Thanks to the Phoenix Coyotes, the most famous No. 9 in the new Winnipeg Jets history is not Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Hull, it’s Marc Savard or young Evander Kane (pictured). (Todd Kirkland/Icon SMI)

By Stu Hackel

The Winnipeg Jets are not the Winnipeg Jets. And if that sounds confusing, be prepared for more of the same, because the team that will start play this fall in Winnipeg can’t claim the history of the team with the same name that once played there. It is what it is, except when it’s not.

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Peter DeBoer (left) is no stranger to Devils GM Lou Lamoriello, who has seen the coach’s ability to work with young players and get the most out of even a depleted roster. (Ray Stubblebine/Reuters photos)

By Stu Hackel

Last week, we examined the state of the Devils and rounded up the usual suspects for the team’s next coach, listing the candidates whose names we’d seen circulated over the last three months as potential hires by GM Lou Lamoriello: Larry Robinson, Scott Stevens, Adam Oates, Mike Keenan, Ken Hitchcock, Guy Carbonneau, Michel Therrien, Craig MacTavish, Craig Ramsay, Mike Haviland, Kirk Muller, Marc Crawford, Bob Hartley, Mike Eaves and the ever-popular Jacques Lemaire. “Most of them have denied that they’re in the running or they discouraged speculation in some way,” we wrote, “leaving the impression that none will be Lou’s guy.” And we added, “One supposes that Lou is taking his time to get this one right….His choices almost always surprise.”

So we shouldn’t be surprised today, but we are, that a) none of the above were Lamoriello’s choice and b) he perhaps did get it right. Peter DeBoer wasn’t on the list and now — duh! — he seems in retrospect to be the most logical guy for the job. In fact, of all the new coaching hires in the NHL this offseason, it’s quite possible that the Devils made the best choice of all.
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Lou Lamoriello (right) has had a devil of time assembling a Stanley Cup contender in the hard salary cap era and his last choice for head coach, John MacLean (left) proved to be disastrous. (Bill Kostroun/AP)

By Stu Hackel

This might be the week that the New Jersey Devils hire a new head coach. Then again, maybe not. As with most things surrounding the Devils, little is clear and little is known. They are starting their development camp today (which was not even mentioned this morning the team’s website, but is now) and that may inhibit GM Lou Lamoriello from selecting someone to head up the coaching staff this week. Or not.
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The playoff odds still long, coach Jacques Lemaire’s mantra remains “one game at a time.” (AP photo)

By Stu Hackel

Well, whaddaya know…The Devils won again on Tuesday night, a 4-3 win over the Thrashers. That’s three in a row, eight of their last 10 and, since Jan. 9, a record of 23-3-2. Project that over the entire schedule and (my math might be a little off here) it would make for something like a 69-8-5 mark that would be the greatest single-season record in the history of the NHL. (The current mark will probably forever be the 1976-77 Canadiens’ 60-8-12 back in the days when that last column represented ties played in games that ended after 60 minutes. Who knows what those Habs might have done in OT and the postgame skills competition?)

The problem, of course, is that prior to Jan. 9, the Devils went 10-29-2. At that time they were last in the Eastern Conference, 27 points out of eighth spot. So they’ve made up substantial ground. But despite this incredible run, they are still six points south of a berth, sitting in 10th place. Those who compile such things put their chances of making the playoffs at only seven percent. That’s certainly a lot better than their zero percent on Jan 9, but it’s a snapshot based on the entire season, not the way that Jersey has been trending.
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It took two weeks for Jacques Lemaire to turn the shaken, out-of-shape Devils around and make them the team they were expected to be before the season started. (Andy Marlin/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

Here’s an indication of just how bad the Devils played for the first part of the season: They’ve won six of their last seven games (the loss was in overtime, so they’ve taken 13 of a possible 14 points) and are still last overall in the NHL – 20 points below a playoff spot. But thanks to the guy who has often been hailed as the best coach in the game — Jacques Lemaire — there are strong signs that the Devs are becoming the team many thought they’d be in the preseason, although the postseason is most likely out of sight.
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The Montreal Canadiens, who were a big surprise story in last spring’s playoffs, provided hockey with an amusing moment as the curtain was coming down on 2010. (Scott Audette/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

The Hockey Gods must have been very amused to hear a league executive raise the possibility of a rain delay during an NHL game. They responded by making a team take a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty and, while killing it, take a second too-many-men penalty. For good measure in another game, the gods made a team’s player shoot a puck off the crossbar and into the stands where it hit his wife.
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It remains to be seen how struggling sniper Ilya Kovalchuk will play better for a coach whose defense-first system has become an anachronism since the 2004-05 lockout. (Rich Kane/Icon SMI)

By Stu Hackel

Merry Christmas, John MacLean. You’re fired. And down the Devils’ chimney once again comes Jacques Lemaire who, depending on your perspective, is either hockey’s smartest coach since Scotty Bowman or the evil genius who ruined the NHL. But if the purpose of this change is to get New Jersey into the playoffs, it may be too late.

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Alex Ovechkin has always been prone to slumps, but not this early in a season. (Andy Marlin/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

What’s wrong with Alex Ovechkin?

Ovie has been Novie more often than not lately. Last night in New Jersey was the fourth game in his last six in which he didn’t register a point. Perhaps not coincidentally, three of those four games were on the road. Overall in those six games, he’s produced a goal and two assists and is a minus-3.

Everyone has bad stretches, but stats aside, Ovechkin’s characteristic passion and explosiveness are absent. What made the hockey world fall in love with Ovie was his all-energy, all-the -time performances, regardless of who he’s playing against. Even his detractors would admit that he’s hockey’s most exciting player when he’s on his game.

But when his team is flat, Ovechkin is the guy that coach Bruce Boudreau relies upon to re-inflate the Caps. Hasn’t been happening lately.

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Security is hardly what coach John MacLean can expect even if his struggling Devils have been playing with an injury-depleted cast. (Andy Marlin/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

Is Lou Lamoriello dragging out the guillotine to behead Devils coach John MacLean?

Mark Everson in The New York Post thinks so, writing today from Toronto, ” It wouldn’t be fair, but should the Devils lose here tonight, that would be about the only remaining reason John MacLean might avoid the looming axe. But everyone knows life isn’t fair. If they can’t beat the dogmeat Leafs, who snapped an eight-game losing streak Tuesday, they’ll be worthy of the dogmeat Devils title themselves.”

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