Lou Lamoriello has been seen for many years as one of the most aggressive and innovative general managers in hockey. He now might hold the title of the craziest.
On Monday, Lamoriello fired Claude Julien, head coach of the New Jersey Devils, taking over the reins of the team himself. Yep, that's the same Julien, who, in his first year with the organization, led the team to a 48-24-7 record. The same Julien who, at the time of his firing, had the Devils in first place in the Atlantic Division and second place in the Eastern Conference with 102 points, and the same Julien who did this with many of his top players injured and an ineffective backup goalie, which has forced Martin Brodeur to start virtually every game this season.
Lamoriello told reporters on the day of the firing, "I didn't think we're at a point of being both mentally and physically ready to play the way that is necessary going into the playoffs."
He said this about a team that had won four of their previous five games.
Those who support Lamoriello will point to last season, after then-head coach Larry Robinson resigned, Lamoriello took over the team and led it to a 32-14-4 record and an Atlantic Division championship. It needs to be asked then, why did he hire Julien in the first place? If Lamoriello truly thought he was the best man for the job, why didn't he stay behind the bench? Why hire Julien, have him coach this team about as well as anyone could, and then fire him with three games left in the regular season?
Quite honestly, if anyone is to blame for anything in New Jersey it is their 64-year-old general manager. With Patrick Elias, Brian Gionta, John Madden and Scott Gomez all missing significant time this season due to injuries, isn't it his responsibility as a general manager to find adequate replacements? Wouldn't Bill Guerin or Peter Forsberg have fit in nicely with this struggling offense, which is currently second-to-last in goals in the East behind only Washington, while it waited for its other stars to return?
Of course it would have. Only the Devils have no room under the salary cap to make these moves because Lamoriello gave ridiculous post-lockout contracts to over-the-hill verterans Vladimir Malakhov, Dan McGillis and Alexander Mogilny. The three have combined to play zero games for the team this year, with McGillis and Mogilny both inactive and Malakhov traded earlier in the season after being suspended from the team. While they were playing, they didn't help much either; here are their impressive stat lines from a season ago. Malakhov played in 39 games, scoring 9 points, McGillis played in played in 27 games scoring 6 points, and Mogilny, the man New Jersey is paying $3.5 million this season to watch Devils games from his couch, played in only 37 games last year.
It is also due to salary cap restraints that the Devils have been forced to play Brodeur - their All-Star goalie - more than any other in the league. How can they expect the 34-year-old to be fresh when he's started a league-high 77 games? Maybe the best statistic from the entire season is this - Martin Brodeur has missed exactly one start since Dec. 14.
Seriously, think about the things that have happened in the world since Dec. 14. Petyon Manning won a Super Bowl. The University of Florida won national championships in both football and men's basketball. Britney Spears has gotten divorced, entered rehab twice and shaved her head.
You get the point. But regardless, due to Lamoriello's inability to acquire an effective backup goalie, Brodeur is going to have possibly his best statistical season ever - he is currently first in wins, third in goals against average and second in save percentage by any goalie who's started 69 or more games - and it's all going to be for nothing when he either breaks down in the playoffs, or his team can't score enough to beat a more offensively complete team such as Buffalo or Pittsburgh.
Lamoriello has been in his position since 1987, currently the longest tenured general manager in the NHL. Over that time, he's clearly made some correct decisions- the team's won three Stanley Cups since 1995. But they've also gone through seven coaches since 2000, and have given a number of bad contracts to older players that are still hampering the team to this day. Expect the Devils to win at least their first-round series in this year's playoffs, but advancing much past that point will be tough with a struggling offense and a goalie who's got to be feeling the effects of close to 80 games played. And when the Devils do fizzle come playoff time, it won't be anyone's fault, - that is, except for the new coach behind the bench.
Aaron Torres' NHL column runs every Friday. He can be reached at aaron.s.torres@uconn.edu.
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