| Friday, November 3
By Al Morganti
Special to ESPN.com |
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New Jersey Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello can be a tough guy. In
fact, he's as tough as they come in terms of sports management because he
means what he says. It's never a case of talking tough and then throwing up a
white flag, when Lamoriello digs into an issue, he remains in that stance.
But for all the tough talk, and tough stances Lamoriello has had to make
as the club's general manager, he has a real soft spot in his heart for the
guys packed into his club's locker room in their run to the Eastern
Conference finals against the Philadelphia Flyers.
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“ |
These guys, the way they play, they
deserve to win. This is a team which has learned the price it has to pay to win, the little
things that have to be done. ” |
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— Devils GM Lou Lamoriello |
Lamoriello won't say the team will win the Stanley Cup, should win the
Stanley Cup, or even could win the Stanley Cup. Instead, Lamoriello has
decided this -- his team deserves all the success it has had thus far.
"These guys, the way they play, they deserve to win," said Lamoriello during
Tuesday night's game at Philadelphia in which his team eventually lost to the Flyers. "This is a team which has learned the price it has to pay to win, the
little things that have to be done.
"There is such a fine line between winning and losing. Every year there are
intangibles, but as far as for the things that can be controlled, I think this
team deserves the success it has enjoyed so far."
That "success" has come at a price. After a sturdy start, the team wobbled
badly in the second half, and head coach Robbie Ftorek, a good friend of
Lamoriello's, was fired very late in the season, and replaced with assistant
coach Larry Robinson. "I looked at things, and it didn't look as if they were
getting any better," said Lamoriello.
Lamoriello also made some big roster changes late in the season, acquiring
Vladimir Malakhov and Alexander Mogilny, neither of whom is what you would call a
'Devil-type' player. There were many issues involved, including some
preparation for this summer's expansion draft, but the overall response to
the maneuvers was that the Devils were getting a little risky.
"Sometimes," said Lamoriello, "perception becomes reality. I know that people
looked at (Mogilny) or Malakhov and decided that they were not our kinds of
players. Well, I looked around at what we needed. And I also looked at what
kind of people we had in the locker room.
|  | | Mogilny, center, shown in the Florida series, is a player Lamoriello acquired even though some felt he wasn't a 'Devils-type' player. |
"With a guy like Alex, I think that gives the team the feeling that we have a
game breaker. Will he always break a game open? Of course not, but I think
that with this team it was important to have that feeling that we have a guy
who is capable of that. All it really amounts to is giving this team the best chance to win. With the mix of players we had, we needed a guy like Mogilny."
As for Malakhov, Lamoriello realized the up-and-down career path. However, he
also felt that the players he had in his locker room -- and on his coaching
staff -- made it a good bet. "Not a lot of other teams have what we have as
coaches with Larry (Robinson) and Slava (Fetisov)," said Lamoriello,
referring to the fact that those two were assistant coaches when the deal was
made for Malakhov.
"I don't know of many teams who could count on guys like that to bring a
player along. That, and the fact that I think the type of players in our
locker room can make a big difference in somebody's approach to the game."
Like most NHL locker rooms, the Devils have gone through a variety of
changes. However, the two consecutive first-round exits did not cause
Lamoriello to make wholesale changes.
"I still look at some things in terms of college," said Lamoriello, who is a
legend in college hockey from his days at Providence College, and is one of
the architects of that sport's success. "I look in terms of sophomores,
juniors and seniors.
"At the pro level, that turns into leaders, secondary leaders or middle guys,
and then youth. I think all aspects are important. But if you move out one of
your leaders, you had better make sure there is somebody ready at the next
level.
"We've been really fortunate to have character guys. Guys like Scott Stevens,
Marty (Brodeur), Randy (McKay), Kenny (Daneyko), (Scott) Niedermayer, . . .and
others who have sort of set the tone. And this year, it has helped with the
energy provided by some of the younger players."
Those younger players include the probable rookie of the year Scott Gomez,
along with rookies Brian Rafalski and John Madden, who might be gone the rest
of the playoffs because of a knee injury. In the middle, there is the steady
play of Bobby Holik, and a line that has been together for
light years in terms of NHL compatibility in the form of Jason Arnott, Patrik
Elias and Petr Sykora.
For the most part, the Devils have shown up to play over the past five years
with a pretty steady lineup, and a very consistent approach to the game. The
early playoff exits have caused some alarms to sound, but never caused
Lamoriello to push the panic button and scrap the whole mainframe.
"If you give in to any pressure from anyone but yourself, it ends in
disaster," said Lamoriello. "I don't think you can listen to critics, media,
even ownership. In this position, you were hired to do a job, and you have to
do what you think is right. Input? Certainly. But once you start reacting to
what you perceive as pressure, you can't succeed, at least in my opinion."
Lamoriello is in a unique position in that the team is playing in the
twilight of John McMullen's ownership. Lamoriello will be the most sought
after free agent when this season is over, and there is a sense that
Lamoriello wants to win it all more this season, just because it is the last
year of the McMullen/Lamoriello regime.
But, the Devils have become a team that only worries about
things within its own control. "We are playing against another team," said
Lamoriello. "But what we are really doing is competing against ourselves. The
best way to gain any success is to set standards for yourself, for a team,
and then try to play up to those standards."
Perhaps that is why the Devils were not thrilled when they won the first game
of the series in Philadelphia, but played too wide open to satisfy their own
standards. "I think the fact the team realized some of the problems, despite
the win, shows what they are all about," said Lamoriello.
It might also have shown the Devils knew that, despite that win in the
first game, it was not going to be an easy series.
Al Morganti covers the NHL for ESPN. |  |
