The firing of Claude Julien came as a surprise last week. After leading the team to a winning record 47W-24L-8OTL, 102 points, first place in the division, second in the conference, Claude Julien lost his job. Lou Lamoriello is taking over as coach like he did last year when Larry Robinson resigned after a slow start of the season.
Going through Lou Lamoriello's career might help understand the character and the frame of mind that led to that firing.
Hockey and Management skills
Lou Lamoriello has known success at every level of hockey. He played for Providence College in the early sixties and coached the ice hockey team for 15 years with a .578 winning percentage (248-179-13) beginning in 1968. He took the Friars to 12 post-season tournaments in a row, reaching the NCAA Frozen four in 1983. He also served as athletic director in 1982 and hired Rick Pitino as the head coach of the Providence's men's basketball team. Pitino took Providence to the Final Four in 1987. His college experience is probably why he turned to college more than anyone to draft or sign reliable players over the past few years. He has proven at this level that he knows how to coach and knows how to surround himself with quality people.
For instance, Ron Wilson, now the San Jose Sharks coach, played for Lamoriello in Providence. Other people who got to work with Lamoriello include ex-Islanders coach Steve Stirling who was hired by Lamoriello to coach Providence; Brian Burke, the GM of the Anaheim Ducks and John Ferguson Jr., the GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who played for him and went on with management careers.
He is a man of influence. His role in helping settle the new CBA just shows how highly regarded he is in the sport and in the league.
At some point, Georges Steinbrenner even considered offering Lou Lamoriello a management position for the New York Yankees.
The early years
He joined the Devils in 1987 and is the current longest serving GM in the league. He came to a young organization that was once called a Mickey Mouse organization by Wayne Gretzky himself. During his stint as Devils GM, he has an impressive record: 3 Stanley Cups (1995, 2000, and 2003), 4 conference championships (1995, 2000, 2001, and 2003), ten 100-point seasons, 7 Atlantic Division championships. The Devils' record before this season stands at 727-521-188 (.579) during the regular-season and 112-88 (.560) during the postseason. The Albany River Rats, the Devil’s farm system until 2006, also won the 1994-95 Calder Cup Championship.
The arrival of Lou Lamoriello at the helm of the Devils coincides with their first appearance in the postseason. They lost to the Bruins in the Eastern Conference Finals that year. That series featured the Jim Schoenfeld/Don Koharski "have another doughnut" incident. After Schoenfeld was banned, Lamoriello stepped in to coach a game. After missing the playoffs in 1988-1989, they made it to the postseason the following 4 seasons only to lose each time in the first round.
First success
Lou Lamoriello hired former Canadiens great Jacques Lemaire and the 1993-1994 season is clearly the beginning of a new era for the Devils. They finished the regular season with a 100 points for the first time in Franchise history and Martin Brodeur won the Calder Trophy as best rookie of the league. They lost to the Rangers that year in the Eastern Conference Finals. Despite the devastating loss, the Devils would use the taste of losing to win the Stanley Cup the following year after sweeping the Detroit Red Wings.
They failed to make the playoffs the following year but qualified for the postseason since. This year is the 10th year in a row the Devils will make the playoffs. They won the cup again in 2000 and 2003. They lost in the Finals in 2001. An interesting fact is that they lost to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion four times (Pittsburgh Penguins, 1990-1991; New York Rangers, 1993-1994; Colorado Avalanche, 2000-2001; Carolina Hurricanes, 2005-2006). They also lost to the Stanley Cup finalist twice (Carolina Hurricanes, 2001-2002; Boston Bruin, 1987-1988).
In eighteen seasons under Lamoriello (the 2004-05 was lost to the lockout), they won three Stanley Cups, lost to the Stanley Cup Champion or finalist six times and missed the postseason only twice.
Innovation
His record as GM aside, Lou Lamoriello has taken part in bringing Russian players to the NHL. The Perestroika was the big thing at the end of the eighties, but it was still hard for Soviet players to be allowed to leave the USSR. Viacheslav Fetisov and Sergei Starikov were the first Russian players to sign a contract to play in the NHL. Fetisov's defense partner, Alexei Kasatonov signed with the Devils shortly after.
How to build a team
He was also behind the arrival of Scott Stevens who was rewarded to the Devils after the St Louis Blues signed Brendan Shanahan as a restricted free agent. Originally the Blues offered goalie Curtis Joseph and forward Rod Brind’Amour as a compensation, but Lamoriello went after the defenseman who captained the Devils to three Stanley Cups.
He built his teams mostly through drafts, a few smart trades and free agent signings. The current team features drafted players: Martin Brodeur, Sergei Brylin, Jay Pandolfo, Patrik Elias, Colin White, Scott Clemmensen, Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta, Paul Martin, Tuomas Pihlman, Cam Janssen, Zach Parise, Travis Zajac, Jim Dowd, Michael Rupp. There are only two players who joined the Devils via trades: Jamie Langenbrunner acquired in 2002 from Dallas and Brad Lukowich in 2006 from the Islanders. The rest of the players were signed as free agents:
- John Madden in 1997, signed out of College (U. of Michigan)
- Brian Rafalski in 1999, signed after playing four seasons in Europe
- Erik Rasmussen in 2003, signed after playing in Los Angeles
- Richard Matvichuk in 2004, signed after playing for Dallas
- David Clarkson in 2005
- Johny Oduya in 2006, signed after spending the previous five seasons in Sweden
- Rod Pelley in 2006, signed out of College (Ohio State University)
- Andy Greene in 2006, signed out of college (Miami University)
The remarkable thing is that Rafalski, Madden, Clarkson, Pelley and Greene were all undrafted. Lou Lamoriello has been able to rely on a strong and smart scouting (directed by David Conte) that is able to provide the Devils with players who more often than not prove to be able to play at the highest level.
