Ex-Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant subject of Twitter hoax

Gerard Gallant was the subject of a Twitter hoax Thursday that falsely reported the former Golden Knights coach was hired for the head position in New Jersey.

His agent, Neil Glasberg, released a statement on social media that extinguished the report, which came from a fake account and not the Devils’ official Twitter handle.

“Unfortunately a parody account tweeted bogus news that many Twitter amateurs ran with and retweeted,” Glasberg wrote. “For the record there is absolutely zero truth to Gerard Gallant being named the Head Coach of @NJDevils. Period.”

Gallant could not be reached through Glasberg on Thursday, though he granted an interview to The Athletic and briefly returned to Las Vegas to take care of personal business.

Gallant told the website he’s looking forward to coaching again and received an outpouring of support after he was fired by the Knights on Jan. 15 after 2½ seasons.

“I thought we were having a pretty good year and then had a four-game losing streak and I was caught off guard,” Gallant told The Athletic. “I understand the business. We want to win, we have a good team. But I just thought it was a little early. That’s all. But the players sent some really positive comments for me. They felt bad.’’

Gallant remains under contract with the Knights through next season and said he spent most of the past two weeks with his grandchildren in Moncton, New Brunswick.

He was selected to coach the Pacific Division team at the All-Star Game, but said he didn’t feel comfortable and decided against attending the event in St. Louis last week.

Gallant also noted that he and DeBoer spoke about their postseason war of words, which peaked when Gallant called the former San Jose coach a “clown.” DeBoer said during his introductory news conference with the Knights that he and Gallant spoke at the start of the regular season, when the rivals opened with a home-and-home.

“We haven’t talked (since DeBoer was hired), but you know what, over that whole clown incident and all that in the playoffs. He’s a competitive guy, I’m a competitive guy,” Gallant told The Athletic. “We talked after one of the games about that. We both apologized and said, ‘Let’s move on.’ He’s a solid guy, good person. I wish him nothing but the best.’’

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.