When the Devils host the Flyers tonight at the Rock, on the brink of elimination, down 3-1 in their playoff series, they will playing with a coaching disadvantage.  Devils’ coach, Jacques Lemaire, is a 2 times Jack Adams Award winner,  and has won 11 Stanley Cups as a player, coach and executive. He has a career coaching record of 538-415-176 in 14 seasons with Montreal, New Jersey and Minnesota. So how can the Devils be at a disadvantage you ask?

I was one who predicted and wanted Jacques Lemaire to return to coaching the Devils. And for half of this season it seemed like the right move. Lemaire was carefully crafting and manipulating the Devils with all of the key player injuries they had.  He saw the game exactly as I saw it and he seemed to be a coaching “genius,” making the right moves, placing the right lines out there and working magic to have the Devils 1st in the NHL with essentially a 1/2 AHL team.

About halfway through the season, as the more talented players returned from their injuries, Lemaire and I stopped seeing the Devils the same way. I held my tongue thinking a greater mind was at work. However, it has become obvious that Lemaire is an expert at an under-talented team but has no clue how to coach elite players to a championship in 2010.

In the press conference after the game 4 loss against Philly, he basically said he needed his “best players to make good plays and score.” He seemed clueless as to how that was going to happen or what strategy to employ to make that happen. He has tried desperately to make the power play work, with 2 of the best forwards in the NHL, Ilya Kovlachuk and Zach Parise, to no avail.

The Devils’ power play strategy is over simplistic with 2 shooting forwards at the point and one shoots with a screen, allowing the other team to crowd the box, preventing quality shots or rebounds. In addition, he continues to play Paul Martin and Brian Rolston ahead of future all-star defender, Andy Greene,  who has been a surprise phenom this year. Greene’s speed, game awareness, accurate and deflect-able shot, and ability to keep the puck in the zone make him invaluable on the power play, but he gets little time there. Greene lead all Devil defenders this year with 37 points (more that twice any other Devils’ defender), including 4 power play goals.

Lemaire has juggled the Devils’ forwards lines period to period, game to game throughout the year, much to the dismay of most Devils’ fans (and players). No chemistry has seem to form from his top 6 players. He hasn’t even found how to use Kovlachuk (twice a NHL 50 goal scorer) in an effective way. Right now his top 2 lines are Parise-Elias-Zubrus and Kovlachuk-Zajac-Langenbrunner. Those lines have failed to register an even strength goal in the 2 games in Philadelphia. He even scrambled his defensive parings for the playoffs, pairing his 2 best defenders, Paul Martin and Andy Greene together, leaving a 3rd paring of immobile defensemen, Bryce Salvador and Martin Skoula (acquired at the trade deadline from Pittsburgh and Toronto), who have been brutal at times under the Flyers aggressive forecheck.

There is a story floating around that after the game 4 loss in Philly, Devils’ President/GM/Supreme Leader, Lou Lamoriello threw a fit (and a jelly jar) at his coaches over the poor effort that resulted in an embarrassing 4-1 playoff defeat. It appears his tirade (which I have never heard Lou do before) was directed at the coaches. While many may rightly blame the players, both Lamoriello and I agree, if the Devils lose this one, it is on the head coach.

Lamoriello and I were both wrong about Lemaire being the right coach for this team. If the Devils get ousted in the first playoff round this year (the 3rd straight year), Lemaire will surely not be back. He will quickly find work however, since he will be a perfect fit for a team like Edmonton. He might actually get them into the playoffs!

As for the Devils this year, let’s see whether Lamoriello’s jelly jar tantrum gets us a playoff game 6 or a coach that’s toast.

The NJ Devils have been mired in a scoring slump and as a result they have gone 3-6-1 in their last 10 games. They were leading Pittsburgh for the Atlantic lead by 6 points and are now only one point ahead. Scoring has been the issue with seemingly Travis Zajac and Zach Parise being the only Devils who can generate offense, let alone score. If it wasn’t for the stellar play of Martin Brodeur, the Devils would probably be 0 for 10.

Rob Niedermayer and Dean McAmmond, both excellent and cheap free agent pick-ups, who were playing above their heads for much of the early season, have cooled off and have looked like the 4th line centers they really are. The injuries to top six forwards Danius Zubrus, Patrik Elias, David Clarkson and top defender Paul Martin have finally caught up with the Devils. You can only substitute AHL players for so long and win; even when your head coach (Jacques Lemaire) is a genius.

The Devils are in desperate need of a play making centerman. Did someone shout out Scott Gomez? An impact player on defense would be helpful too. Did some shout out Dion Phaneuf? Ok, I know, the Devils did not have the players to offer Calgary that Toronto was able to. But we can fantasize about Dion can’t we?

Getting us back to the issue at hand,  it appears there is traction to rumors that the Devils and Atlanta are looking to make a deal. According to Tom Gulitti of northjersey.com:

“Atlanta Thrashers associate GM Rick Dudley reportedly attended Lowell’s game tonight. Dudley was also in Toronto for the Devils’ game against the Maple Leafs on Tuesday night. Thrashers GM Don Waddell was at Sunday’s Devils’ game against Los Angeles at Prudential Center.”

