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This latest mysterious move by Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello might foster less skepticism if it wasn’t his ninth coaching change since the last lockout. The 100-day hunt for a coach to lead the team back to the playoffs yesterday produced one who has never been there.
It is clearly more philosophy, work ethic and intangibles than his NHL track record that made Pete DeBoer the Devils’ coach. DeBoer never coached the Panthers to the playoffs during three years in his first NHL job, yet that is his task for a Devils team that missed the postseason for the first time in 14 seasons.
“We’re going to be the beneficiaries,” Lamoriello said of DeBoer’s tenure in Florida. “Technically, he’s as sound as anyone. He works at it. In my mind, he’s just an outstanding choice.”
DeBoer didn’t have much to work with in Florida.
“While I’m not proud of the actual record, I think we played the right way,” he said. “We were a hard team to play against. You hope someone notices the job you did, despite the standings.”
Lamoriello overlooked the record to the point where he mistakenly said DeBoer made the playoffs in 2009. The Panthers and Canadiens tied with 93 points and 41 victories, but Montreal won the tiebreaker.
“He’s young, he has excellent experiences dealing with all types of players,” Lamoriello said. “He also served as assistant in international play with elite players, where he could watch how other people handle them. He’s gained three years of outstanding apprenticeship, if you want to call it that.
“Remember, he went into Florida and they made the playoffs in his first year. I think they did, anyway. No? They just missed?”
DeBoer brings a 103-107-36 career mark to New Jersey. The 43-year-old was fired April 11 after the Panthers went 30-40-12 last season.
“I’m a much better coach having gone through that experience,” DeBoer said. “I think Lou is looking for stability. It’s going to be my responsibility not to give him a reason to make a change.”
DeBoer said he is a “hybrid” coach, and that should calm concerns surrounding the candidacy of Michel Therrien that the Devils would become a trap team again.
“I don’t know if I fit in any one of those boxes,” DeBoer said. “I want to keep the defensive structure that has made this organization so successful. That’s the foundation of this team. At the same time, try to create some more offense, more goals, more shots. I like to forecheck. I like to pursue the puck. I like to dictate the pace of play.”
He could not dictate the pace of the hiring, which occurred yesterday morning, 100 days after Jacques Lemaire stepped down following the season finale. He said he had to be “patient,” following his first, early interview and subsequent talks.
“This isn’t something that came about overnight. There were other candidates,” said Lamoriello, who said he was impressed with DeBoer by “how the changes are made, how the tweaks are made, the positions [decided].
“You can go through the National Hockey League and there are people who stick out and people who don’t. When he came out of junior, he was the most sought-after junior coach. What he went through there made him a better coach. And I felt that way in the conversations we had — the questions that were asked, the answers that were given and also what he offered. Open, down-to-earth and honest.”
Lamoriello said he wants stability, but only through winning.
“Stability brings winning,” Lamoriello said. “When you’re not winning, what good does it do? I don’t apologize for that.”
Lamoriello also put the onus on DeBoer to get the best out of the Devils’ star forwards.
“Coaches have to adjust to teams. Teams don’t adjust to coaches,” Lamoriello said. “The talent you have, you have to maximize and that’s a very important factor.”
Lamoriello passed up such names as Therrien, Ken Hitchcock, Craig MacTavish and Guy Carbonneau to tab DeBoer, who won the Canadian Hockey League’s Memorial Cup as a coach in junior hockey.
Lemaire said Lamoriello asked him to return after he stepped aside. Lemaire replaced John MacLean as coach Dec. 23 after the Devils went 9-22-2 for the rookie who was hired June 17, 2010. The Devils went 29-17-3 under Lemaire, including a 23-3-3 run.
DeBoer just wants his first playoff shot.
“No point prediction,” he said. “We want to be in the dance and have a chance.”