15 Things for the Devils to do in ’15 — Part 2 of 3

By Kevin Canessa Jr.
NewJersey-Devils.com
Publisher

Read Part 1 by clicking here.

Here is part 2 of 3 of our special series “15 Things for the Devils to do in ’15.”

6. Honour Jacques Lemaire. Every time Lemaire coached the Devils, the team enjoyed success. He was there for the first championship. He turned the team around exponentially when they were awful under John MacLean — and he’s never been honoured for his service to the organization. It’s time he is honoured.

7. Celebrate the 25th anniversary of the arrival of Slava Fetisov, Sergei Starikov and Alexei Kasatonov, the first three Russians ever to play in the NHL (in the 1989-1990 season).

Slava Fetisov

Fetisov and Starikov started the season with the team — and their first-ever game was played in Philadelphia of all places. The Flyers intentionally came out to the song “Welcome to the Jungle,” Guns ‘n Roses, to “welcome” Fetisov and Starikov to the league.

Lou’s daring signing of the Russians and their arrival to New Jersey set the way for scores of other Russians to come to the NHL in subsequent years.

The three should be honoured 25 years later for being trailblazers in the league.

8. Have a Colorado Rockies night against the Colorado Avalanche. The Devils will wear Rockies jerseys to recall their time in Colorado — and the Avalanche  will wear throwback Nordiques  jerseys to recall their Quebec years. It would mark the first time the Nordiques jersey would be worn in a game since 1995. We chose Colorado here because it marks the old Colorado v. the current Colorado franchise. The Devils have all but ignored that they once existed in two other cities -- but the reality is, they did exist in Denver and Kansas City. And while those years may not have been the brightest of years, they still happened. So why not have a little fun with it?

A Colorado Rockies jersey.

9. Have a Kansas City Scouts night against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Devils will wear their old Scouts jerseys to recall their years in Kansas City — and the Hurricanes will wear throwback Whalers jerseys to recall their time in Hartford. It would mark the first time Whalers jerseys were worn in a game since 1997.

A KC Scouts jersey.

10. Louis A. Lamoriello has never been honoured for his work at GM. Honor perhaps the greatest general manager not just in the NHL, but all of sports, on a special “Lou Lamoriello” night.

What are your thoughts? Comment here, on Google+ or on our Facebook Group.

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.