TSN Interview with Lou

[Triumph]

It was a terrible contract but if they got insurance on it, there is way less risk than you guys are thinking.  Certainly in 2013 I think Lou could see that he was going to have a very cheap defense soon if things turned out the way he hoped they would, and while NJ let go a lot of dead money, even if they had stayed good and Jagr and Zidlicky were still here, the Devils would still have oodles of money to spend, and that's with picking up Ruutu's contract and having Zubrus's dead money on the cap as well.  NJ is $6M over the floor despite having $8M in dead money.

 

The true risk was that Clowe wouldn't be any good when healthy.  

[BostonNala370]

C'mon guys, Since 2005 Lou was out of it with the exception of a few good moves, very few, but never equaled his bad moves. Clowe was pure panic he heard the peter patter of the feet heading his way to show him the door. He's gone as is Clowe so lets move on. Maybe we will never recover from his mistakes so they will move the team.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

i remember Clowe saying there was a few teams but that Lou was particularly aggressive.

 

Anyway to me it's pretty clear it was a panic move after losing a few guys for nothing. As soon Lou heard what Clarkson was looking for he gave up on him and went after Clowe.

 

Sterio, with all due respect, you realize that you harping on this sh!t is going to lead to nothing even remotely productive?  Seriously, just drop this, the "Lou lost so much for nothing, Lou's MO sucked, etc" crap, once and for all.  When you feel compelled to bring it up, don't.  A whole planet's worth of dead horses have been beaten.  Too much vinyl was harmed in amassing the broken record collection.  You don't need to keep going down this road...everyone knows how you feel, and reminding everyone of it over and over again (even if it seems like it fits within a given topic) is going to accomplish nothing at this point.  No one's minds are going to be changed about the whys, re:  the things that have happened.  Just let it all go.  I know this is a thread about Lou, so moves that he made (or didn't make) are bound to come up and debated, but the "Lou lost too many guys for nothing, Lou panicked, other GMs don't let that happen" umbrella you use as this all-encompassing criticism of Lou is just going to lead to threads getting clogged and all-too-familiar debates (the circumstances surrounding and influencing certain events, etc) being repeated ad nauseum.  

 

Then again, to be fair (and this kind of a credit to the board), it's reached the point where people don't even want to debate you on your views re:  Lou...they just want you to shut up and move on (with regards to Lou only), because they too know it's a road not worth travelling anymore.  DD56 was pretty dead on...you've got the girl you wanted and should be happy, but for some reason you can't stop ripping on the one you didn't want anymore.  And it's not doing you any good. 

Edited September 24, 2015 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[SterioDesign]

Sterio, with all due respect, you realize that you harping on this sh!t is going to lead to nothing even remotely productive?  Seriously, just drop this, the "Lou lost so much for nothing, Lou's MO sucked, etc" crap, once and for all.  When you feel compelled to bring it up, don't.  A whole planet's worth of dead horses have been beaten.  Too much vinyl was harmed in amassing the broken record collection.  You don't need to keep going down this road...everyone knows how you feel, and reminding everyone of it over and over again (even if it seems like it fits within a given topic) is going to accomplish nothing at this point.  No one's minds are going to be changed about the whys, re:  the things that have happened.  Just let it all go.  I know this is a thread about Lou, so moves that he made (or didn't make) are bound to come up and debated, but the "Lou lost too many guys for nothing, Lou panicked, other GMs don't let that happen" umbrella you use as this all-encompassing criticism of Lou is just going to lead to threads getting clogged and all-too-familiar debates (the circumstances surrounding and influencing certain events, etc) being repeated ad nauseum.  

 

Then again, to be fair (and this kind of a credit to the board), it's reached the point where people don't even want to debate you on your views re:  Lou...they just want you to shut up and move on (with regards to Lou only), because they too know it's a road not worth travelling anymore.  DD56 was pretty dead on...you've got the girl you wanted and should be happy, but for some reason you can't stop ripping on the one you didn't want anymore.  And it's not doing you any good. 

 

Well to be fair with the DD56 girl comparison was alright and I get it. But let me add to it and to me it's all but fair.

 

Sure if you get the girl you wanted it's fun. But if you live in misery and can't do anything cause you're broke cause your ex fvcked you over and you're left with no furniture, no house, you lost your dog, your kids, half of your money have to go to her every month and all the crap. Sure you got what you wanted but youre also missing everything else you had. The repercussions and consequences of the crap that came with your ex is still RIGHT THERE. Not as easy to not be bitter and move on. You're just left to wonder if you'll even ever recover from it. That's how i feel as a fan right now honestly. We're heading in the right direction but god knows if we'll ever recover. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

I think the Devils will recover...but I think it's going to have to be done the old-fashioned way (good drafts and more good drafts), and it's going to require some serious patience and having to slog through some ugliness.  I have no idea when the Devils will be truly competitive again, but it doesn't feel like it's going to be anytime soon. 

