The latest Devils captain said he will live with any tarnish his reputation suffered unjustly over the last 50-games of his tenure in New Jersey.
Jamie Langenbrunner, a member of the Stars now, acknowledged that he has taken some blame for the Devils’ struggles, starting last spring and continuing through the first half of this season. He waived his no-trade clause and was dealt for a possible second-round pick to Dallas Jan. 7, just before the Devils went on their current tear — a 15-1-2 rampage after last night’s 4-1 victory over Carolina.
“I pride myself on not being a distraction or source of conflict. If I get painted as a villain because of a situation where all the facts aren’t out there, well, I’ll fall on that sword,” Langenbrunner told The Post.
“Because people put something out doesn’t make it fact. I got painted as the bad guy. But, oh well,” said Langenbrunner, who will face the Devils when they visit Dallas on Tuesday.
He refused to disclose any of the issues he says were erroneously portrayed.
“It’s part of being on a team. There are things that don’t need to be aired,” Langenbrunner said.
The issue erupted late last season after coach Jacques Lemaire told Langenbrunner to take a game off, ending his Iron Man streak, yet made him travel to watch the road game. Another version was that Lemaire asked Colin White to wear the “C” for the game Langenbrunner was to miss, but White refused, indicating the request was disrespectful to Langenbrunner.
Langenbrunner said he was asked in September to waive his no-trade clause and thinks he might have been better off agreeing then.
“It was discussed, waiving my no-trade, during training camp, before Jacques came back. It may be a decision I regret, letting it weigh on my mind,” Langenbrunner said.
It’s almost forgotten now, but the real reason general manager Lou Lamoriello asked Langenbrunner to waive his salary cap in September most likely was to find his way out of his salary cap fiasco that threatened forfeiture of games.
Only the concussion suffered by Bryce Salvador and the radical decisions to go with minimum-wage rookies and a short roster allowed the Devils to start the season without further deals. Brian Rolston’s injury absence soon eased New Jersey’s cap worries.
The January trade appears to have been the first step of an abortive housecleaning that Lamoriello halted as soon as the Devils started winning.
Lemaire said he told Lamoriello that he had no problem with Langenbrunner, adding that he told the general manager he liked the captain’s attitude. Langenbrunner said the reverse was true, too.
“I had no problem with Jacques,” he said. “I think we were fine. And in conversations with Lou when the trade was being made, he told me [Lemaire said he had no issue] with me, either.”
Langenbrunner said he was never given the option to play for the Flyers, who offered a better deal to the Devils, which Flyers sources say could have gone to a first-round draft choice, as well as another pick.
“There was no offer of any sort other than [Dallas] that was discussed. No other team was ever brought to my attention,” said Langenbrunner, who had hoped to remain near his family in New Jersey.
Langenbrunner, 35, said he hopes his old team makes the playoffs, but adds the coincidence of their rise with his departure is just that, coincidence.
“I’m pretty sure we won a lot of games while I was there,” Langenbrunner said. “I said it to my wife when they asked me to waive my no-trade: ‘It’s going to get turned around.’ You saw it coming.
“We all know that it’s a good hockey team that lost its way. I have a lot of good friends on that team. I want them to do well. It is a tough climb. The odds are against them. It’s uphill but they’re giving themselves the opportunity. It shows the pride that is in that organization. Do I wish I was part of that? It’d sure be nice it everything was rosy all the time.”
It’s bound to more than “odd, playing them,” as Langenbrunner said.
Tuesday will be one more reminder that their last Cup team, 2003, is becoming Devils history.