New Jersey Devils: Ken Hitchcock and 5 Candidates to Coach the Team in 2011-12
We are now about a month away from the 2011 NHL draft, and the Devils and their fans have a lot to get excited about in terms of adding a top prospect to the fold come June 24th. Until then, despite a little bit of Internet chatter about the topic, the question remains of who will be behind the bench running things for the New Jersey Devils.
Whoever it is, they face the daunting task of replacing the legendary Jacques Lemaire, who only added to his legendary resume by having the Devils come back from the dead to nearly get in the playoff mix. Lemaire led the team to a 29-17-3 record in their 49 games, quite the change from the 9-22-2 record they put up in their first 33 games.
So, any dark-horse candidates out there? I went into some detail about potential candidates, but I will now look at who I think are the serious candidates for the job, trying to eliminate some of the guys who I think are no longer a realistic candidate. Then again, without access to GM Lou Lamoriello or having the knowledge of who they might be talking to, I guess only Lou (and owner Jeff Vanderbeek) has a real idea of who the next coach is or isn't going to be. That being said, let's take a look...
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1. Ken Hitchock
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If you look over the list of potential head coaches, there is one name that clearly jumps out as the favorite, and that is Ken Hitchcock. Coming off the World Championships where Hitchcock was at the helm for Team Canada, it seems there is little doubt he will be a head coach in the NHL this upcoming season.
In fact, rumors have circulated on the Internet that several teams have or are expected to inquire about his availability, as Hitchcock still is under contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets. It's expected to be a mere formality for the Blue Jackets to approve Hitchcock's departure, so that shouldn't be an obstacle for him to potentially become the Devils new head coach.
Hitchcock, age 59 (60 in December), is a 15-year NHL coaching veteran, who has previously had stops with the Dallas Stars, Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets, reaching the postseason in all three spots.
He had great success in his seven years in Dallas, winning the division title in each of his five full seasons, including a Stanley Cup in 1999 and a Western Conference Championship in 2000. There was some success in Philadelphia, but only one appearance in the conference finals in 2004 and a quick dismissal after just eight games in the 2006-07 season. Hitchcock brought the Blue Jackets to one playoff berth in his four seasons there but got swept by the Detroit Red Wings there.
There seems to be no question that Hitchcock is looking forward to another NHL coaching job, and he has been linked to the Devils at times over the last couple of seasons now, so it's hard to think it would be a surprise to anyone if he ultimately got the job.
That being said, the biggest negatives against him are his reputation for not working well with young players and some say that the game has past him by. After Lemaire's success with working with the likes of Mark Fayne, Mattias Tedenby, Nick Palmieri and Jacob Josefson, it will be critical for the next coach to help develop young talent, because guys like Alexander Urbom, Adam Henrique, Eric Gelinas and Brandon Burlon may not be all that far away from cracking the lineup on a regular basis.
As for today's NHL passing Hitchcock by, I'm not sure that's a fair criticism. He should be able to command the respect needed in the locker room that the team will need, so he will definitely have that working for him. It's up to Lou Lamoriello to decide whether or not Ken Hitchcock is the right fit for the Devils head coach, and Hitchcock's potential ability to work with young players make potentially make or break his candidacy.
2. Guy Carbonneau
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If the Devils have had a trend with their recent coaching selections, it's been to typically pick a guy who has history in the Montreal Canadiens organization. The hirings of Jacques Lemaire, Larry Robinson, Pat Burns and Claude Julien all came from the Montreal organization in some capacity. Lou Lamoriello has a great respect for the team's history, and Lemaire helped build the winning culture the Devils' organization has had in place since his arrival in the 1993-94 season.
Guy Carbonneau played 19 seasons in the NHL (including 13 seasons in Montreal) and played in 1,318 career games, including winning the Stanley Cup three times. He spent two-plus seasons as head coach of the Montreal Canadiens, with a career record of 124-83-23 but was just 5-7 in the one season the team made the playoffs.
