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Players credit Devils coach Pete DeBoer for keeping a team lacking a lot of offensive skill in the playoff chase.

(Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports)

NEWARK - This is for the Devils fans who are bashing head coach Pete DeBoer on blogs, Twitter and NJ.com story comments.

You think President/GM Lou Lamoriello changing coaches would be a quick fix to a team that reached the Olympic break 24-22-13 and three points out of a playoff spot despite being one of the lowest-scoring teams in the league, one that veteran forward Patrik Elias feels needs outside help?

You think the Devils are better off getting rookie blueliner Eric Gelinas back from the AHL and living with his defensive liabilities because of what he brings to the power play?

You want to see what Adam Larsson, Reid Boucher, Stefan Matteau, Joe Whitney and Mike Sislo, all currently in the American Hockey League, can do playing for a coach that you think would be more young-player friendly?

You want a new coach with a system that stresses scoring instead of keeping the puck out of the net?

DeBoer's players completely disagree.

Several were asked, and no one had to be coaxed into strongly going on the defense for DeBoer, who is in his third season.

Talk to them and you'll get the same response: DeBoer's coaching style, his personality and his system are big reasons the Devils have a shot at making the playoffs after being stripped of their two superstar offensive players over the last two summers, Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk.

Gritty left wing Dainius Zubrus has a message to the DeBoer haters:

"Listen fans, I don't want to live in the past, but it's the same coach that we went to the finals with (in 2012)," Zubrus said. "To be honest with you, a lot of times when we fall off our system, that's when we don't do as well. When we start doing a little too much of our own thing, that's when it doesn't work."

Zubrus has had 13 coaches in his 17 NHL seasons, and "just for the fun of it" he listed them in order when reminded the other day. He says DeBoer ranks among the best he's had.

"Yes, yes, yes, I can say that," Zubrus said. "I've had tons of coaches and I do think Pete's done a very good job. I think he has a good sense of what our team is and how we should be playing. Throughout the game, I think we make some good adjustments, too. He's good at noticing what works, what doesn't work."

Before signing with the Devils last summer, Ryane Clowe played for three successful coaches - Ron Wilson and Todd McLellan during his extended stay in San Jose and John Tortorella for a few games late last season with the Rangers. The left winger quickly became a big supporter of DeBoer.

"I think Pete is one of the best as far as how he goes about his business," Clowe said. "He's intelligent. The thing I like about being here is when you win, you get that 'won as a team' feeling. We're a team that is the sum of all of our parts and maybe a little bit more. In San Jose, we had a little bit more names as far as high-end talent, and we played to a different style, opened it up a little bit more. Here, we're in the games. Pete's been a very good coach here.

"The thing about Pete is in situations where you go through some tough stretches and we're losing, it's a lot of focus on the positives and how we can get better, not so much delving on the past. Pete is confident in this team. He makes you believe that if you play his way, you're going to win. In all our meetings, it's not about maybe we'll do this and change it up. No, this is what we've got to do to win. This is the way we have to play. There's no in-between. When you see a coach has confidence in you in a system, it makes a big difference."

Mark Fayne feels the same.

"I think one of Pete's biggest assets is how he gets his point across, whether it's a video meeting or pre-game meeting," the fourth-year defenseman said. "He tells us exactly what he expects from us and the team, and I think it's easier when the communication is so good.

"He also works well with the younger guys. He gets them into games. He gives them opportunities, and he gives them opportunities to play with some of the older guys."

Wait! Works well with younger guys? Fayne was told that a lot of fans criticize DeBoer in this area and that many want Gelinas back from AHL and playing.

"How many games did he play?" Fayne responded.

Gelinas had 22 points and was a minus-5 in 44 games worth of opportunity.

