It's been a wild 24 hours for Sharks interim head coach Bob Boughner.
There was no time to waste, though, as one day after Peter DeBoer was fired, he had to ready San Jose to play the visiting New York Rangers at SAP Center.
"It's been a roller-coaster, obviously," Boughner told NBC Sports California's Jamie Baker before taking the ice Thursday night. "Mixed emotions.
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"Everybody know how close our staff was and what Pete meant to me, not only as someone with a great working relationship but also as a good friend and a mentor. So, that wasn't an easy day. The flip side of that is an opportunity here -- a unique opportunity to sort of get these guys and steer this ship back in the right direction, and try and get this team playing to the level I think it's capable of."
The Sharks entered the game having lost five in a row, and were coming off a road trip in which they earned just one out of a possible eight points. That ultimately spelled doom for DeBoer and resulted in Boughner being elevated to head coach -- at least for the time being -- the same position he held with the Florida Panthers for each of the last two seasons.
So, yes, Boughner does have previous NHL coaching experience, not to mention eight seasons as head coach of the Windsor Spitfires in the OHL. Still, just like any head coach, he'll rely heavily on his assistants.
Speaking of the assistant coaches, there were changes there, too. Out are Dave Barr, Steve Spott and Johan Hedberg. In are associate coach Roy Sommer, assistant coach Mike Ricci and goaltending coach Evgeni Nabokov.
San Jose Sharks
Boughner admitted that the newly formed staff still is figuring out its respective duties and responsibilities, but because of their collective experience within the organization -- Sommer most recently was head coach of the San Jose Barracuda, while Ricci and Nabokov had been in developmental roles -- Boughner is confident he has put the right group together.
"They're guys that really are relationship guys," Boughner said of his staff. "They're good with people and good with establishing that relationship with the player, so I feel comfortable in that regard."
[RELATED: Sharks players share how DeBoer's firing shocked them]
So, what changes should we expect to see in the Sharks post-coaching change? In general, Boughner wants his team to become harder to play against on a nightly basis.
"I think it's just a general mindset that we have to be a more aggressive team, not so passive, and we want to hunt pucks," he said, "but at the end of the day, it's just playing inspired."
Nothing about the Sharks' play as of late has been inspiring. Surely they're hoping the coaching change will fix that.