It seems as if John MacLean will remain the Devils coach for the rest of the season, simply because Lou Lamoriello has had every chance to let him go and has not done so. John MacLean changed up his struggling group of forwards today in practice and the only line combination's are Elias Zajac Langenbrunner, which is the only untouched line, Kovalchuk Sestito Tedenby, Rolston Zubrus Mair and Pelley Arnott and Clarkson. Based on these projections, Arnott and Kovy are playing on 3rd and 4th line caliber lines. It seems this is the latest desperate act by the beleaguered rookie coach.
While Lou Lamoriello has not given MacLean his endorsement, it seems as if he will not answer any questions about MacLean's job status. This likely means that he still has faith in MacLean and the coaching staff, but will not say it. Lamoriello has been adamant that the teams struggles are player related and that he thinks they have to turn things around before focusing on the coach. The Devils biggest problem is that they are spending too much time in their end and have no puck movers on defense, so that is one area that they have to address via a trade or over the summer in free agency.
The question is why Lou has waited so long and still not fired MacLean? One of the answers is mentioned above. Another answer is that Lamoriello might want to wait til the injury and cap problems get sorted out before making his move, but who know how long that will take. One thing is certain the Kovalchuk Saga has affected the team and has damaged the Devils and Lamoriello's reputation throughout the league at least for this year and the Devils have to pay for it with their struggling play. Maybe its better the Devils miss the playoffs to give Lamoriello the summer to address and clean out the team's problems. I would not be shocked if MacLean coaches next season as well despite no system.
The Devils once again recalled defenseman Matthew Corrente and Martin Brodeur will start in Washington. Brodeur will seek redemption from an abysmal start in Washington back in the second game of the regular season when he was pulled and the team lost 7-2. If the Devils are to show the same effort tomorrow than they did against Atlanta on Saturday, it will definitely not help John MacLean's cause. But yet again, Lou will likely continue to remain quiet about questions to his job status and will only say his favorite "Status Quo" phrase. So, Lou has likely given him a quiet stamp of approval.
The Capitals yesterday defeated the Senators 3-2 to snap an 8 game losing streak. HBO Cameras will be in attendance tomorrow to film the 24/7 documentary for the Capitals leading up to the Winter Classic on January 1st in Pittsburgh against the Penguins.
No comments:
Post a Comment