Say Whaaaa?
Claude Julien fired, Lou Lamoriello steps in as head coach for the playoffs. From ESPN:
The firing comes after the Devils won four of their last five games. The team is in first place in the Atlantic Division with three games to go.
Julien guided the Devils to the second-best record in the Eastern Conference, posting a 47-24-8 mark in his only season as coach.
The consensus (beyond surprise) seems to be shaping up that Lou was pulling all the strings anyways, and this just makes things a little more honest. I don’t buy that. If Lou was pulling the strings all along anyways, why take the risk of distracting your team now? This just draws all sort of media attention at a time when you want your club focused on hockey, not rumours.
There’s got to be something more here, but not surprisingly, Lou’s not talking. It’s tough to be dissatisfied with the record (2nd in the East) so far, especially given the injury and salary cap situation the Devils have struggled with all season long.