John MacLean finally named head coach of New Jersey Devils

Just when it seemed as if he was never going to get the job, John MacLean was finally afforded the opportunity to prove himself as the lead man behind the New Jersey Devils’ bench. The Devils announced on Thursday that the team’s first ever draft pick would become its 19th head coach.

“John MacLean is an astute hockey individual who has spent the past eight years preparing to be an NHL head coach,” Devils president and general manager Lou Lamoriello said. “He knows out personnel from the veterans through our prospects, having worked with them as a coach during that time.”

In the eight years MacLean has been with the Devils as a coach, he played the assistant role for seven of them. A rotating door of head coaches put MacLean in position to be a potential replacement on three previous occasions, but he lost out to Claude Julien (2006), Brent Sutter (2007) and Jacques Lemaire (2009). When Lemaire was brought back to New Jersey last summer, MacLean was granted an opportunity to branch off on his own and prove his head coaching capabilities with the Devils’ AHL affiliate, the Lowell Devils. He guided the team to its first postseason berth in five years. That was all Lamoriello needed in order to give the keys to the car to MacLean.

“It has nothing to do with knowledge or confidence. It just has to do with being the one who had to make that final decision. Not the recommendation,” Lamoriello said. “Assistants in any organization don’t know what it’s like. John went to Lowell and found out what it’s all about. In my opinion, that’s all he needed. John knew what I was thinking all the time.”

The 20th Anniversary Of Martin Brodeur Legitimizing The New Jersey Devils Franchise

The face of the New Jersey Devils changed forever 20 years ago to the day. During the 1990 NHL Entry Draft on June 16 of that very year, the Devils completed a swap of draft picks with the Calgary Flames that included first rounders. The Devils sent their 11th overall selection over to the Flames, who used the pick to selected the top ranked goaltender in the draft, Trevor Kidd. The Devils, in turn, received the 22nd overall selection. And they grabbed the No. 2 ranked goaltender - Martin Brodeur.

"It was an interesting day because I was ranked a lot [lower] than the first round,” Brodeur recalled. “I was somewhere around the 30th pick and back then there was only 21 picks [in each round], so I didn’t really expect to get drafted until the second round. When I got the call of being drafted by the Devils, I was in shock more than anything. I didn’t have a clue where New Jersey was, but it was just nice to be taken in the first round and nice to know where my future would be, which organization I was going to be a part of.”

In commemoration of the 20th anniversary since the Devils solidified themselves as a legitimate franchise in the NHL with the selection of Brodeur, the team's official Web site has an interesting write-up looking back at this very special moment for the future Hall of Famer.

New Jersey had minimal success before Brodeur came along. They were re-located to East Rutherford back in 1982 from Colorado and only made the playoffs twice between then and 1990. A conference finals appearance in 1988 was the team's highest achievement.

Brodeur brought the team to much greater heights. He wasn't given the starting nod right away. He remained with his Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team, St-Hyacinthe for the next two seasons and suited up for in the AHL for Utica during the 1992-93 campaign. He emerged on the scene for the Devils during the 1993-94 season, and would proceed to backstop them all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals where they were ousted in seven games by the eventual Stanley Cup Champion New York Rangers.

Failure turned to immediate success the next season for the Devils, however. And the success of making it all the way to the conference finals as a rookie was of benefit to Brodeur. New Jersey went on to win the Stanley Cup in 1995, defeating the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings in the finals via a sweep. That championship transformed the Devils from a "Mickey Mouse" franchise to one of the most frustrating defensive squads in the league. They would go on to capture two more Stanley Cups in 2000 and 2003 with the same shutdown philosophy and Brodeur getting the job done in between the pipes.

As far as individual accomplishments are concerned, the 38-year old Brodeur has plenty. On top the three Cups he has won as a member of the Devils, he also possess two Olympic gold medals, the Calder Memorial Trophy for Rookie of the Year in 1993-94 and four Vezina Trophies. Brodeur's owns several NHL all-time records, as well, having recently taken ownership in wins (602) and shutouts (110).

Meanwhile, the top ranked goaltender in the 1990 Draft, Kidd would play from 1992 through 2006 for the Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs. He played 387 career NHL games (almost 700 fewer than Brodeur) and never topped more than 22 wins in any particular season (while Brodeur has a record nine campaigns with 40 or more wins.)

For as fond a moment as this is to look back on, though, it should also serve as a kick in the butt to the Devils and general manager Lou Lamoriello. Brodeur has just a few more seasons left on his career and there is nobody in the organization capable of carrying the load in net once he retires. Perhaps it would be a good move for the 20th anniversary of Brodeur's selection to also be the moment that the Devils look hard for his replacement.

News From Around The Crease

~ Cam Neely will be taking over a position vacant for almost four years with the Boston Bruins, Team President. One of the most popular and physical members of the Bruins organization, Neely will now lead aggressively in this executive role. According to TSN, his main focus is to "oversee business and hockey operations with [general manager Peter] Chiarelli continuing to make personnel decisions." Neely has served as team vice president since September 2007 and brings with him 13 years of playing experience in the NHL, all with the Bruins.

