New Jersey Devils : The Beast of the East-Blog about the New Jersey Devils (NHL Hockey): Kleinendorst

Claude Julien's firing made me look back at the different coaches we had over the past ten years.

Ten years ago, Jacques Lemaire was still the Head Coach. He was hired on June 28, 1993. He was the last coach to spend such a long time at the helm of the New Jersey Devils. He stayed almost five years coaching the Devils. The highlight of his stay was winning the Stanley Cup in 1995. He is forever linked to the Devils because of the style of play he employed and making a team play into a certain system.

He compiled a record of 199-122-57 (.602). The team also collected the Atlantic Division title in 1996-97 and 1997-98.

Larry Robinson, Dennis Gendron, Chris Nilan, Robbie Ftorek served as assistant coaches. Keep those names in mind.

Robbie Ftorek took over after Jacques Lemaire resigned in 1998. During his coaching career with the Devils, Ftorek, compiled a 88-49-19 (.625) record. He was fired with just 8 games remaining in the 1999-00 season after a 41-25-8 record.

Larry Robinson took over. He lead the Devils to their second cup and took them to the Stanley Cup Finals the following year. He compiled a 73-49-19 regular season record and a 31-17 record in the playoffs. He got fired on January 28, 2002 when the Lou lamoriello realized the team may miss the playoffs.

Viacheslav Fetisov, Bob Carpenter two former Devils players, Kurt Kleinendorst, Jay Leach served as assistant coaches.

Kevin Constantine replaced Larry Robinson and put the Devils in the Playoffs. They eventually lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in the First round and Constantine got fired in june 2002. The Late John Cunniff, a former Devils coach from 1989 to 1991 served as assistant coach for Kevin Constantine just before he died. Larry Robinson returned as assistant coach about a month after he was fired.

Pat Burns was hired as Head Coach on June 13, 2002. He took over after a disappointing season where the Devils lost in the first round of the playoffs. He put on a 46-26-10 record in his first season and was 16-8 in the playoffs when he helped capture the Devils Third Cup in 2003. He had a 43-27-12 record the following season but the team lost in the first round of the playoffs. That's when Pat Burns revealed he was suffering from colon cancer. Lou Lamoriello left the position opened for Pat Burns until he was all recovered. Pat Burns suffered another setback and hasn't resumed coaching yet.

Bob Carpenter, John MacLean two former Devils players, Jacques Laperriere served as assistant coaches.

The year after the lockout and with Burns still sick, Lou Lamoriello turned to Larry Robinson to resume as Head Coach. Larry Robinson looked as a good choice and he had been successful with the team before. The new style of play of the new NHL required major adjustments and he took the Devils some time to get used to it. Larry Robinson took it too personally and got sick from stress. He decided to resign in December 2005 after a 14-13-5 record. Lou Lamoriello decided there was no good replacements available and he decided to take over as coach. He turned things around and went 32-14-4 to put the Devils in the Playoffs. The most remarkable achievement was to overcome a 19 point deficit in January to capture the Division title with an 11 game winning streak to finish the season. He also swept the Rangers in the first round before falling to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions, the Carolina hurricanes.

Lou Lamoriello stepped down after the loss and hired Claude Julien in June 2006. After scoring a 102 points this season, and going 47W-24L-8OTL, Claude Julien was fired today. Lou Lamoriello takes over as Head Coach.

In the last 10 years, the Devils went through 9 coaches, 4 coaches stints in the last two seasons with Lamoriello coaching twice.

Larry Robinson started as an assistant coach and coached the team twice. Dennis 'Red' Gendron was an assistant coach under Lemaire and served as head coach for the Albany River Rats. He was replaced during the 2003-04 AHL season by Robbie Ftorek.

Viacheslav Fetisov, Bob Carpenter two former Devils players served as assistant coaches under Larry Robinson along with Kurt Kleinendorst. Bob Carpenter has also been head coach of the former Devils affiliate, the Albany River Rats.

Kurt Kleinendorst is the current Head Coach of the Lowell Devils, the new Devils farm team.

John MacLean who has been one of the best Devil player has been an assistant coach for a while now and was thought to be the next head coach but Lou Lamoriello thought it was too early for him to step up when Larry Robinson resigned.

This demonstrate the philosophy of the organisation who has heavily relied on people who are brought up within the organisation. Apart from Lemaire, Constantine, Julien and Burns, all the other coach are Made in Lou Lamoriello's mold. The one coach who has unfinished business with the Devils is Pat Burns. If he is completely recovered which appears to be the case, Lou Lamoriello will make a strong push to have Burns back for next year. The two men have a lot of respect for each other and Burns is loyal and owes a lot to Lamoriello. My guess is Burns will be back after this season and to be honest I can't wait to see him again.

New Jersey Devils : The Beast of the East-Blog about the New Jersey Devils (NHL Hockey)

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New Jersey Devils coaches over the past 10 years

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