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Referee Chris Rooney (right with Washington's John Erskine) ejected Devils coach Pete DeBoer on Sunday.

(Geoff Burke/USA Today)

Devils coach Pete DeBoer feels he did not deserve to be ejected by referee Chris Rooney late in Sunday's loss to the Rangers and he also believes the team should be headed to the playoffs.



The Devils were eliminated from playoff contention with their 4-1 loss to the Rangers at the Garden.

“It’s difficult. This is one of the most difficult things I’ve gone through,” DeBoer said today, “just because I’ve coached teams that didn’t deserve to make the playoffs. Most times life gives you what you deserve. In this case I don’t feel it’s necessarily the case. That’s what makes it more difficult, because then you’re searching for the reasons why and I don’t have the answers yet.”

He is also searching for answers as to why he was given a game misconduct with 35 seconds remaining in Sunday’s game and didn’t expect to be ejected.

“No. I didn’t anticipate getting ejected,” DeBoer claimed. “There was no profanity. It was simply a statement. I’ll tell you what I said. I just said: ‘I find it tough to swallow that in an elimination game two of our players would get unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for comments.’

"I think when you go into those games you know emotions are heightened. You know there is a lot at stake and I think there is an expectation of some thick-skinness. I don't think that's a word."



It just so happens that Rooney was also a referee in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final in Los Angeles. The Devils were eliminated in that game in which three New Jersey players received game misconducts—Steve Bernier, Ryan Carter and David Clarkson.



Coincidence?

"No comment," DeBoer answered with a laugh.



I asked DeBoer if he felt his coaching staff did everything possible this season to get the Devils into the playoffs.



"No. I don't think you feel that way when you don't have success. There is always something else out there," DeBoer said. "I can tell you we didn't leave too many stones unturned and we didn't leave too many topics un-discussed during the year in trying to right the ship. And that's all you can do."



The Devils lost assistant coaches Larry Robinson and Adam Oates in the offseason. They were replaced by Scott Stevens and Matt Shaw.



"I thought our coaching staff worked dilligently preparing this team," DeBoer noted. "That's been a common theme even when you talk to the players. I thought our coaches emptied the tank, so to speak. Anytime you don't have a successful year the entire organization gets analyzed, including myself. I'm sure that's a process Lou will go through."



He said he isn't concerned about his own job.



"I don't concern myself with that. It comes with the job. I don't lose sleep over those decisions," DeBoer said. "When you get in this profession I think that's the only way you can handle it."



Goalie Martin Brodeur was among those to point out the Devils never replaced Zach Parise, who left as a free agent. They also went througth two rough spells when Brodeur and Ilya Kovalchuk went down with injuries.



"I'm not going to use those as crutches," DeBoer said. "In my job, you get handed 20-23 players and you have to find a way to have success. That's for other people to decide or analyze what factors those things played."



The Devils started this shortened season 8-1-3. They were 3-8-2 when Brodeur suffered a pinched nerve in his upper back and had a 10-game losing streak when Kovalchuk injured his right shoulder crashing into the end boards.



"I think we're somewhere in between," DeBoer said. "When we were going through the losing streak I said we're not as good as the team that started the season and we're not as bad as the team that went through the losing streak."

He felt the effort was there.



"I did, almost every night. There are not many guys in there, if any, who's hearts weren't in the right place and didn't buy into the system and the team-first approach we had all year," DeBoer said. "It wasn't good enough."



So now they play out the string.



"The message to the team is the same way we've approached all season," DeBoer said. "We expect nothing but professionalism and the same commitment to work and to win that we've had all year," DeBoer said. "I think that's what this team is about, this organization is about and we're not going to expect anything less than that."



He said backup goalie Johan Hedberg could play one of the last three games.



"I'd like to get him in. I think he deserves to get in a game," DeBoer said.