DeBoer departs the Devils with a career record of 114-93-41 in New Jersey, and there is no question that the team's performance hasn't been good enough over the past three seasons regardless of who is at fault.

It remains to be seen if giving the players a new locker room voice will lead to a turnaround with 2015 approaching, but the Devils are banking on that being the case.

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