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Is John MacLean the right coach for the Devils?

Image (1) MacLean-thumb-200x300-13951.jpg for post 2139

The Devils took a route most expected was coming, promoting John MacLean from coach of the Lowell (Albany) Devils to be the next head coach in New Jersey. MacLean is young and should have a new approach that will do the team good, after a number of years of coming up disappointingly short in the postseason.

John Fischer of In Lou We Trust, as he always does, as a very lengthy breakdown of the hiring as he goes over various pros and cons of John MacLean being named the next coach of the Devils. Fischer is lukewarm on the hiring, as he’s worried the move was made perhaps more out of loyalty to arguably the greatest Devils player in franchise history after he had just one season under his best of coaching at the professional level. Says John, speaking of one of his “cons” of the hiring:

When things go south for some period of time for this team - and it will happen at some point - what will MacLean fall back on? When a player comes to him with an issue, will MacLean have the acumen to handle the issue well for both sides? These are questions I’m sure were raised, but his inexperience doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence at this juncture. MacLean has been a head coach for Lowell last season and that was his only season of being a head coach in pro hockey. He’s still relatively new and still learning. Fortunately, the promotion of Robinson, who has been a head coach for several years in LA and NJ, to be an assistant can help and teach MacLean further.

The initial reaction by Fischer is one of cautious optimism, especially in light of the news that MacLean isn’t expected to make sweeping changes on the team and that the one issue that might have been at the heart of the matter -- Lou Lamoriello -- is still in charge and likely picked a coach he’s certain will be a company man.

Fischer also acknowledges that hiring MacLean from within the organization could be a good thing, as the three previous hires were from outside the Devils’ organization. MacLean is familiar with the players and the system, and there shouldn’t be much -- if any -- of a rough transition from Lemaire to MacLean. In fact, even if MacLean doesn’t change much overall, you would hope that the team and the players will respond to a coach like MacLean much more favorably.

He might not be making sweeping changes, but it’s not as if the Devils need complete rebuilding. What needs to be done is for the coach to find a way for the players to believe in what they are trying to do on the ice, something that wasn’t in place last season. MacLean may be young and relatively new, but Lamoriello is confident in him as a coach.

Too confident? Well, he didn’t seem to be looking elsewhere for a coach and didn’t go on a long, drawn out search for coaches. MacLean was his first choice and that’s who will be behind the bench next season in New Jersey.