Jon Merrill, another rookie blueliner who was sent to the AHL on Sunday, has played 32 games and has been a regular in the lineup of late. Boucher, a 20-year-old rookie winger who scored 62 goals in junior last season, had 20 games of chances this season and produced two goals. How about forwards Jacob Josefson and Mattias Tedenby, both former No. 1 picks who are 22 and 23, respectively? They've combined for five goals and 21 points over 143 games in DeBoer's three seasons, one goal and two points in 33 games this season.

What's Fayne's message to fans?

"I would say you want a coach that the players respect, first of all, and I think Pete definitely has the team's respect. The only way he can do that is by putting in a good system, a system we think we can win with. We rely on him to make the right calls in the lineup, whether you're in or not. You know he just wants to win and he doesn't play favorites. I think his heart and head are both in the right place where he's always doing whatever is best for the team."

Defenseman Anton Volchenkov probably wasn't happy sitting out the Devils' last two games when thinking he was ready to return from a lower body injury, but he, too, has great respect for DeBoer.

"I like the coach," the Russian said. "He has a good system. It works. We haven't scored a lot of goals, but we've been unlucky. After the Olympic break, maybe the luck will come back and we'll score a little bit more goals."

DeBoer, 45, appreciates the support from within. He's as frustrated as fans that the Devils aren't scoring goals, but he's not going to trash his defense-first, forechecking system, one that's had his team play well against many of the elite teams despite not really replacing Parise and Kovalchuk.

"I think (defense) always been a focus and a fundamental part of our system and our identity, even two years ago," DeBoer said. "I think you've had to change a little bit. You no longer have a cushion or margin of error. How do you handle that? Are you going to go off the deep end or show your frustration as a coach because you don't have that margin of error anymore in games that we were winning two years ago when you had a little bit extra offense and you're losing now? That's been the key. I like to think as a staff that we've handled that adversity in those situations fairly well."

Before Jersey, DeBoer coached the Florida Panthers for three seasons of no playoffs. His first team in 2008-09 missed out on the last Eastern Conference playoff seed in a tiebreaker, and his next two seasons included a lot of salary dumping.

Fourth-line winger winger Steve Bernier played for DeBoer in Florida and has seen growth in his coach.

"The way things were between me and him were a lot different than what they are now," Bernier said. "He was tougher. We had a very young team, and you don't treat the team the same way when you have that. Here we have a great group of veteran players and we're right in the middle of the pack fighting for a playoff spot. And Pete's doing a very good job.

"For sure, coaches are going to the first one to hear it from fans. As a player or coach, you need to don't listen to this. He is the same coach who took us to the playoff final and we have the same system."

In Jersey, DeBoer found immediate success, a sixth-place finish in the 2011-12 Eastern Conference standings, then a surprising playoff run all the way to the Stanley Cup Final.

But Parise left as a free agent after the season, and it's been a struggle scoring goals ever since. The Devils missed the playoffs last season, and this season - now without Kovalchuk, too - they're in danger of not qualifying again.

"I think like any job, you hope to get a little bit better every year," DeBoer said. "You hope to learn from your experiences. We had some tough situations in Florida where the last two years I was there we dumped $20 or $30 million in salary at the deadline each year. Working through those circumstances, you make mistakes how you handle situations. You learn from it. I think I'm a better coach today than I was then."

As for a potential coaching change, Lamoriello is the among the best at making sure what he's thinking never goes public, but after the Devils' 3-0 loss in Washington on Saturday he didn't seem like he was panicking.

"We're right in it," Lamoriello said. "There's a lot of hockey left. It's a few points."

It doesn't appear DeBoer is on a short leash, which his players will like knowing.

Even Jaromir Jagr, despite some griping about getting new linemates, is a believer in DeBoer. He's long past his days of winning scoring titles with his 42nd birthday coming next week, but still leads the Devils with 17 goals and 49 points.

"I've got no complaints, none at all," Jagr said. "I kind of enjoy the style we play. I know I'm not going to score goals and points like when I was playing for Pittsburgh, but I can enjoy it. I like the way we play. It gives you a chance to win every game if we play up to our potential. And we don't have the biggest talent."