Philadelphia Flyers-New Jersey Devils Game Five: Changes Must Be Made

The mission statement of the Devils is to win a Stanley Cup every year.

This team failed to accomplish its objective since they last won it in 2003.

Maybe it's unreasonable to expect this every year, but there's no reason for this team to be one-and-done on a consistent basis.

For the third straight year, the Devils are bounced out of the first round. This time, it was the Flyers that did the honors last night.

The Devils went out with a whimper. Once again, the Flyers made the Devils look like chumps by taking control of the puck for 60 minutes.

How bad it got for the team? When Zach Parise gets denied by Daniel Briere of all people, it's clear nothing worked out.

No one should have been surprised at this showing. This team quit after Game Three. We saw the same old show from Game Three, Game Four, and last night.

At least last year, this team was competitive in the first round, and they should have won Game Seven.

It's one thing to be one-and-done once in a while, but three years of this is unacceptable. There's no question this is not going to sit well with Lou Lamoriello, and it shouldn't.

Critics rip Lamoriello for being hasty in firing coaches and trading players. This time around, it should be welcomed.

Outside of Martin Brodeur, everyone is expendable.

First off, the first move should be to give Jacques Lemaire his walking papers. He did a terrible job of coaching in the quarterfinals.

He told his guys to stop taking reckless penalties, convincing Ilya Kovalchuk to stop being an agitator. That type of approach actually gets into the other players' heads.

That's what the Flyers did in this series. They pushed and grind the other team out. They trash-talked the Devils forwards.

In hockey, it's all about who can handle the mental aspect of the game. Players like to play mind games with their counterparts, and often times, the players can be affected by that.

Kovalchuk seemed to be successful in doing that. For Lemaire to tell him not to do it, this says something about the coach's ego.

A player should be playing to his strengths not adhering to what the coach wants. Kovalchuk is not a rookie.

Lemaire is out of touch with the players. Most of the players stopped playing for him last month. Jamie Langenbrunner was not happy about being benched by the coach, and it affected his play.

If the players stopped listening to him, it's time for a new voice. The Devils reached that point.

The Devils acquired Kovalchuk not just to take them to the second round, but to the Eastern Conference Finals. He failed to get the job done.

He's a free agent this summer. The Devils should thank him for his service, and let him go his merry way. He is not worth the money that other teams are going to pay him.

Teams should never reward stiffs in the playoffs. That's what Kovalchuk is.

Let the Rangers sign him this summer. He will probably play for them. He would fit well with a team that tolerate losing.

Let's not just stop with Lemaire and Kovalchuk.

Zach Parise is a guy that should be in the trade market. It's hard to believe he will ever be a star to this team. He is a regular-season player at best.

The Devils should be about a team that emphasizes toughness and smart play. Parise fits neither of that category. The same with Paul Martin, Colin White, Andy Greene, and other young players on that team.

Those guys should be trade bait.

Lamoriello should also designate Martin Skoula, Rob Neidermayer, Jay Pandolfo, Mike Motteau on assignments. That means they should not be playing for the Devils anymore.

It sounds crazy, but after what we saw three years, it's not unreasonable to make drastic changes.

When the same roster keeps producing same results, something has to be done.

This group of Devils does not have what it takes to win. In the playoffs, a team must have players that know how to get it done.

The Red Wings have that. They are a tough to go against, and those players figure out a way to win these tight games.

It's hard to teach that.

The Devils are a young team. They have been rebuilding while trying to win at the same times. They have done a good job with that, but it's been awhile now. At some point, those guys need to grow up and figure it out.

It's hard to think that's going to be the case anytime soon. One-and-done have been a common occurrence for this proud franchise lately, and it will not get better anytime soon.

There's no reason to think otherwise. Even with a new coach, it's not going to happen.

Players need to know how to do the little things that win postseason games. They need to hit along with dominating faceoffs. They need to create scoring chances.

Most importantly, the willpower has to be there.

In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it's not necessarily the talent that put the team in a position to win the Cup. It's all about playing smart and knowing what to do.

Lamoriello knows what's going on. He does not come off as a general manager that tolerates this.

What he saw was a gutless team that had no business participating in the playoffs. Tonight's game should have been an eye-opener to him.

At one point, one can be patient enough.

Many people should pay for what took place in the first round.

If not, then Lamoriello is as gutless as those players when it comes to wanting to win.