The welcome of Brent Sutter, in so many ways, was the start of something new, something Newark, the Second Empire of Devildom. He essentially declared their first dynasty done.
“I read a story about the [Spurs], how they won four [NBA] championships in the last 10 years and it was talking about how they’re the new dynasty in sports. Well, not too long ago the New Jersey Devils were that. Our shared goal, [Lou Lamoriello’s] and mine, is to get back to that,” Sutter said yesterday after becoming the 14th different man named head coach of the Devils.
Sutter, the former Islanders captain and Canadian junior coaching phenom, is the first Devils bench master without NHL coaching experience (excepting Lamoriello himself) that the GM has hired since 1989. The departure from tradition is not an accident for this team that hasn’t gotten past the second round of the playoffs in its past three seasons.
“This is a fresh look, and in my mind, it’s a needed look,” Lamoriello said. “This will be a positive influence. A new coach, new rink, new city, new surroundings.”
Rookie NHL coaches face pitfalls those with resumes can avoid. Valid methods can be questioned if different from previous ways. Veterans can find their roles diminished because the new coach has a shorter frame of reference that values past heroics less. Developing players sometimes don’t fit. There often is turnover that depletes the talent pool.
Lamoriello said Sutter shouldn’t have such problems.
“I don’t think there’s any [concern] about [NHL] experience being a factor,” Lamoriello said. “I’ve watched him in junior, in the world championships, how he handles the top players, and how he handles the role players. He has an understanding of the players, and he’s speaking from experience.”
Sutter has a reputation as a disciplinarian and exponent of gritty, two-way hockey, with the very sort of defensive basis that has been the Devils’ trademark.
“There doesn’t have to be a tremendous amount of love between the players and the coach,” Sutter said. “But there has to be a tremendous amount of respect.
“I demand respect.”
“Pup” has grown up, with a snarl. Saddled with that nickname when he joined elder brother Duane “Dog” Sutter on the Islanders, Brent allowed that there will be a difference from coaching the Red Deer Rebels, the Alberta junior team he bought in 1999 and guided to the Memorial Cup (Canada’s junior championship) in 2001.
“I’m not stupid,” Sutter said. “[I’m] going from coaching 16-year-olds to coaching professional athletes here.
“But I’m not all of a sudden going to be somebody different. I was brought in to be me, and that’s what I’m going to be.”
Lamoriello tried to hire Sutter last summer, and before that, when Larry Robinson stepped aside in 2005. Sutter’s reputation rose when he coached Canada to consecutive World Junior titles, and he’ll coach Canada’s junior team against Russia in August and September before joining Devils camp.
Assistant coach John MacLean, passed over for the head job again, is expected to remain with the team, perhaps as Sutter’s assistant or in the front office.
Sutter will walk into a team of questionable contention, staggered by the losses of Scott Gomez and Brian Rafalski. Sutter was asked about Lamoriello’s plug-pulling penchant, the hair-trigger that saw Robinson exit twice, Kevin Constantine last 37 games total, and Claude Julien 79, all in the past five seasons.
“It never crossed my mind,” Sutter said. “I don’t think like that. That to me is totally irrelevant, totally.
“This is about now.”
“Now” is exactly what his hiring means. Those banners are becoming mementos of the old dynasty, the old building; honored, but no longer applicable.