December 23, 2010, New Jersey Devils fire head coach John MacLean story for HockeyPrimeTime.com

Devils fire MacLean, re-hire Lemaire

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Written by Denis Gorman

Thursday, December 23, 2010 12:51

Lou Lamoriello did what had been long expected earlier today, firing John MacLean as head coach of the New Jersey Devils. Jacques Lemaire will replace MacLean behind the bench beginning tonight against the New York Islanders. This will be Lemarie’s third tenure as coach of the Devils. "This is a decision that certainly was not one that is pleasant," Lamoriello told reporters Thursday morning. "It's a decision that, in my opinion, had to be made. "Maybe we were teased with signs at different times, and as I said I take responsibility for waiting to try to get it where it should. Under no set of circumstances should all this respsonsibility be ont he coach, by any means. The responsibility lies on the players, and myself, for what couldn't be done. The Devils entered the 2010-11 campaign with Stanley Cup aspirations after overhauling the defensive unit and re-signing superstar winger Ilya Kovalchuk to a 15-year, $100 million contact. But with MacLean’s constant line shuffling, the lack of a legitimate No. 1 defenseman and no left-handed defenseman quickly caused the Devils' hopes to nosedive. New Jersey has the league’s worst record at 9-22-2 and has lost its last three games in a row by an aggregate 15-3 score. Following the Devils’ 5-1 loss to the Capitals in Washington, Martin Brodeur told The Record of Hackensack that “we got outplayed again, outworked. It’s not the big guns that beat us tonight. It’s the grinders, the guys that play the game hard. That says a lot about the way we played in that their hard-working guys are beating your hard-working guys.” With 49 games left in their season, the Devils would have to win 35 in order to possibly put themselves in position for a playoff berth for the 14th year in a row. The Devils last missed the playoffs in the 1995-96 season, a year in which Lemaire was coach. The rest of the coaching staff will stay intact. Lamoriello said that Lemaire will coach the rest of this season, but not beyond. "There is time to get back on track," Lamoriello said. "I really believe that." MacLean’s relationship with his players – specifically Kovalchuk – has come into question as well. He sat the Russian for an Oct. 23 loss to Buffalo at The Prudential Center for being 10 minutes late for a team meeting. MacLean would not answer reporters’ questions about his rationale for benching Kovalchuk, who was told of the decision following warm-ups. Kovalchuk was not available for questions after the game. The next afternoon, prior to a 3-1 loss to the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, both coach and player attempted to spin the decision as a learning lesson and as something that would not affect their relationship or the team. "It’s over. The issue is over. We (have) a new game. It’s a new day. The most important game is the one you’re playing,” MacLean said. “It was his decision to give me a little rest and that’s it,” Kovalchuk said. His eight goals and 18 points rank second on the team behind Jason Arnott and Patrik Elias, respectively. “It’s his decision and it’s going to stay between me and him. I’m just a player and I’m going to show up and play. I like to play but it’s his decision and I have no comments.” On Twitter: @HockeyPrimeTime and @DenisGorman

Last Updated on Thursday, December 23, 2010 13:03

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