What do you get when you put together three like-minded hockey engineers?

Pete DeBoer says his appearance at the NHL's All-Star weekend is a reflection of the entire team and his coaching staff, and he has a point.
DeBoer earned this honor because his team is in first place in the Central Division, which was a concerted effort by a lot of people. The fact DeBoer and his coaching staff are the engineers certainly is worth noting. DeBoer was hired by the Stars last summer after he was let go in Vegas. He brought longtime friend and assistant coach Steve Spott and added Alain Nasreddine, who was released by New Jersey, and the chemistry has been magical.
51 games in, they are 28-13-10 and earning the trust of the players.

"As a group, they definitely have us prepared," said forward Joe Pavelski, who previously worked with DeBoer in San Jose. "They're on top of things, and they have a lot of fun, and that's been great."
DeBoer, 54, has coached 1,066 games with five NHL teams. He has been good friends with Spott, 54, since they were teens. Spott has coached with DeBoer in the NHL in San Jose, Vegas, and Dallas. Nasreddine, 47, is a former NHL defenseman who spent seven seasons as an assistant (and interim head coach) with the Devils.
"It's been a good process," DeBoer said. "We are on the same page, and we're moving forward."
One of the main reasons the staff is on the same page is the history between Spott and DeBoer. The two met through mutual friends when they were younger and kept in touch along the way. Spott played college hockey at Colgate and then briefly in the AHL. DeBoer played junior hockey in Windsor and then had a couple of nice seasons in the AHL. However, DeBoer decided to end his playing career to pursue a law degree.
"I just think you reach a point where you realize it's probably not going to work in hockey, and I did that," he said. "It was a really tough decision, but I thought it was the right decision at that time."
DeBoer received degrees from the University of Windsor and the University of Detroit, and in the process worked for local law firms. However, at age 27, he received a chance to get back into hockey as a coach with the Detroit Junior Red Wings. He accepted the offer and hasn't looked back.
"It felt really right," he said.
DeBoer moved on to coach Plymouth and Kitchener in the OHL, and of course, he brought Spott with him. When DeBoer got his big break in 2008 as head coach of the Florida Panthers, Spott took over as head coach of Kitchener. He stayed there for five seasons, eventually coaching a young Radek Faksa. DeBoer moved on past Florida to New Jersey and Spott eventually landed as an assistant coach with the Maple Leafs. And then in 2015 the stars aligned and DeBoer was named head coach of the Sharks and welcomed Spott as an assistant coach.
It was a bit of a challenge, but with the wives and kids of the two coaches as good friends already, there was an easy flow to the relationship, Spott said.
"We've tried to separate the two," Spott said. "Our kids are the best of friends, our wives are the best of friends, and we have a personal relationship outside the rink. But inside the rink, we are very professional, and I know my boundaries. When we're in these buildings, he's the boss and what he says goes."
DeBoer is a good boss. His teams have made the playoffs in six of the past eight seasons, and he's looking for seven-in-nine this year. Not surprisingly, his teams in San Jose, Vegas and Dallas all found fast starts - possibly because of the relationship between the two.
"One, he's a tremendous coach and a tremendous friend," DeBoer said of Spott. "I've got a lot of respect for him, both personally and professionally. I've known him forever, and any time you're taking over a new team, you don't want to have to coach the coaches and coach the players at the same time. Steve Spott knows exactly what I want, what I'm looking for, how I want to play, and he can help me deliver the message. So, I think it's a big credit to him that we have been able to get things in place quickly. I don't think it's been an accident."
Spott and DeBoer were honored together this season when the Stars played at Vegas, their old team. It was an appropriate moment, as the two really do coach well as a team. And the "outsider", Nasreddine, has fit in perfectly.
"Pete and Steve had the relationship, but it didn't take long for me to work in," Nasreddine said. "For me, you're around them and it's easy. That's how I feel. They made me feel welcome right away and important right away, and that's all you want. We spend a lot of time together, and I feel I've been with them just as long as they have been together."
Nasreddine runs the defensemen during the game and coaches the penalty kill, among other things. DeBoer said he's been impressed by the man who has the Stars second in the league in penalty kill success at 84.0 percent.
"He's an excellent coach. I'm so glad we jumped on him when we did," DeBoer said. "It's been a seamless fit, both from a personality perspective with our group, and strategically as well. I consider myself a pretty good penalty kill coach, that's something I've done at times in the past, and I've learned from him. That's another important piece of a coaching staff. When you're hiring people, make sure they are people you can learn from."
Nasreddine had some choices to make when he was not offered a new contract by the Devils, but he said he's happy this is the place he landed.
"I definitely thought, `Wow, this could be nice,'" he said of his initial read on the Stars. "Dallas is a good team that is contending now with the veteran leadership that they have and the group of young players they have. And when you look at the front office, Jim Nill I can't say enough good things about him. It starts there, and it trickles down."
And right now, it sure looks like Nill has landed on a coaching staff who could stick together. Dallas has had four head coaches in the past seven seasons for different reasons. When you consider Jim Montgomery (Boston) and Rick Bowness (Winnipeg) are leading two of the better teams in the league, the hirings don't look so bad. But getting the right coach and the right fit is an art in the NHL, and maybe the Stars have finally painted the perfect picture.
"They've been great," Stars captain Jamie Benn said. "Very well detailed, consistent with what they do. They're focused on what we have to do to win every night. We focus some on the other team, but the main thing is focusing on us and what we need to do. They've got a lot of insight on things we need to do better, and I think that's helped both individually and as a team."
That focus is about to intensify when everyone returns from break.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.