Live reaction from AJ Strong, Erik Kuhre, and Hockey Jerk on the San Jose Sharks firing head coach Peter DeBoer and assistant coaches Johan Hedberg, Dave Barr, and Steve Spott.
Former Florida Panthers head coach, Bob Boughner has been named interim coach, joined by Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer and assistant coaches Mike Ricci and Evgeni Nabokov. Official press release below.
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SAN JOSE SHARKS ANNOUNCE CHANGES TO COACHING STAFF
Bob Boughner Named Interim Head Coach; Roy Sommer, Evgeni Nabokov and Mike Ricci Join Sharks Coaching Staff
Peter DeBoer, Steve Spott, Dave Barr and Johan Hedberg Relieved of Coaching Duties
SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson today announced that the team has made several changes to the Sharks coaching staff, including naming Bob Boughner as the team’s interim head coach. Also joining the Sharks coaching staff are Associate Coach Roy Sommer, Assistant Coach Mike Ricci and Goaltending Coach Evgeni Nabokov. Dan Darrow will remain in his current role of assistant coach, video.
In related moves, Peter DeBoer, Steve Spott, Dave Barr and Johan Hedberg have been relieved of their duties.
“When you have had a level of past success, change is never easy, but we feel this team is capable of much more than we have shown thus far and that a new voice is needed,” said Wilson. “As a team and as individuals, our play has not met expectations this year and our level of consistency has not been where it needs to be. This group of individuals who will lead our team moving forward are very familiar with our players, and we think this change can provide our group with a fresh start.
“Under the leadership of Pete, along with Steve, Dave and Johan, our franchise accomplished some great things, culminating in reaching the 2016 Stanley Cup Final. We want to thank them for their contributions to our organization’s success over the last four years.”
Boughner re-joined the Sharks prior to the start of the 2019-20 season as an assistant coach. From 2017-2019, he served as the head coach of the Florida Panthers, where he posted an 80-62-22 record, missing a playoff berth in 2017-18 by one point.
He originally joined the Sharks coaching staff in 2015, including helping lead the team to their first Stanley Cup Final berth in 2016. Under Boughner, Brent Burns was named a finalist for the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman in 2016 and won the award in 2017, when he also finished fourth in Hart Trophy voting as the NHL’s Most Valuable Player.
Boughner also served as an assistant coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2010-11.
He led the Windsor Spitfires to consecutive Memorial Cup and OHL Championships during the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 seasons. He also earned consecutive CHL and OHL Coach of the Year awards in the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009, becoming the first head coach in CHL history to win a Memorial Cup and the CHL Coach of the Year award twice.
A ten-year NHL veteran defenseman, Boughner appeared in 630 NHL games with Colorado, Carolina, Calgary, Pittsburgh, Nashville and Buffalo, amassing 72 points (15 goals, 57 assists) and 1,382 penalty minutes.
Sommer, most recently the head coach of the San Jose Barracuda (@sjbaracuda), is the all-time leader in games coached and wins in the history of the American Hockey League, posting a 772-664-48-153 (W-L-T-OTL/SOL) record. Each of those wins has come behind the bench of San Jose’s AHL affiliate (Kentucky 1998-01, Cleveland 2001-06, Worcester 2006-15, San Jose 2015-19). He also served as an assistant coach with the Sharks during the 1997-98 season under Darryl Sutter.
In his time as head coach in the AHL, Sommer has promoted more than 130 players to the National Hockey League.
Since the Sharks AHL franchise relocated to San Jose in 2015, the Barracuda have made the playoffs in each of their four seasons, including an appearance in the Western Conference Final in 2017. During the Sharks 2019 Western Conference Final season, the team dressed 19 players over the course of the year that developed under Sommer’s tutelage in the American Hockey League.
Nabokov, the Sharks franchise leader in nearly every historical goaltending category including games played (563), wins (293) and shutouts (50), has served as a scout and goaltending development coach for the past five seasons, where he has worked with the goaltending prospects on the Barracuda in the development system. In each of the last three seasons, the Barracuda have had a goaltender selected to the AHL All-Star Game under the tutelage of Nabokov (2017-Troy Grosenick; 2018-Antoine Bibeau; 2019-Josef Korenar).
Nabokov spent ten seasons with the Sharks and 14 years total in the NHL, with the Sharks, NY Islanders and Tampa Bay. He ranks T-20th on the NHL’s all-time list in wins (353) and 18th in shutouts (59).
Ricci, who played in 529 games with the Sharks from 1997-2004, has spent the last 12 seasons as development coach with the organization, working closely with the forwards on the Sharks and the Barracuda rosters. His areas of focus included face-off techniques, individual skill development and team systems integration.
The 16-year NHL veteran posted 605 points (243 goals, 362 assists) in 1,099 games with Philadelphia, Colorado, San Jose and Phoenix. He won a Stanley Cup with Colorado in 1996.
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