New Jersey Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello is returning to the bench. (USATSI)
After firing coach Pete DeBoer on Friday, the New Jersey Devils had to do something regarding their coaching situation before Saturday's game against the New York Rangers.
Instead of hiring a new coach to run the team for the remainder of the season, general manager Lou Lamoriello announced on Saturday that he is going to return to the team's bench and will be joined by Adam Oates and Scott Stevens. No official titles have been announced for the latter two, while the Devils would only say that Oates will work with the forwards and Stevens will work with the defense.
Lamoriello called the situation a "unique" one, and said that it would be unfair to ask one person to come in and be the head coach for the rest of the season.
It will be the third time that Lamoriello has taken a spot on the Devils' bench, all of them coming after he fired a coach in-season. During his time as a coach he has compiled a 34-14-5 regular season record during brief stints in 2005-06 and 2006-07.
If nothing else, it could give Lamoriello a closer look at the team he has constructed over the years which definitely has its share of shortcomings offensively and is by far the oldest one in the league.
As far as Oates and Stevens are concerned, both have experience behind the Devils' bench as assistants. Stevens resigned as a Devils assistant coach before the start of the 2014-15 season, while Oates served as an assistant and power play specialist before taking the Washington Capitals' head coaching job at the start of the 2012-13 season.
Lamoriello said that experience with the team and a lot of the players played a role in bringing them back to the staff.
0 comments:
Post a Comment