Per Montreal Gazette:
The New Jersey familiar face to lead it out of the NHL’s basement.
The National Hockey League club announced yesterday that veteran coach Jacques Lemaire will replace MacLean behind the Devils’ bench for the rest of the season. The Devils lost 5-1 to the New York Islanders lst night in Lemaire’s debut.
“This was a decision that certainly was not one that is pleasant or we feel good about. But it’s a decision in my opinion that had to be made,” Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello said.
The Devils (9-23-2) are last in the league and 20 points out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
MacLean’s NHL head coaching debut lasted 33 games.
“I take responsibility for waiting to try and get it to where it should,” Lamoriello said. “Under no set of circumstances should all this responsibility be on the coach by any means. The responsibility lies on the players and myself for what couldn’t be done. Unfortunately, we just weren’t getting it done.”
Lamoriello, who told MacLean of the move yesterday morning, had spoken to Lemaire Wednesday night from his Montreal home.
Lemaire, 65, coached the Devils from 1993-98, leading them to the 1995 Stanley Cup title, before spending eight seasons as head coach of the Minnesota Wild. He returned to New Jersey last season, but retired after the club was eliminated from the playoffs in the first round by the Philadelphia Flyers.
“We all know he left because he felt as though it was the right thing to do where he was at,” Lamoriello said.
“I asked him if he would come back for the second half so we can see exactly who we are and where we are at. I also felt that there is time to get back on track, I really believe that.”
The Devils entered the season with plenty of optimism, coming on the heels of the 15-year mega-contract that sniper Ilya Kovalchuk signed last summer.
But the talented Russian has scored only eight goals and 10 assists in 32 games and his inconsistent play is symptomatic of the team’s struggles.
“I’m not the reason (why Mac-Lean was fired). Don’t worry,” Kovalchuk told the Bergen (N. J.) Record. “Everybody has their own opinion, but in the situation that we are, (a coach gets fired). It’s unfortunate, but we have to live with it and move forward.”
With last night’s loss, the Devils are on a four-game losing skid and have won only one of their past ten starts.
“Should a team that at one point had $66 million (U. S.) on its (payroll) be better than 20 points? Yes,” Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek said.
MacLean, 46, played 14 seasons with the Devils, and also had stops with the San Jose Sharks, New York Rangers and Dallas Stars.
He rejoined the Devils organization in 2002 as an assistant coach, a position he held until 2009. He spent one season as the coach of the Devils’ American Hockey League affiliate in Lowell, Mass., before his promotion in the summer.
“John is a professional,” Lamoriello said. “John is a class act in every way. John is a franchise, organization person. We’ll certainly get together over the holidays and he’ll be right back at work in the organization doing something.”