The biggest motivator Pete DeBoer saw from his new team on Thursday night, the biggest reason he felt their willingness to buy in, was something he did not give them.
“It came from a place of, they were disappointed that a coach got fired,” DeBoer said after his first game behind the Islanders’ bench ended 5-3 over the Maple Leafs. “And I think they looked in the mirror, and they owned their part of that. And I think to their credit, when you have character and you feel that way, it’s how you respond to that.
“I had a group all week that was really embracing and ready for a response because they felt bad about what happened.”
If you spent the last few days trying to understand why Mathieu Darche made this move now, why he did not wait until the offseason, then that is — indirectly — your answer. Cal Ritchie put it in starker terms.
