Oettinger Overcomes Controversy: Stars Goalie Looks to the Future After Hook

Oettinger Reflects on Playoff Elimination and Coaching Change for the Stars

FRISCO, Texas – Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger is looking forward to the day he can laugh about how last season ended, when he was quickly replaced after allowing two goals on the only shots he faced in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final.

“In the long run, I feel like I’ll remember it as something that helped me,” Oettinger said on Thursday, during the start of training camp. “And when we win everything, I’ll remember it with laughter and feel like it was something I had to go through to get to that.”

Jake Oettinger

The Stars have been in the playoffs for four consecutive seasons with Oettinger in goal. They lost in the conference final the last three seasons, with Edmonton eliminating them in the last two. Oettinger was replaced at 7:09 of the game in the 6-3 loss last May, in what was a curious and much-commented decision by the now former Stars coach, Pete DeBoer. After the game, DeBoer pointed out that Oettinger had lost six of his last seven playoff games against the Oilers, and hoped that a goalie change could boost the team in an elimination game.

That didn’t happen, and instead generated questions about the relationship between the coach and the 26-year-old goalkeeper, who signed an eight-year, $66 million contract extension last October, which comes into effect this season. The two did not speak immediately after the decision.

“It was exaggerated a little more than it really was,” Oettinger said. “I think things happen, emotions are running high, and people say and do things on impulse that they may regret. I mean, I’ve done that in my life. I’m sure everyone here has. … You just learn from it, and that’s what I did.”

Jake Oettinger

Eight days after the defeat, the Stars fired DeBoer. General Manager Jim Nill said at the time that the players’ opinion and the consequences of Oettinger’s movement were not the only factors in the decision to dispense with the coach, who had a record of 149-68-29 in regular season games and 29-27 in the playoffs during three seasons in Dallas. DeBoer told NHL.com in a story published this week that he still had no reservations about pulling Oettinger, but regretted how he handled the postgame narrative.

“Listen, we all had a hand in coming up short again, and that starts with me,” DeBoer said. “It was my fault, it was all the coaches’ fault, it was all the players’ fault, it was the whole organization’s fault. We all created the disappointment. We all had a hand in it, not just one.”

Pete DeBoer

Regarding his reference to Oettinger losing six of the previous seven playoff games against Edmonton over two years when answering a post-game question about the change, DeBoer said he should have made it clear that those losses were everyone’s fault.

“It wasn’t just him. It was all of us,” DeBoer told NHL.com. “It was all of us.”

Pete DeBoer

When asked Thursday about DeBoer’s comments, Oettinger said: “I think he hit the nail on the head with what he said, so let’s leave it at that.” In 251 regular season games (242 starts) over five seasons in the NHL, Oettinger has a record of 149-66-27, a .912 save percentage, and a 2.52 goals-against average. He is 32-30 with a .912 save percentage and 2.56 GAA in 65 playoff games.

“I think he’s a top-3 goalie in the league, for sure,” said teammate Mikko Rantanen. “That’s a huge advantage to have a goalie you can trust. And he works hard off the ice. You know he wants to get better, which is also very good.”

Mikko Rantanen