I think Carbonneau would garner the respect he would need based on his history as a player, but Carbonneau would have to work on his communication skills with players as this was an area he allegedly lacked in some during this first stint as a coach. I don't think it's all that unusual for a first-time coach to perhaps learn from their mistakes.
Carbonneau comes from the Montreal neutral zone trap background, and his talents as a defensive whiz and a three-time Stanley Cup winner, you'd think Carbonneau would have a great chance to at least be in the mix with GM Lou Lamoriello.
3. Craig MacTavish
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Craig MacTavish's history as a player is somewhat similar to that of Guy Carbonneau's in that he was known first and foremost for his defensive play, and he had a long successful career, with multiple Stanley Cups (four).
He also went back and coached for the team he had the most success with as a player and has not coached anywhere else since. They also both have a big defensive-first philosophy, but their coaching careers have been quite different.
MacTavish has a reputation of being a "a defensive-oriented, technically sound coach, one who's a shrewd in-game bench manager and good communicator." He spent eight seasons as the leader of the Oilers, highlighted by a trip to the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals. However, the team only made the playoffs twice during that span, which leaves you wondering if he had enough success to warrant the job in New Jersey.
MacTavish, 52 (53 in August) recently has been a TSN analyst, where he has received rave reviews for his work and also recently picked up an MBA, all while fighting off cancer. He has stated he is completely healthy and is recharged and ready to get back into coaching.
It seems to be only a matter of time before he gets another crack at an NHL coaching job, it's just that whether or not New Jersey is the place for him to get the opportunity. Once again, that's for GM Lou Lamoriello to decide.
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4. Kirk Muller
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Kirk Miller appears to be the latest hot coaching candidate, having served several years as an assistant with the Montreal Canadians. While he has no head coaching experience, he has been relied upon by head coach Jacques Martin more than your typical assistant coach. Muller is a former Devils captain who despite leaving after a contract squabble, appears to be on good terms with Lou Lamoriello.
The biggest negative working against Muller is the best man at his wedding—John MacLean. Since the situation with MacLean did work well at all, it is hard to think Lamoriello would go that route again, not to mention, with four other jobs open, Muller may not want to put himself in the same potential situation his good friend found himself in, especially with other jobs available in Dallas, Minnesota, Florida or Ottawa.
Coming off of the regime of Jacques Lemaire who commanded an unbelievable amount of respect from the locker room, would Muller, a man with no NHL head coaching experience earn the needed respect, or would the inmates run the asylum, which appears to have been the case under John MacLean?
Ultimately, selecting Kirk Muller would definitely be a risk on the part of the Devils and even with Muller being the hot candidate like Guy Boucher was last offseason, I think the Devils will need to have someone with more experience as their next coach, and I also think Muller will get the opportunity to be somewhere else, which should be of more comfort to him and not have to face the same conflict John MacLean had to face. Then again, you never know....
5. Michel Therrien
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Michel Therrian is another coaching candidate who had his first NHL shot with the Montreal Canadiens. Therrien lasted just one full season with the Canadiens, although he was coach for parts of three seasons.
Therrien has been known as a pretty rigid guy, who has essentially been good for his teams at the beginning but faded quickly when he would lose his players, who eventually got turned off by his style and creating the need for him to be removed from the head coaching position. It happened both in Montreal and Pittsburgh
Therrien has been linked to the Devils job before, although it turned out to be completely false. His defensive-first background is obviously a fit for the Devils, but can Lamoriello afford to bring in a guy that has turned off so many players in his background into a locker room that had such difficulty with coaches who haven't shown signs of adapting to the team?
My guess is Lamoriello decides to go in a different direction, but again, Lamoreillo is the one who gets paid to make these decisions.
Other Candidates
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Other candidates that hit the radar include the following:
Marc Crawford
Peter DeBoer
Kevin Dineen
Scott Gordon
Mike Haviland
Jacques Lemaire (well, not really.....right?)
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