Pete DeBoer is out as Devils coach

El Diablos waited until Boxing Day to let head coach Pete DeBoer go but let him go they did. No word at press time of who the replacement will be going forward. DeBoer led the Devils to the 2012 Stanley Cup Final where the Devils lost in six games to the Kings.

Johnny's favorite Pete DeBoer moment as Devils coach? Letting then-Rangers coach John Tortorella know how the game at MSG was going to be played that night:

A wee it of NY Rangers news today

The CBC is reporting that the Rags will sign former Vancouver head coach Alain Vigneault to a 5 year $10 million contract and an announcement is imminent. Out is Tortorella who actually won a Stanley Cup in Tampa Bay but whose tough-guy act had run its course at 34th and 7th. Vigneault came within a game of winning with the Canucks falling in game 7 to Boston. Former Rangers defenseman Ulf Samuelsson, one of the dirtiest SOB's to ever play the game, may well wind up behind the bench as well.

Rangers coach John Tortorella has been suspended for game 6 by the NHL

What a classy guy. John Tortorella, who was sitting out circus act Sean Avery in game 5 because he was showing a lack of discipline on the ice in game 4, apparently didn't have the brains to heed his own advice. In the third period of game 5 in Washington, Tortorella squirted water through two panes of glass at heckling fans behind the Rangers bench. The heckling kept up (and after being squirted with water why wouldn't it?) and then Tortorella stood up on the bench, leaned over and threw a bottle of water at the heckling fan---but the Rags coach's aim was no better than his decision making skills and he hit a female Capitals season ticket holder in the face:

Claudette Chandonia told The Washington Post the bottle Tortorella threw hit her in the head. "He was losing and he was frustrated, I guess," Chandonia said, according to the report. "I couldn't believe it. I looked up, and he was throwing the water bottle -- and then it hit me right here, right in the head, and it bounced off me."

What a jackass. If you'll recall last night we took Mr. Tortorella to task for his pissy press conference. When asked about the incident he said he didn't want to discuss it because it was nothing. When asked again, some lackey from the Rangers traveling media staff said the press conference would end if there were another question on the topic. Somebody call that Rangers employee a waaaaaambulance. We'll be taking no questions tonight about how or why our coach assaulted Capitals fans, we mean it.

The Rangers are coming unglued but remember, it was THEY who simply had to have Sean Avery come back to Broadway. They got rid of him once for a reason, and now seem somehow surprised he's back to acting like a seven year old with ADD and a sense of entitlement. As for Tortorella, he deserves the suspension. Squirting water at fans? The NHL has the tape and says Tortorella STARTED the incident. Then he throws a water bottle and hit a woman. If you would have hit Johnny's wife with a water bottle you'd not only be suspended, you'd be going to the dentist on your unexpected day off. What a big big man you are Mr. Tortorella. And now, you've put your team at a huge disadvantage going into a massively important game for your team.

So now Avery will be playing in game six while Tortorella sits it out due to lack of discipline.

Ogie Ogilthorpe could not be reached for comment.