Peter DeBoer coaching the New Jersey Devils
New Jersey Devils players and head coach Peter DeBoer leave the bench after they lost to the Ottawa Senators for their ninth consecutive loss in their NHL hockey game in Newark, New Jersey, April 12, 2013. Reuters

The New Jersey Devils have struggled in the 2014 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season winning just 12 games in 36 outings and with the poor performance, they have decided to fire head coach Pete DeBoer for failing to lead the team to some sort of respectability this season.

The Devils have lost 7 of their last 8 games and 13 of last 16 for the third-worst record (12-17-7) in the Eastern Conference and 9 points away from the last playoff spot. Barring any major improvements from the team, the Devils will miss the postseason for a third year in a row.

"I will confirm that there will be a coaching change. But there will be no further comment or anything said until tomorrow morning.” Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello confirmed on Friday to nj.com. The rumoured coaching change has been running since a season ago. The Devils official Twitter account also confirmed the firing of DeBoer.

Pres./GM Lou Lamoriello has confirmed a #NJDevils coaching change.

— New Jersey Devils (@NHLDevils) December 26, 2014

According to Elias Sports Bureau, the Devils have made 13 coaching changes in the past 15 years, the highest in the entire league. The New York Islanders, Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators are tied at second to fourth with nine coaching changes in that same span. New Jersey made the Stanley Cup Finals in 2012 when they lost to the Los Angeles Kings in the best-of-seven series, 4-2 under DeBoer. However, they missed both playoffs in the succeeding two years.

DeBoer is the third coach to be fired in the NHL this season after Ottawa fired Paul Maclean and Edmonton fired Dallas Eakins. DeBoer was 114-93-41 in over three seasons in New Jersey. DeBoer, who is also a part-owner of the Oshawa Generals in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), is expected to draw interest for coaching vacancies from other NHL teams.

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