Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Lamoriello happy to have “sideshow” series with Rangers over

New Jersey Devils Name New Head Coach

NEWARK, NJ - JULY 19: President/CEO/General Manager Lou Lamoriello of the New Jersey Devils address the media after introducing Peter DeBoer (not pictured) as the new head coach of the New Jersey Devils at a press conference on July 19, 2011 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Andy Marlin/Getty Images)

Getty Images

The Rangers-Devils Eastern Conference finals didn’t have a lack of drama nor silliness, that’s for sure. From seeing Peter DeBoer and John Tortorella sniping back and forth to Mike Rupp smacking Martin Brodeur and Steve Bernier there was enough action not having to do with pucks to keep everyone fired up.

One guy who’s happy the series is over is Devils GM Lou Lamoriello. Rich Chere of The Star-Ledger catches up with Lamoriello after the Devils eliminated the Rangers in Game 6 last night to see he’s happy the histrionics with the Rangers are at an end for the rest of the season.

“The series had an added sort of a—I don’t want to say sideshow— a side attraction because of the rivalry,” Lamoriello told The Star-Ledger today. “It was because of the close proximity. History kept being brought up that many of the players had never been involved with and yet it became a topic to which they had to respond. “To have the end result we did, I have a tremendous amount a respect for our players and our coaching staff the way they handled it.”

The only guy who really had a handle on the history was Brodeur who actually played in the 1994 Eastern finals. Aside from him, most guys weren’t even a part of all that. Now with the Rangers off to the golf course for the summer, the Devils will hope to keep the nonsense to a minimum against Los Angeles. With former Flyers Mike Richards and Jeff Carter as well as Dustin Brown being a lightning rod for controversy, the Rangers may have been just a warm up act for the big show.