February 15, 2025
Sharks assistant coach Doug Houda is honest about what went wrong with the Islanders’ penalty kill during the 2023-24 season
NHL

Sharks assistant coach Doug Houda is honest about what went wrong with the Islanders’ penalty kill during the 2023-24 season

When the New York Islanders released Barry Despite from his head coaching duties after the 2021-22 NHL season, his assistant coach Lane Lambert was hired in his place.

Lambert chose Doug Houda, his former Detroit Red Wings teammate who had been an assistant with Detroit since 2016 and an NHL assistant since 2006.

Houda had spent 10 years on Boston’s bench before moving to Detroit after the 2015-16 season.

In his two years on the Islanders’ bench, Houda was primarily responsible for defense and the penalty kill. The team allowed 31.9 shots per game (9th), 2.90 goals per game (23rd), with the undermanned unit shooting at a rate of 76.8% (24th).

In the 2022-23 season, penalty kill was the ninth best at 82.2%.

In the 2023-24 season, the penalty kill was the worst in the NHL at 71.5%.

After being retained following the signing of Patrick Roy on January 20, 2024, Houda was relieved of his duties following the season.

We were notified at the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas, but according to Houda, he had discussions with the San Sharks before the draft because he was released in mid-June.

Related: Islanders move on from assistant coach Doug Houda, keep John MacLean

Houda is back on Long Island Saturday night for the first time since his release as San Jose battles the Islanders.

When he was hired by the Sharks, he gave a press conference where he talked about his time with the Islanders (H/t Yahoo! Sports)

The first question he was asked during his time with the Islanders was what went wrong on the penalty kill as a sophomore.

“I think in the penalty shootout you have to get off to a good start,” Houda said. “We got off to a bad start. The first few weeks were good, and then we got to a point where we couldn’t keep the puck out of the net and it snowballed.”

“I’m not offending anyone, but we all just didn’t do our jobs well enough. Myself and the players just couldn’t do it. Sometimes there are penalties during breaks. I remember. “The year before we were on the rise and it seemed crazy to us, but our goalkeepers held on.”

As Islanders fans have come to understand, the goaltender plays a big role in the penalty kill, but he can’t be the only one in his game.

“Sometimes you get the save, sometimes you don’t,” Houda said. “It doesn’t all depend on the goalkeeper. It’s up to myself and our players. They are the instructions that I give in the encounters. It was one of those years where everything we did somehow fell into our net.”

“I can’t make excuses. The work just wasn’t getting done.”

While it probably wasn’t a shock that he was fired, Houda wanted to make something clear.

“I think you’re always disappointed. And just to be clear, I wasn’t hired to shoot penalties,” Houda said. “When I first got the Lane Lambert job, Lane was in charge of the penalty kill. My job was to lead the defense. The motto in New York was ‘Stay in your lane’ and my lane was to watch the defenders. So anytime.” You get fired, you’re disappointed.

The Islanders decided to sign former New Jersey Devils player and assistant coach Tommy Albelin, who had coached in Sweden since leaving the NHL bench after the 2013-14 season.

The Islanders’ penalty kill under Albelin has been historically poor, currently sitting at 67.0 percent.

He has the Sharks penalty kill at 78.9%, which ranks him 18th.


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