SAN JOSE – In his six-plus years as an NHL head coach before taking over the Sharks gig, coach Pete DeBoer had been in the Stanley Cup playoffs only once.
It was quite a run.
In 2011-12, his first year behind the New Jersey bench, he took a veteran club all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, losing in six games to the Los Angeles Kings. It was DeBoer’s first taste of NHL playoff hockey after three seasons of missing out in Florida.
He’s drawing on that experience now, as the Sharks await their second round opponent.