Polemic Hockey

Unless they win the Stanley Cup this year, Lamoriello will have seriously tarnished the image he deservedly built in the early '90s.

Says Devil beat writer Mark Everson. This statement reveals a lot about the writer. He's saying that because he's already drawn that conclusion, and by setting the bar that high is basically saying this tarnishes Lou's reputation. Why this firing and not any of the others does, he does not (and probably cannot) say.

If anything tarnishes his reputation, it will be his salary cap bungles of last year, which caused the Devils to miss one, probably two, solid opportunities at a Cup run during Brodeur's prime. Firing Claude Julien, a cog in the machine coach, will not.

For the NY Post, the Devils are like the Clintons. Only praised at moments of maximum victory, otherwise hounded over minutia.

UPDATE 6/9/07: Lou's reputation is fine, and this incident was just a blip on the radar. The Devils lost to the Stanley Cup Finalists again, and even though Lou made some coaching miscues, it wasn't on him.

Labels: Devils, NY Post