It's been nearly five weeks now since Brent Sutter stepped down as the Devils head coach and it appears that this will finally be the week in which general manager Lou Lamoriello hires a replacement.
There have been indications of that for a couple of weeks now, though, so, as usual, Lamoriello has everyone guessing.
Former Devils coach Jacques Lemaire has seemed to be one of the frontrunners from the start -- partly because no other candidates have spoken to the media. Lamoriello's long delay seemed to indicate he was looking in another direction, but RDS in Canada reported on Friday that Lemaire is the leading candidate and, cited sources that said Lemaire would be bringing along good friend Mario Tremblay as one of his assistants.
Tremblay, a former head coach with the Canadiens, also served under Lemaire as an assistant in Minnesota. Lemaire was the Wild's head coach for nine years, but stepped down at the end of the 2008-09 season.
Given Lamoriello's track record for surprises, we might not know for certain who the head coach will be until the news conference. It appears, however, that the guessing will finally come to an end this week.
It will be interesting when Lamoriello chooses to fit in the news conference with the team's development camp beginning Monday morning and running through Friday.
The Devils announced tentative times for the on-ice sessions for the development camp for Monday through Thursday. Friday is listed as "TBA" (to be announced). Could this be a clue?
***
The first on-ice session is scheduled for approximately 9 a.m. on Monday, but that's a very tentative time. There is some medical testing that is scheduled to take place beforehand, so it might start a little later.
I'll post something later in the morning after things are underway.
praying for good news.
Thanks TG.
Posted by: NickyG | July 12, 2009 at 10:26 PM
Hey TG, is Larry R still gonna be an assistant? I mean, To have JL and LR coaching, both won a cup with us, but both now together?
THat would be sweeeeeet
Posted by: DTK | July 12, 2009 at 10:36 PM
Larry Robinson was not an assistant coach last season. He was a special assignment coach and was not in NJ at all during the regular season.
Posted by: TG | July 12, 2009 at 10:40 PM
Jacques and Larry were together for the cup in '95. It would be good for them to reunite, but I doubt Larry would go behind the bench again. TG has already eluded that he does not want to be behind the bench (at least for the entire season... some hoping implied here).
Hope Jacques gets the nod this week.
Posted by: Nieds27 | July 12, 2009 at 10:45 PM
Larry Robinson was an assistant coach to Jacques Lemaire on the 1995 Stanley Cup Champion New Jersey Devils.
Posted by: Matt M. | July 12, 2009 at 10:46 PM
oh, now I remember why those two sounded so familiar...
Topic of the day, Alexander Korolyuk
Whats up with this guy? who put up some great numbers in 2004 againts the sharks, like 40 points in 60 games, but that wasnt even what caught my eye, he was a PLUS 20 !!!!!!!!
is he flat or out of shape? or injured? how come he doesnt have a spot on the 4th line, those numbers are pretty great, and also his stats have only improved over the years with the sharks...so he could have an even better year to come,
but I know he is 33, but if he is in solid conditioning, then wouldnt his experience and potential improving season be an asset?
Also P. cormier has some great size and talent, is he automatically scratched cause he is too young? or is there a chance for him to be center for us this season...
Matt Halischuk is 21 and hungry, does he have a shot?
Adam Henrique also has potential...
Would it be crazy for an NHL team like the devils to put a line together with this youngsters?
Comier / Henrique centering Halischuk and Bergfors?
THat way I believe Zubrus can still have better year between Elias and Rolston,
this way we dont even have to force a center before the season starts....
Posted by: DTK | July 12, 2009 at 10:58 PM
"Will the Devils finally name a head coach this week?"
Only hockey Jesus knows.
Posted by: Robbie | July 12, 2009 at 10:58 PM
Look...Lou's having trouble getting anyone of any caliber to work for him. His history of Coach killing is catching up to him. The guy is a phsycopath. If he wanted Lemaire he would of hired him 2 weeks ago. He's lookng for a better guy, but just like UFA's, NJ with Lou is not a desirable situation.
Thanks to Lou the little general.....Stalag NJ. Brylin a dozen years and 3 Cups exiled to Siberia never to be heard of again, like all ex Devil champions.
Julien has the team in first place and is fired.....who wants to work for a guy where first place wasn't good enough.
Lou must go!
Posted by: Jeff | July 12, 2009 at 10:58 PM
No surprise Lou didn't get Koivu or Morrison...even second teir UFA;s don't want to play for Lou. Thats why we keep hearing of signings of players we never heard of.
Posted by: Jeff | July 12, 2009 at 11:00 PM
Robinson--- needed emotional help after his tenure
Ftorek - melted down
Julien - Still can't figure that firing out...maybe Lou just wanted to coach.
Sutter - I'm outta here
Anyone see a pattern here?
Posted by: Jeff | July 12, 2009 at 11:04 PM
I wasnt happy with that situation with Julien either, and I really believed if he had another year we would have been in better shape to beat Carolina...
There must have been a really Fu#$ked up situation behind the scenes for lou to have fired him...and also your right with the fact that any great coach wouldnt feel secure and comfortable taking the job, I mean of course any desperate half as#$s coach would take the contract just to have a job in the NHL, but it seems like the only guys willing to step behind the devils bench is guys that have already been here, and know what to expect form lou
Posted by: DTK | July 12, 2009 at 11:05 PM
in lou we trust. did u bring nj three stanley cups jeffrey?
