DeBoer's the Right Choice to Lead the Devils

New Jersey Devils Head Coach
Peter DeBoer was the coach of the
Florida Panthers for three seasons.

By Kevin Canessa Jr.
NewJerseyDevilsBlog

There have been quite a few people -- whether on Facebook or Twitter or on message boards -- who have questioned Lou Lamoriello's decision to hire Peter DeBoer as head coach.

I am far from one of them.

In fact, the day he was fired by the Panthers down in Miami, my first thought was "Damn, if Jacques re-retires, I want DeBoer here." In fact, I remember a few months ago texting Panthers' radio play-by-play genius Randy Moller and asking him if he would come in a package with DeBoer for the 2011-12 season. (Moller's another story for later this week).

DeBoer was a surprise hire by the Panthers a few years ago when Jacques Martin, then GM of the Panthers chose him as his head coach. He had been the coach of the Kitchener Rangers, a minor league program. 

And while he never made the playoffs with the Panthers, he did lead them to a 93-point season a few years ago in a wildly difficult Eastern Conference. They just missed the playoffs.

Unfortunately for Peter, Martin never gave him anything to work with really -- and Dale Talon, the current GM, wanted to mold his own team -- with a new coach.

DeBoer brings what very few NHL coaches can -- experience working with younger kids. And with the addition of Adam Larsson, the fourth-overall pick in this year's draft, there probably isn't a better coach out there to mold him -- just as DeBoer got the best out of David Booth in Miami, injuries notwithstanding.

In addition to his greatness with younger players, DeBoer is an absolutely, downright awesome guy. He was a regular on the Sid Rosenberg Show last season -- and when I was able to ask him a question once, I was pleasantly surprised by his answer. 

If you had to start a team fresh, would you first choose Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin or, our guy, Zach Parise. 

Sid was shocked -- but DeBoer agreed with me -- that he'd love to be able to mold a team around Parise, who he said, at that time, may very well be the best all-around NHLer. 

This guy knows the Devils already. He fits into the Devils style. Defense first with offense paramount. This won't be a boring team at all. In fact, think of it this way.

It'll be the first-full season we see Parise play with Ilya Kovalchuk. 

And with DeBoer behind the bench, this season is going to make up for the last one's disappointments.

It's July 19 -- and I hope to look back at this story once again and April. And when I do, I'm really hoping I'll be able to make good on my guarantee that DeBoer's the best man for this job -- and be able to say I told you so.

Will Jacques Lemaire Return Yet Again?

WILL HE OR WONT HE? -- Could
Jacques Lemaire unretire ... again?

So here we are -- it's July 19 already, prospect camp is over, as is the draft -- and there's still no coach in place. Perhaps most remarkably, this goes against the norm of nearly every new coach hire in the National Hockey League. Often, we hear about how a general manager wants his new coach in place before the draft -- and before summer activities. 

So this all has to beg questions: Is Jacques Lemaire playing a game of hardball to get an enormous contract to re-re-re-un-retire ... is Lou Lamoriello delusional in thinking Lemaire might reconsider coaching ... is Lemaire bluffing for fun ... or is this just "Mystery Lou" doing his thing again?

Best-case scenario -- Lemaire decides to return, as highly unlikely as it may seem right now based on all reports. (Though stranger things have happened before). Worst-case scenario -- we wait even longer, and perhaps get word on a new coach by late August/early September.

Therrien Lamoriello's Second Choice for Coach?

Interesting report out of The New York Post. 

Mark Everson reports Michel Therrien is Lou Lamoriello's second choice for head coach in the likely even he's unable to coax Jacques Lemaire to re-re-re-consider retirement. 

Click here to read the report.