OverDrive - DeBoer on Canada's Olympic roster, the arena details and the schedule impact

Episode Date: January 14, 2026

Hockey Canada Assistant Coach Pete DeBoer joined OverDrive to discuss his experience coaching at the Olympics, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon leading Canada, the importance of star players' performance, the condensed schedule impact and more.

Here's a guy that'll be on the bench for Canada, long-time NHL head coach. Love having them on. Here's Pete DeBore. How you doing, Pete? Hey, guys. How are we doing? Doing pretty well. Are you in Milan right now?

Where are you? Got my tape measure. Measure in the size of the rank. No. I'm a little R&R here before we take off in two weeks for Milan. So just getting excited and ready to go. Pete, what kind of reports back? I know Chris Johnston with us has been over there.

What kind of reports are you guys getting about the rink? Like how, like, I don't know, that those guys just figure out, like, a couple months ago, the Olympics were starting or what? Like, I have no idea how we're at this point. But what are you guys hearing back about the rink? So what we've heard is the ice surface, the boards, you know, the structure of the rink is going to be fine. I think amenities, dressing rooms,

you know, concession stands, I don't think you can count on many of those things being in a good place. But, you know, it's going to be doable, and we're going to play hockey, and you know what it's like, oh, I mean, once those guys get their skates on and get out on the ice surface,

whether they've got to walk to the ice surface from a dressing room, you know, 100 feet away or whether they're in an NHL dresser. Once they drop the puck at the game, I think everything's going to be great. Pete, you heard us probably before you came on, us breaking down potential replacements, guys like that. Is it a lot more stressful than you think as far as you've got such a wealth of experience and a wealth of players to draw off?

And now you see a guy like Braden Point that may be a question mark. These are the type of conversation you have to have. behind the scenes, okay, if this guy's out now who we're looking at to plug and play in potentially his role. Yeah. Well, I think those are exactly the conversations going on.

I think when we built the team, honestly, we spent most of our time getting those 14 forwards, those eight defensemen, those three goalies name. We spent a lot of time, and especially on the last spots.

We didn't spend a lot of time at that point on, you know, if so-and-so gets hurt, what happens, if so-and-so gets hurt. But we did build that next list of guys to cover off almost any situation, you know, whether you want physicality, whether you want scoring and power play, whether you want, you know, defense face-offs. I think we've got all that on that list somewhere. You know, it's just going to be, you know, who gets to come if we need them. And, and, you know, there's no, there's no.

it hasn't been decided yet whether Braden Point needs to be replaced. But I can't tell you, I mean, we're all sitting on pins and needles because there's a lot of hockey left to be played before we leave. And it might not be the only guy that needs to be replaced.

With Pete DeBoran, you know, we're talking about the guys at the top. You know, Point's a great player, great winner. But McDavid and McKinnon are still healthy. And as of now, they're going. And the way those two are playing every single night. How do you envision this playing out, Pete?

You know, are they on separate lines exclusively? Do you dream up and you and Cooper and the other guys try to figure out how you get them on the ice at the same time at different opportunities? Because this is magic for a coach. I mean, I can't, this is Gretzky-Lamue in 87. Like you got these two guys coming in and they are on heaters right now. So how do you handle those two in particular? Yeah.

You know what? You know, I think, you know, a lot of fantasy hockey conversations when you talk with the coaches about, you know, different looks. I think it's going to be situational. You know, are you down in the game? Do you need a goal? You know, are the lines looking stagnant? Are we not getting anything going? Are we looking for a spark?

The thing is, with this group, you have all kinds of options. And, you know, that's a nice spot for a coach to be in. and I think all those things you're talking about are going to be on the table. I think the ability to throw out, you know, a line driven by McDavid and a line driven by McKinnon, though, is pretty appealing, you know, as a matchup. Pete, did anything get your attention at the Four Nations? Just like I'll give you an example, I went to one of the practices there out in Brassard. And McKinnon got the puck in the neutral zone,

and it was like the whole building started to shake the, like, just the momentum. that this guy, it was, I, like, I've seen a lot of stuff in the game, but watching that guy skate, he is just so powerful. It was, it was incredible to watch. Yeah. And you know what? I mean, I've coached against him in the division for years between, well, in the conference in San Jose, we got him in the playoffs a bunch, and then in Dallas and Vegas, I feel like we