Posted by: dAVE | July 12, 2009 at 11:05 PM
So, Jeff, would you have wanted Lou to keep an aging, slow, and declining Sergei Brylin on the team to take up a roster spot that could've been used for somebody that was young, fast, and hungry? I'm confused. Do you wish that Holik didn't retire? That's what it sounds like to me. We needed to move on. Sarge was a shell of his former self. I loved him as much as the next Devils fan, but we had to move on.
Posted by: Jeff O. | July 12, 2009 at 11:14 PM
I think we can leave it to the C.I.A. to answer the coaching question. Lou is the CIA of the NHL, no leaks. And about Julien, his Bruins could not even beat Carolina, and the B's were way more structured than the Devils. I suspect the Devils could name a coach on Friday, but it would be nice to know earlier than that.
Posted by: Steven | July 12, 2009 at 11:16 PM
Hiring Lemaire could be very detrimental to this team. He ran all the players with offensive skills out of Minny, and I want to see Parise here for a long long time. If Lou hires him its becoming a pattern of bad choices lately.
Posted by: Vancouver Devils Fan | July 12, 2009 at 11:23 PM
What offensive players would those be exactly? Gaborik averaged over a point per game his last four seasons regardless of the lengths and Rolston by far had the most successful seasons of his career with Minny. Gaborik and Minnesota were going to part ways, the Wild didn't want him for that price either becasue of his injury history and Rolston got offered insane amount of money by Lou. He took over an expansion team with no talent so he did what he had to do to survive with that team. Considering the talent I think he did a pretty good job with the playoff appearances and one Western Finals appearance. The guy is a good coach, he is not an idiot, he will put forth the best plan for whatever kind of talent he has. As people have already mentioned before, what did Pittsburgh do in Game 7 to protect a 2-0 lead?
Posted by: ChiDevsFan | July 12, 2009 at 11:32 PM
What players with offensive skill did he run out of Minny? the only one that i can think of that left during his tenure was Demitra, and that guy was hurt as often if not more often than Gaborik. Lemaire, just like ANY coach in the NHL, is only as good as the parts their given to work with. You can't give me 2 cans of Silly Putty, a box of pasta, and some PVC pipe and tell me to build a house, and its the same thing with running and building a hockey team. Minny scored well and WENT FAR the one year where Gaborik actually stayed healthy..... the years where he did not, well the next best option was Rolston and he was a 30 goal guy under him Lemaire when he was kinda sort of the ONLY option
Posted by: Pearl Jammed | July 12, 2009 at 11:45 PM
TG, do you expect MSG or MSG Plus to carry the coaching hiring news conference whenever it happens, or the Devils website. FSN NY carried Claude Julien's news conference in 2006, but Brent Sutter's was not shown, but that day most of world media was focused on Los Angeles, because Beckham was introduced by the Galaxy.
Posted by: Steven | July 12, 2009 at 11:49 PM
Alf leave and jeff appears. Hmmmmmmm
Posted by: nnjrules | July 13, 2009 at 12:19 AM
nnjrules, Jeff has been here since before the days of ALF.
Posted by: Jeff O. | July 13, 2009 at 12:21 AM
So your saying they are the same person, in the same room. Interesting.
Posted by: nnjrules | July 13, 2009 at 12:26 AM
Ok being serious now, what elite top line coach is out there? What top of the line head coach has been hired since sutter left? None. So I don't buy a coach won't come here, I have yet to hear a coach turn a job down, we aren't the raiders people where a coach wouldn't even take interviews with them. As far as free agents, it is rare a player will take less money to go somewhere, if he does chances are he is old and just wants to win a cup. Most players go where the cabbage is. Saying that when you look at the money these guys got who would you want at that price that would help our team now and down the line? If we gave say cammy the $6 mill he got from the habs, what would that mean Parise is worth to us ?$8 mill? I think its better to pay for what you know than overpay for what you hope to know. If you look at the track record of most free agents, few have had major impact in cup runs their first year. We have won in years past from drafting devils players, maybe not great for other teams but good for us. Look at how players left us and have gotten paid and produced.. Neids, rafalski. Who else has left via free agency that has done great? Nobody. So let's relax, enjoy watching some of the youth we got coming up.
Posted by: nnjrules | July 13, 2009 at 12:36 AM
Since we got hockey gods, is there hockey devils? I think it's Miro Satan.
Posted by: Robbie | July 13, 2009 at 01:26 AM
Gaborik and Demitra couldnt wait to get out from under his system. Dont get me wrong i thank Lemaire for the first cup, but the game has changed and its passed him bye. I want to watch our young skill players actually have the chance to play a little run and gun to a point.
Posted by: Vancouver Devils Fan | July 13, 2009 at 01:27 AM
Thank you ChiDevs for explaing why Lemaire should be given a shot to coach. He did a great job with our young guys in 95. Although I might have been able to do the same job when you look at that roster. That was the sickest playoff run ever. Its not going to be all trap now. I think there will be little trap, but the trap will be there when needed, and it will be executed correctly. We will play the same forecheck and pressure that we did this year.
Posted by: Futureman | July 13, 2009 at 01:29 AM