Due to their success over the past years, they haven't been able to draft lower than the 20th position since 1996 (Lance Ward, first round, 10th overall). There was an exception in 2003 when they made a deal to grab Zach Parise in the 17th position.
During Lamoriello's presence at the helm of the Devils, some noticeable Devils draftees who have been or are now in the NHL include Mike Commodore, Mike Van Ryn, Willie Mitchell, Scott Parker, Chris Mason, Alyn McCauley, Steve Sullivan, Sheldon Souray, Lance Ward, Brendan Morrison, Stephane Yelle, Cale Hulse, Jason Smith, Brian Rolston, Scott Niedermayer, Jaroslav Modry, Brad Bombardir, Mike Dunham, Bill Guerin.
Making the right decision
- Coaching change
- Breaking up the A-line
Langenbrunner, Friesen were instrumental to the 2003 Cup run. Nieuwendyk brought leadership and Tverdovsky provided some offense at the blue line. When you analyze these trades you have to keep in mind how spectacular the A-line was back then and how brave it was to break it up.
- Taking over as a Coach
- Taking responsibility
Discipline is everything
Lou Lamoriello runs his team like a business. He has brought discipline to the team on and off the ice. He has a no facial hair policy. Even rough and tough Coach Pat Burns had to say good bye to his moustache when he joined the team in June 2002.
The players have to wear suits on game day because above all they represent the organization. Some players have had difficulties to adjust to that discipline. Mike Danton and his famous line "I am not drinking Lou's Kool-aid" got traded and we all know where he ended up.
Discipline and accountability are constant traits of Devils teams. Everybody has a role on the team and Lamoriello expects nothing less from his players than what he provides: hard work. Pat Burns said that after winning the Cup in 2003, Lamoriello didn't stay too long for the celebration and was back to work the next morning. His favorite thing during interviews is to throw the expression "day in and day out" and that's what it is all about: come to work everyday.
Team first attitude
Whether it is scoring fewer points for a forward in order to be defensively responsible or seeing Jean-Sebastien Giguere walk away with the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2003 despite being on the losing team, Devils players often have to sacrifice individual achievements to team's success. Lamoriello builds his team to be contenders every year. The team will always be more important than the players as evidenced by the long time it took the Devils to retire their first number. That's the reason why a player who does not fit in will not stay very long. Most players are willing to accept the tight fisted way the team is run because they are guaranteed a chance to win every year.
Bobby Holik for instance left the team in 2002 to sign with the New York Rangers. Lou Lamoriello tried to keep him, offering him a big contract. Holik refused and missed the post season while the Devils enjoyed another Cup. Scott Niedermayer went to Anaheim in 2005, refusing a more lucrative offer from Lamoriello. Meanwhile Martin Brodeur signed a contract extension way below market value to remain a Devil and Patrick Elias signed a 7-year contract in the summer 2006.
The good side of Lou
Lou Lamoriello has shown his caring side after Burns revealed he was suffering from Colon Cancer right after the Devils were eliminated by the Flyers in 2004. He has not named a coach over the lockout insisting the position would remain Pat Burns' until he completely recovered. Apparently Lou has been very helpful with Pat Burns’s long process during his cancer treatment. He has kept Burns inside the organization and Pat could return as Head Coach next year.
Another display of his caring side is his attitude during Scott Stevens and Ken Daneyko number retirement ceremonies. You could see pride. These two nights he was behind the bench and you could see him sharing that moment with the two players. He was not the tough GM anymore. He was just so proud having shared so much and helped two of the most important players in Devils' history become winners and models.
The truth behind Claude Julien’s firing
Over the last week, sports analysts have tried to find a reason to Claude Julien’s firing. Most agrees the firing came as a surprise and was neither fair nor justified. Indeed the team had a winning record and just went through a lot of injuries to finish March with a 6-6-2 record.
Some say Lou wanted to take over to have a chance to coach the team to a Stanley Cup. That’s non sense. Lamoriello’s interest is in the team. He wants the team to succeed and his knowledge of the game and coaching record allow him to do just that.
Since 2003, the last year the team won the Stanley cup, he has seen the Devils lose in the first round in 2004 and lose in the second round in 2006. He certainly knows what it takes to win the cup and recognize a winning team when he sees one.
He is not someone who looks for excuses and the injuries to key players in his mind probably didn’t explain the last month’s stumble. He didn’t feel the team was getting ready for the playoffs the right way. And to a certain extent he is right. The team has been overachieving pretty much all season, winning with a pretty good defense that carried rookies Oduya and Greene, an incredible season from Martin Brodeur and a less than impressive offense. More than half the games were one goal games and it is a concern. The Devils are sound defensively but the first line has had a terrible year. Elias and Gomez are having sub-par season.
Don’t think it was a quick decision, a panicking move. That’s not how things work with Lamoriello. He weighed in all aspects and decided it was to be done. I feel bad for Julien but Lou made the decision he felt was the best at the time. If he isn’t satisfied, or feels something has to be done, he will take action and make decisions. After all it is his call and his job.
0 commentaires:
Post a Comment