played him every year in the playoffs. And he amazes me how he can take over. game. You know, he wants the puck every time he steps on the ice. He's dangerous every time he steps on the ice and he plays with such a power in his game. You know, he can run you over. He's not afraid of any physicality. He can go through you or around you. He can score from distance, you know, or in close. He's got that one-timer on the power play. So many weapons. With Pete DeVore and having your best players, you know, playing their best hockey. It's been a consistent conversation in Toronto for the last year and a half

with Austin Matthews. And, you know, he had a down year last year. He had a tough start. And now he's really cooking. Like, he's flying every night. I thought he played really well last night, even though they got blown out in Utah. As a coach, you know, how unsettling is it for everything if your best player isn't playing at their best? Yeah. Well, that's, you know, cost you your job. I mean, that's as unsettling as it gets. I'd say so. That's the reality. You know, that's the reality of it. And, you know, we are at the mercy of making, you know, we've got to win games.

And in this league, in the NHL, you don't win games unless your best players are your best players. You can do it for small portions of the season here and there. You can do it with some structure. but the guys you're paying, you know, have to deliver most nights or you're not going to win in that league. Right. And in terms of like the conversations you'd have daily with a player of that status, does that even happen in the NHL? Like, you know, you're not giving pep talks to a guy who's scored 69 goals in a game. He's 28 years old.

No, you, yeah, you'd be surprised. I tell people all the time, you know, I think, The hockey, pro sports in general, not just hockey, it breeds insecurity. You know, there's a lot of insecurity amongst the best athletes in the world, not just hockey players. And that's bred because, you know, of the expectation of social media, of what they're getting paid, of fans. You know, these guys have a lot more insecurities than you think.

and there's a lot more of those conversations than you think because of that. Obviously, you're following the league, but if you take a look at the schedule this season because of it condensed, have you noticed the difference in the product nightly and maybe some of the effort levels, some of the players just based on either them worn out to the travel, four games in six nights and three different cities, that type of stuff. Have you noticed a difference in this season compared to others? You know what I've noticed? With the big players, I've noticed it's an Olympic year, because those guys have all, I think, all answered the bell.

Anybody that's in the Olympic conversation, there's very few guys that didn't deliver the first half of the year, including the young guys that have put themselves on the radar, you know, including Celebrini, who's on the team. So, you know, I saw a real motivated group of Olympians that were trying to. to show, hey, I want to be a part of it. And that shows you how important the Olympics are to NHL players. I mean, it's not a secret, but, you know, it was a big part of their negotiations with the last NHL Players Association and NHL agreement how important it was. And I think that's what I've seen the first half of the year.

You know, is the condensed schedule starting to wear on some teams? I think it's inevitable that that happens, especially when you get into this part of the meat of the schedule. And it's condensed even more in January because we are breaking for three weeks. So I think you just cross your fingers that you can get through without injury. With Pete DeBore. Are you an Olympic Village guy, Pete? Like, what's the plan over there when you guys get there?

I am. I'm all in. I'm all in. I can stay at a Ritz any time. I'm going to, when else do you get to go to an Olympic Village and get that experience? So, you know, this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me. I think I told people before, you know, I'm from immigrant parents. They're both first generation, second generation farmers from northern Manitoba.

One was Dutch, one was Ukrainian. You know, the fact that I'm getting to go to an Olympics representing Canada, you know, to my family is huge. And I'm going to try and take every experience I can in. And I was on the Beijing staff and we didn't get to go. So this is, this is, you know, an exciting time for you. for me and my family and I'm going to try and to soak it all in. Absolutely. That's great.

I mean, some of the stories you hear out of the village is it's a wild scene. Keep your head on a swivel, Pete. It's a wild scene over there, man. I think they better worry about me, not me worry about them. That's right. Exactly. They'll hear you're coming. They know you're on route.

Well, we can't wait to see you guys over there. Best of luck, Pete. We really appreciate you doing this, and we'll do it again soon. Thanks, fellas. You got it, Peter DeBore. Unmistakably Canadian. It's the music that raised you. The artists raising the bar.

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