“New” New Jersey Devils Head Coach Announcement not expected anytime soon –NHL offseason Update
After legendary hockey player and 65-year-old hall of famer, New Jersey Devils' head coach, Jacques Lemaire, announced his retirement in April of last season, the Eastern Conference franchise has still not been able to fill a gap left by one of the hockey’s
best.
Lemaire was considered to be one of the best coaches out of the nearly 16 coaches New Jersey has had and many are of the view that he might reconsider, but according to him, his retirement was final.
"He did a great job", Devils star forward Ilya Kovalchuk said. "We'll see. Maybe he changes his mind and comes back next year. It's bad. I think he brought the team back and he did a lot of good things for the organization".
Speculations arose earlier this week that a new head coach was in the pipeline and an announcement by New Jersey Devils general manager, Lou Lamoriello, could be made at any time, but he took the time on Tuesday to clarify his position and took everyone
abroad, back to square one.
"We will have a coach in the very near future, but not this week," Lamoriello said during a press conference at the AmeriHealth Pavillion on Tuesday, along with briefing the media on the Devils rookie camp.
According to Lamoriello, a head coach is not necessary especially for training camp, since the players will be mostly dealing with their position specific trainers and coaches. It will be a need during the regular season, which begins in October, but for
now, Larry Robinson, the current assistant coach who also served under fired coach John MacLean and Jacques Lemaire, has taken temporary charge of the position.
There are a number of names that have popped up from time to time, including names like Larry Robinson, Scott Stevens, Adam Oates, Chris Terreri, Jacques Caron, Kevin Dean, Rick Kowalsky, Guy Carbonneau, Michel Therrien, Ken Hitchcock and Craig MacTavish.
Whoever the next coach might be, it is certain that it will not be official anytime during this week, but according to sources, it is definite, that New Jersey Devils will play with a new coach next season, their seventh in seven seasons.
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