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Hall of Fame general manager keeps team at top of the division

BY SAM HITCHCOCK

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

ANALYSIS

It is fitting that just a week ago, Devils General Manager Lou Lamoriello was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame 2009 class. His peers praised him for his foresight as a builder of champions, taking a franchise in New Jersey that had no history, no prior success, and turning it into a mini dynasty over a 10-year period.

What Lamoriello does is defy logic. Conventional wisdom says if a player scores goals and produces assists, try to keep him on your team. Conventional wisdom says if a player has good chemistry with his teammates, he may be integral to the team's success, so keeping him on the squad and building around him helps maintain a winning team.

But Lamoriello seems to see almost every player as a dispensable part. Heralded veterans like Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta, and John Madden are major contributors who were all traded or let go to explore free agency in the last few seasons. What separates Lamoriello from the rest of the GM's in the league is that he does not believe one player is worth the money to make or break a team.

In another off season in which many experts lambasted Lamoriello for staying complacent and letting previous Stanley Cup pieces leave the team for next to nothing, many fans worriedly watched as the Atlantic Division, already possessing the reigning Stanley Cup champions (Pittsburgh Penguins), got even stronger. Seemingly, every team brought in faster, tougher, more dynamic players — except the Devils.

Nevertheless, with the season almost a fourth of the way through, the Devils lead their division in points and have several games in hand. This year may be Lamoriello's most impressive masterpiece, considering that the Devils got the injury bug early and often. With Patrik Elias going down in the preseason, and Paul Martin, Johnny Oduya, and Jay Pandolfo all taking games off to heal, the Devils continue to roll, undeterred by personnel changes.

Players like Tim Sestito, Matt Halischuk, Mark Fraser and Cory Murphy have stepped in and contributed in a big way. With Fraser and Murphy patrolling the blue line and making the necessary stops, and Sestito and Halischuk doing the nitty gritty and knocking in a goal now and then, the Devils pull through and win games even when they may be overmatched talent wise.

Monday's loss against the Flyers, the first in eleven games, marked the first time in the last eight contests that the Devils have given up more than two goals. For those who watched the game, the Flyers dictated much of the play and probably should have had a four or five goal lead. But Martin Brodeur made countless acrobatic saves to keep the Devils alive, as the Flyers cycled it vigorously in the Devils zone hoping for a break. This is where the Devils excel, and so far no other team in the division can match them.

The Devils linger around. They show patience, avoid costly errors, and eventually capitalize when the opportunity presents itself. The Flyers knew this and almost blew the game as they got called for three penalties in a row, which finally the Devils converted on when David Clarkson buried a point blank shot past goalie Ray Emery.