Lemaire the right fit -- again
OK, hands up all of you who were confident the New Jersey Devils -- who endured their annual offseason of star defections and then saw their head coach beg off the job and then suffered injuries to some of the stars who were still hanging around -- would be sitting atop the Atlantic Division standings come mid-November?
Sorry, Lou, you don't count.
You, either, Jacques.
Not so many hands now.
But that's the thing with the Devils as they prepare to square off Thursday night in Pittsburgh against the defending Stanley Cup champs, the two teams tied atop the Atlantic: They simply defy logic.
When president and GM Lou Lamoriello realized former coach Brent Sutter had a foot and a half out the door last summer, eyeing the Calgary Flames coaching job, Lamoriello turned to a familiar face in Jacques Lemaire, who had decided his tenure in Minnesota had run its course.
At the time it seemed not so much a move borne of desperation, but maybe lacking somehow in imagination. Why not try someone new? Why Lemaire again?
But Lamoriello knows what he knows, and he knows Lemaire, having brought him in to guide the Devils to their first of three Stanley Cups.
"I've been through those questions before," Lamoriello joked this week as he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the builders' category.
He recalled hiring Lemaire in 1993 because he thought the Devils were close but needed someone behind the bench to get them over the hump.
"We needed someone to be able to walk in that locker room and just his presence and the success he's had take us to the next level, which he did. So I know what he's about. I know how much he enjoys the game. I know how much he teaches the game," Lamoriello said.
"This team right now, when we had to make a change, we were just fortunate that Jacques was available because to me he's the right [fit]. Because we were going to bring in some young players to compliment some of our older players and yet not where we ever wanted to be that it was now we're going to young and hope something happens," Lamoriello said.
As per usual, Lamoriello saw what others did not, both in terms of Lemaire's fit and the personnel the team had.
Most focused on the departures of Brian Gionta to Montreal and John Madden to Chicago, the retirement of Bobby Holik and the loss of Brendan Shanahan, but Lemaire has helped keep the Devils where they are every season -- in the hunt. His efforts have been aided by the play of youngsters like Niclas Bergfors, Andy Greene and David Clarkson, who scored a beauty in Wednesday's 3-1 win over Anaheim,
In all the Devils have won six in a row and 12 of 14, and are an eye-popping 8-0 on the road, two shy of the NHL record to start a season, established by Buffalo two seasons ago.
This without defensive anchor Paul Martin (out with a broken arm), veteran checker Jay Pandolfo (shoulder injury) and defenseman Johnny Oduya. Veteran Patrik Elias has just returned to the lineup and Brian Rolston missed Wednesday's game.
In the end, Lamoriello said it wasn't so much whether he thought Lemaire could do the job but rather whether Lemaire felt he could make a difference by coming back.
"It was a question of whether he wanted, in my opinion, whether he wanted to continue, whether it was the right set of circumstances. Quite frankly, he looked at it because he wants nothing but success," Lamoriello said.
"We did win 51, 52 games last year. Could he make the team better, could he get it prepared all of those things had to transpire? It's very early in a season. It's a long year. You never get excited about anything, but I'd rather be sitting with what we're doing right now under the circumstances than not," he added.
The Pens, meanwhile, have gone slightly sideways for the first time this season, having lost three in a row and four of five as they struggle, like so many teams, to overcome injuries to key personnel.
The three-game losing streak marks the first time since head coach Dan Bylsma took over in February for Michel Therrien that the Pens have dropped three straight games in regulation. The last time it happened was during Therrien's final weeks, when the Pens lost four in a row in late December and early January.
With defensemen Kris Letang and Sergei Gonchar out for a couple of more weeks, defending scoring champ Evgeni Malkin likewise still on the shelf, defenseman Brooks Orpik questionable after being hit by Boston's Mark Stuart in Tuesday's loss to the Bruins and Tyler Kennedy missing time, the offense has dropped off. In losing four of five, the Penguins have managed just three goals in those four losses.
"Should guys have more points? Yeah, maybe, but that's hockey," GM Ray Shero told ESPN.com.
Barring other injuries or setbacks, the Penguins should have a full complement of players within two weeks, Shero said.
Of course, one of the great unknowns for any championship team is how players will react the next season. The Penguins returned to work as though they'd never left.
"We're happy the way we approached the season. I think that's come from Dan and the coaching staff. Our players have come with a work ethic, they've come back with a confidence, they're a good team and they have certain standards that they've set for themselves -- how they want to work, how they want to play. They've gotten away from that a little bit in the past few games," Shero said.
"But we're playing teams, their buildings are packed. I mean that's their game. For a number of teams they've said, wow, that was our best game of the year. OK, well, we're going to get that and that's the challenge for us especially with injuries and so forth, but everybody goes through that and that's a test for us," Shero added.
One of the interesting byproducts of losing first Gonchar to a broken foot and then Letang to a shoulder injury is that Alex Goligoski, who split time last season between the Pens and their AHL affiliate, has moved comfortably into a top-four role on the Pens' blue line.
The native of Grand Rapids, Minn., has 13 points, sixth among all NHL defensemen. He's also among the league leaders with a plus-12.
The 24-year-old has played for the most part with veteran Jay McKee, who signed in the offseason as a free agent.
"That's been a good story so far for us," Shero said.
Scott Burnside covers the NHL for ESPN.com.
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