We also know that the high powered scorer, Ilya Kovalchuk, is on the block as the Thrashers and him seemed destined to part ways as he becomes a UFA this summer. Word is he has been told to expect to be traded in the next few days. Could a package of young players be going to Atlanta for Ilya Kovalchuk and maybe a centerman? An internet rumor suggests that a package of Niclas Bergfors,  John Oduya ,  top AHL prospect Nick Palmieri and a Devils’ first round pick would get Kovalchuk.

While the excitement for Devils’ fans grows at the prospect of finally getting a n NHL top 5 player, one must temper themselves knowing that Lou Lamoriello is the least likely GM to mortgage the future for a potential rental property. Kovalchuk is asking for a huge contract going forward; the kind of long-term contract the Devils’ never do. On the other hand, Martin Brodeur is 36 years old and still at the top of his game. The future may be now.

Just another dominating performance by the NJ Devils last night. Patrik Elias with 2 goals and Martin Brodeur was spectacular in net. Devils now stand at the season’s halfway point at 30-10-1, which is the best start ever in franchise history. Wow!

Enjoy some photos from the Rock last night:  Devils vs Stars 01-05-2010

And on a side note: I love when The NY Post  Devils’ beat writer, steals stuff from my NJ Devil’s forum, www.njdevs.com.

Setting team records is the best they can do these days, with an eye-popping 30-10-1, and they still could use the same offensive center and top-four defenseman they lacked in August. Their top backliner couldn’t crack last year’s squad, and two of their key centers were unsigned by 29 other teams until after camp began.

“General manager Lou Lamoriello has work to do in the next two months, making sure that this best-ever base doesn’t go to playoff waste when he has the opportunity and cap space to beef it up, perhaps with a center like Saku Koivu and the return of defenseman Scott Niedermayer.”

Read what I wrote yesterday: www.njdevs.com

Read more Everson: NY Post

Who would have thunk it? Head Coach Brent Sutter walks out unexpectedly on the Devils this past Spring after 2 consecutive first round playoff losses. The Devils lose veterans John Madden, Brian Gionta and Mike Rupp  to free agency. They lose top defensemen, and USA Olympian, Paul Martin (still out) for much of the season. They have been or are without key starting forwards, Danius Zubrus, Patrik Elias, David Clarkson, Jay Pandolfo, and Rob Niedermayer. They currently are playing without Clarkson, Salvador, Martin, and Zubrus. All of these players have been or are being replaced by:

1. Brilliant free agents pickups such as Rob Niedermayer and Dean McAmmond
2. A procession of AHLers from Lowell

Some younger players that have finally made the Devils’ team like Nichalos Bergfors, who is second in rookie scoring behind the Isles’ John Taveres and has 8 power play goals.

Last night the Devils improved their LEAGUE LEADING winning percentage and  59 points in 40 games (Sharks have 61 in 42 games) by beating Jacques Lemaire’s previous team of 8 years, the Minnesota Wild 5-3.  One could argue the Devil’s should have easily beaten the Wild and the victory was no big deal. But what is most interesting and so typical of the Devils is the way they won last night. They beat Minnesota at their own game. The Devils have been very successful this year adapting their game to meet the way the other team plays. If they need to run and gun they can. If they need to play tight checking, simple hockey they can. Whatever it takes to win Jacques dials up the answers and the Devils respond…seemingly no matter what players are on the ice. Last night the Devils played with essentially 4 defensemen, and their top center, Travis Zajac, having an off game. That’s no problem for these Devils. Captain Jamie Langenbrunner registered his first career hat trick, Martin Brodeur continued his stunningly brilliant play in goal, Patrik Elias played like the underrated superstar he is and Andy Greene played defense like the all-star player he is becoming. The result is another Devils victory. To paraphrase Ken Daneyko’s from the other night, “I sat next to Gordie Howe tonight and he remarked that the Devils are playing the best team game in the NHL right now. They work hard shift after shift as a 5-man unit.” And that is why they lead the league.

There was a sequence of plays from the game last night that typifies the Devils’ season. The Devils were changing lines and Patrick Elias had the puck on the boards, trying to delay long enough for his teammates to come on the ice. Dean McAmmond (a player no one wanted this September), alertly came onto the ice. Elias flipped the puck up the boards to him and he out-skated the defenders to the goal and shot a back-handed, highlight reel goal past Minnesota goalie, Nicholas Backstrom. While that was a fantastic play, and typifies the smarts, awareness and teamwork the Devils have shown most of the year, it is what happened next that is what the 2009-2010 Devils are about. After the very next face off, with McAmmond’s line on the ice, Devils’ defenseman Johnny Oduya, made a mistake. He “pinched” into the neutral zone and missed his man and the puck. McAmmond, who could have been distracted by his own glory, was on top of the play. McAmmond sped into Oduya’s position, pressed the puck carrier to slow him down and then rushed toward the Devils’ net to recover the Minnesota forward breaking to the net, who was waiting for the cross-ice pass from the man McAmmond just delayed. The play was defused. There’s no stat for that kind of play from your 4th line center other than in the win column.