Devils in disarray

Elias close to returning

The list the New Jersey Devils sent in to Santa Claus earlier this month was fairly lengthy. A return to health by sniper Patrik Elias. A Crosby-like learning curve for rookie forward Zach Parise. A defenseman or two to step up and replace some key departed veterans. Some relief from a team payroll that has them pushing the upper limits of the salary cap. Maybe even a power-play goal or two.

And the team was forced to add one more item to that list this week - a new head coach who can guide them out of their doldrums and back up the standings.

Larry Robinson stepped down as Devils head coach on Monday, citing overwhelming stress, throbbing headaches, and sleepless nights. Robinson led New Jersey to the Stanley Cup in 2000, to the finals again in 2001, and was then fired by the team in 2002. He was hired to coach the club once again in the summer, taking the reigns from an ailing Pat Burns.

But the Devils, long a staple among the league’s elite teams, have not had a successful 2005/06 campaign to this point. The team had lost six of their past seven games at the time of Robinson’s resignation, and sat with a mediocre record of 14-13-5. In 2003/04, New Jersey finished with a mark of 43-25-12-2, and they were Stanley Cup champions as recently as 2002/03 (under Burns).

Gone from New Jersey’s roster this year are veteran defensemen Scott Stevens and Ken Daneyko, who both retired, and former Norris Trophy winner Scott Niedermayer, who signed as a free agent with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in the offseason.

Brought in to fill their skates were Vladimir Malakhov, Dan McGillis, and Richard Matvichuk, and the play of that trio could be generously described only as ‘mixed’. In fact, Malakhov retired this past week (or took personal leave, depending on who you believe). McGillis was waived and sent to the minor leagues, only to be recalled when Malakhov left the team. Ancient defenseman Tommy Albelin has been signed to replace Malakhov on the roster, giving the Devils considerable savings under the salary cap but little extra on the ice.

The forward ranks and, surprisingly, the goaltending have also been trouble spots for New Jersey this season. Martin Brodeur was named as Team Canada’s starting goaltender for the Winter Olympics, but statistically the star keeper is having an off-year that has been compounded by a knee injury that shelved him earlier in the season. Playing behind a weakened defense has not been kind to Brodeur, and as Marty goes so go the Devils.

Up front, Elias has finally started practicing after missing the entire season to date recovering from a bout of Hepatitis A. Elias has led the Devils in scoring each of the past five seasons, and in his absence the team is having trouble scoring goals. Offseason acquisition Alexander Mogilny has been inconsistent and was benched a couple of times by Robinson, and top center Scott Gomez has also seen some time in the team’s doghouse. Parise has barely made an impact on the scoresheet, but could get more opportunities to shine on the top lines under a new head coach.

And for now that head coach is Lou Lamoriello, the team’s general manager. Lamoriello had one previous game of NHL coaching experience before stepping behind the bench against the Rangers on Tuesday night, and that came in a 1998 playoff loss to the Boston Bruins while Jim Schoenfeld was serving a one-game suspension.

Lamoriello must have done something right on Tuesday - the Devils topped the Rangers 3-1, despite continued power-play difficulties that saw them go 0-for-11 with the man advantage. In Lamoriello’s second game on Wednesday night the power play improved to 1-for-8, but the team lost 4-2 to the New York Islanders.