“Small hockey world” binds Knights coaches, defenseman together

Pete DeBoer’s initial scouting report on defenseman Nic Hague wasn’t too kind.

The word “gangly” may have been used by the Golden Knights coach. He wasn’t sure he was seeing an NHL regular.

Luckily, Hague had plenty of time to improve. He was only in elementary school.

Hague’s local junior hockey team growing up, the Kitchener Rangers in Kitchener, Ontario, was coached by DeBoer from 2001-08 with Knights assistant Steve Spott also on staff.

The trio reunited more than a decade later when DeBoer and Spott were hired by the Knights in 2020. The 23-year-old Hague has shown since then he’s grown past DeBoer’s expectations.

“To see his development through minor hockey, then through junior and obviously through the American League and with us, it’s a great story,” Spott said. “He’s a grassroots player from Ontario and for Pete and I selfishly, it’s great to see the development into the National Hockey League and he really has become a mainstay on our blue line.”

Hague’s Friday nights as a kid were spent at “The Aud” — Kitchener Memorial Auditorium — watching the Rangers play with family and friends. He had season tickets.

Hague also attended local hockey camps run by DeBoer and Spott. And through a connection with a local skills coach, the Rangers coaches ran a few practices for his team.

“I just remember thinking it was the coolest thing ever,” said Hague who has missed the Knights’ last five games with a wrist injury. “The Kitchener Rangers were players that I almost idolized more than NHL players because they were guys I’d watch every week. To have their coach come out, I remember I was blown away.”

DeBoer left Kitchener after the 2007-08 season when he was hired to coach the Florida Panthers. Spott took over as coach and stayed until 2013, when he left for the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies.

Hague’s hockey career came full circle when the Knights hired DeBoer on Jan. 15, 2020. Spott came too as an assistant coach.

“Small hockey world, the way it turned out,” Hague said.

Despite the familiar faces, the coaching change didn’t pay immediate dividends for Hague.

He played 38 games as a rookie but only three after DeBoer arrived. He didn’t play in the postseason, either. That led to DeBoer meeting with him in the lobby of the JW Marriott in Edmonton when the Knights left the playoff bubble to tell him to keep his head up.

“I said I’m a big believer in your game,” said DeBoer, who told Hague his style fit with what he wanted from the team’s defensemen. “Come back to camp ready to go.”

Hague played in 52 of 56 games his second year as a Knight and has only come out of the lineup because of his injury this season. His responsibilities have also increased. He’s averaging 18:19 of ice time — compared to 16:05 as a rookie and 16:00 last year — playing mostly on the top pair with Alex Pietrangelo.

The “gangly” kid from Kitchener is growing up. It’s been a remarkable rise for two coaches that have seen that growth up close.

“I never saw this out of him when he was a 9- or 10-year-old,” DeBoer said. “But you love to see. Great family, great kid. Wants to get better and really the sky’s the limit with where he’s at and where he’s going.”

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.