New Jersey Devils' Jacques Lemaire: Sad Ending for Him

The Minnesota Wild hired Jacques Lemaire to be their first ever head coach in 2000. In his first three years as the head coach of that team, he gave it credibility as it overachieved with less talent.

Lemaire's best moment with the Wild came in 2003, when he led them to the Western Conference Finals. The Wild upset a couple of superior teams in the Avalanche and the Canucks in Game 7.

After the lockout in the 2004-2005 season, the Wild did not do much. They missed the playoffs in 2006 and they lost in the first round in 2007 and 2008.

Lemaire lost credibility with the fans. The Wild was sold to then-Predators owner Craig Leipold. Leipold sensed the fans grew disenchanted with the Wild.

Changes were coming, and Lemaire knew it. He resigned after the Wild's final game of the season last year. Soon after that, Wild general manager Doug Reisbrough was fired.

Lemaire bounced back nicely when he was hired by the New Jersey Devils last July. The Devils needed a coach after Brent Sutter bailed out on them.

Devils boss Lou Lamoriello is not the type that likes to lose often, which is why he went with a safe choice rather than hire an assistant head coach. He figured Lemaire had one more magic in him.

To say it did not work out was an understatement. The Devils quit against the Flyers in the quarterfinals.

Someone was going to pay for it. No way Lamoriello was going to let this one go. Sure, the Devils boss gave Lemaire a vote of confidence. He is not the type that is going to make outrageous statements for the sake of giving quotes to the writers.

Lemaire has been around the game for a long time. He knows what the deal is. It also didn't help his cause that his players did not endorse him for the job he did.

He knew what he was doing in retiring. If he had his way, he would coach again.

A proud coach never quits under his terms. Lemaire is one of those people.

It's safe to say he was forced out by Lamoriello and Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek. Vanderbeek may come off as a quiet guy, but rest assured, he does things behind the scenes. He couldn't have been any happier to see his team's performance against the Flyers.

Lemaire's departure had to happen for the Devils to move forward. He should have not been the coach of this team in the first place.

For one thing, Lemaire does not know anything about offense. This goes back even during his great years with the Devils.

He is the type of coach that loves to win ugly. He tells his team to sit back and hold their own on defense when the team takes a lead in the third period.

It worked years ago, but now it's different. The talent pool in the NHL is better than it was back then. Coaches implement a forechecking style that has become the norm in this league.

Lemaire was not interested in learning new tricks at his age.

Of course, his departure is not going to make the Devils champions right away. Many players need to go before it happens.

It's a good bet Lamoriello is going to seek a coach that thinks offense first. Vanderbeek will see to that.

Look for Blackhawks assistant coach Mike Haviland to be the new Devils coach. Haviland was one of Lamoriello's targets when it came to finding a new coach last year.

Lamoriello decided to play it safe by hiring a coach he knew. This time around, he is not going to make the same mistake twice.

Haviland is the right choice because he learned a lot from Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville. Quenneville knows a lot about offense going back to his days as the Avalanche assistant coach in the 90's.

It's no secret Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, Adam Burish, Andrew Ladd and Kris Versteeg all developed into good offensive players under Quenneville. Haviland plays a role in running the power plays.

That's the type of coach the Devils need in the new NHL.

Lemaire had the Devils off to a good start, but everyone knew the team would be in decline soon enough. March and April proved to be the case.

Still, this team had a good matchup against the Flyers. As good as the Flyers were, the Devils had the talent to beat them.

It didn't happen. Lemaire's lack of offensive acumen proved to be a hindrance to the Devils. He had no idea how to figure out Peter Laviolette's forechecking style.

It's no wonder why Lamoriello threw a jelly jar at the wall during his rant with the Devils coaches after Game 3.

It's safe to say this is it for Lemaire. He knows no teams are going to hire him. His age has nothing to do with it

Owners don't make coaching hirings based on attendance. If Lemaire knew how to win, teams would not think twice about it. Fans love winning no matter how ugly it is.

Those days are now over for him.

Lemaire wanted a fairytale ending to an illustrious coaching career. He thought he had it with these Devils.

He experienced an epiphany that most retiring athletes and coaches realize.

It's rare to have that type of ending. More often than not, ending comes with disappointment.