~ The Bruins have an idea of which player they wish to select with their No. 2 overall pick at NHL Draft on June 25. But Chiarelli doesn't believe the gap between Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin is big enough to make a deal swapping picks with the Edmonton Oilers.

"If I decide that the gap between who we have No. 1 and who we have No. 2 is large enough then, potentially, I would consider a move to bridge that gap," Chiarelli said. "Right now, that gap is very small and I can't see it changing."

~ Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini is getting calls for that No. 1 overall selection, according to Darren Dregor of TSN. He's listening to offers, but won't put an exact price on what it will cost teams to acquire it.

~ Both GM Ken Holland and assistant GM Jim Nill were given five-year extensions by the Detroit Red Wings.

"Kenny and Jim have been the core of our front office for well over a decade and cornerstone to this franchises success," said team owner Mike Ilitch.

This is an asbolute no-brainer for the Red Wings, who have become perhaps the most successful franchise in the NHL under Holland's watch. The team has never missed with the playoffs with him as general manager and went on to win the Stanley Cup three times in 1998, 2000 and 2008. They also won in 1997 when he was an assistant. When Holland moved up to general manager, Nill took over as assistant GM and has remained in the position for the past 13 years.

~ Outside of inking his own extension on Wednesday, Holland took the time to get Todd Bertuzzi's name on the dotted line and re-signed him to a two-year, $3.875 million contract. At 35 years old, Bertuzzi still brings something to the table on the ice as a decent offensive producer, physical presence and veteran leader. Last year with the Red Wings, Bertuzzi netted 18 goals and 44 points during the regular season, adding 11 points in 12 postseason games. If he can continue the approximately 40-point a season pace he's posted over the last three years, this will go down as another terrific signing for Holland at about $1.937 million per season.

EA Sports Leaks Jonathan Toews As NHL 11 Cover Athlete

Whether EA Sports actually wants you to know about it or not, the cover boy for the next installment of the company's NHL series will be Chicago Blackhawks captain and 2010 Conn Smythe recipient, Jonathan Toews. They inadvertently leaked the news on a no-longer-accessible page on the EA Sports Web site with an image of Toews associated with the NHL 11 video game. The fine folks at OperationSports.com have maintained the image for all to see.

While Toews is a worthy candidate for the honor of being sported on the most celebrated hockey video game on the market, it's an interesting call for EA Sports to select two players from the same team in consecutive years. Patrick Kane was on the cover of NHL 10. Unlike the Madden curse, appearing on a cover in the NHL series worked out pretty well for Kane. Maybe Toews can bring that level of luck next season for a second straight Stanley Cup.

Yahoo! Sports Puck Daddy has enlightened us on some of the new features for NHL 11:

What EA did officially release Monday was the trailer for "NHL 11" that promises not only refined game physics, but also user-controlled goal celebrations, disallowed goals (interesting), and a new faceoff engine.

A few weeks ago, EA Sports also announced that NHL 11 will be the first game in the franchise to include teams in the Canadian Hockey League. The teams and legitimate rosters of those in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Western Hockey League and Ontario Hockey League will all be represented in the game. A full list of features as a result of this four-year agreement between EA and the CHL include:

• Ability to play with all 60 teams that make up the CHL
• Names and Likenesses of players that are on the rosters of a CHL team
• Mastercard Memorial Cup
• CHL new RBK Edge Jersey design in NHL 11
• WHL, OHL and QMJHL logos and league structures

The CHL teams and players will also have usability within several of the game's modes, including Season Mode, Be A Pro, Be A GM, Tournament Mode and Playoff Mode.

A release date for NHL 11 has not been officially announced. However, Amazon.com has the game up for pre-order with an expected release date of September 7.

As Promised, Canadiens Buy Out Georges Laraque

Just as they promised they would do back in January, the Montreal Canadiens have bought out the final year of Georges Laraques three-year, $4.5 million contract. This will cost the Habs a cap hit of $1 million (two-thirds of his remaining salary) divided evenly at $500,000 in each of the next two seasons.

On January 21, the Habs discontinued any association with the enforcer. He was cited as a distraction to the team and was absent from all activities with the Canadiens despite remaining on their 23-man roster. Laraque didn't produce much offensively, scoring just five points total in the two years he played for Montreal. His main purpose was to fight and he didn't even do that very often, accumulating just 89 penalty minutes with the Habs. In Laraques defense here, many players were smart enough to avoid fighting him - thus the decrease in fighting majors.

At 33 years old, Laraque is certainly on the tail end of his productivity. But he remains one of the most dangerous and effective enforcers in the NHL, and should provide any team in need of a physical boost plenty of it. And if he's willing to sign for $1 million or less, he's definitely worth it.