 

For all intents and purposes, we're back in the 80s again...maybe not 1982-83 or 83-84 bad, but pretty bad.  Can't see these guys winning any more than they did last season. 

[Derlique]

I think the Devils will recover...but I think it's going to have to be done the old-fashioned way (good drafts and more good drafts), and it's going to require some serious patience and having to slog through some ugliness.  I have no idea when the Devils will be truly competitive again, but it doesn't feel like it's going to be anytime soon. 

 

For all intents and purposes, we're back in the 80s again...maybe not 1982-83 or 83-84 bad, but pretty bad.  Can't see these guys winning any more than they did last season. 

I agree that they will suck and wont sniff a playoff spot, but lets play Devils advocate here. Who really overachieved last season? MAYBE Schneider and if he did it wasnt by a lot since he is excellent, Cammalleri shot pretty hot, as did Bernier. My point is that the Devils didnt have a Clarkson who scored 30 and everyone knew it was a fluke. They wont have Jagr, Zidlicky or Gomez who were some of our better players but then they cut deadweight like Zubrus, Harrold, Salvador, etc. Then you have the arrival of Palmieri, Tlusty and maybe Kennedy/Stempniak or are pretty decent NHLers. Plus we're not taking into account Severson or Larsson doing better offensively. I could actually see us doing a little better (but its not likely).

[SterioDesign]

I think the Devils will recover...but I think it's going to have to be done the old-fashioned way (good drafts and more good drafts), and it's going to require some serious patience and having to slog through some ugliness.  I have no idea when the Devils will be truly competitive again, but it doesn't feel like it's going to be anytime soon. 

 

For all intents and purposes, we're back in the 80s again...maybe not 1982-83 or 83-84 bad, but pretty bad.  Can't see these guys winning any more than they did last season. 

 

Well it's hard to say really. Could they recover "on paper"? Sure. Doesn't mean it's gonna happen. We can look around the league and see rosters that are MILES ahead of us talent wise. Yet they can't make the playoffs or stay consistant. What can we say for sure about our future? That we "may" have a good defence? Sure but is it really gonna happen? Then we have NOTHING on the attack while other teams are STACKED and still can't make it. Then how long is Schneider gonna stay consistant? Are we gonna miss the window of his prime? Will it turn out we just waste his chances at winning anything?

 

Then we could say, we usually get the best out of our players with our staff and wtv.... well... who knows now?

 

All of that to say is that this team has never been as unsure of it's destiny as it is now. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

No one can predict the future SD...I said right in my post that I have no idea when the Devils truly be competitive again.  You're asking questions as though you think that someone out there should have something close to a definitive answer for them.  An optimist, pessimist, or someone in between can slant what they think will happen any way they want to.  Just because I think the Devils will recover in time (say 3-5 years) doesn't mean that they will...there are no guarantees.  Just like someone who thinks they're now going to suck forever doesn't have it all figured out either.  All we have is the hope that this GM will make the right choices and that those choices will eventually lead to the Devils icing a competitive team.  I'm prepared for that to take a while...the fact is that I haven't had to climb into the barrel of "no end in sight" irrelevance for many years when it comes to the Devils makes it a little easier (that was one hell of a run while it lasted...'87-'88 to '11-'12, only three non-playoff seasons to go with three Cups).  But I won't pretend to act like it will be fun...I think this particular team is going to be a hard watch this year.   

[SterioDesign]

No one can predict the future SD...I said right in my post that I have no idea when the Devils truly be competitive again.  You're asking questions as though you think that someone out there should have something close to a definitive answer for them.  An optimist, pessimist, or someone in between can slant what they think will happen any way they want to.  Just because I think the Devils will recover in time (say 3-5 years) doesn't mean that they will...there are no guarantees.  Just like someone who thinks they're now going to suck forever doesn't have it all figured out either.  All we have is the hope that this GM will make the right choices and that those choices will eventually lead to the Devils icing a competitive team.  I'm prepared for that to take a while...the fact is that I haven't had to climb into the barrel of "no end in sight" irrelevance for many years when it comes to the Devils makes it a little easier (that was one hell of a run while it lasted...'87-'88 to '11-'12, only three non-playoff seasons to go with three Cups).  But I won't pretend to act like it will be fun...I think this particular team is going to be a hard watch this year.   

 

I certainly gained "some" respect for some fan base. We've been incredibly spoiled with the Devils. It's only been a few years of terrible hockey and i'm already kind of not paying as much attention as i was before. It's still above average but it certainly dropped. So to see like Leafs fans who's actually NEVER seen any kind of success sticking to it is quite impressive lol

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

On balance was having Lou for the last 10 years worth having Lou for the first 18 years? Thats what you have to ask yourself SD. If the answer is no then you are crazy my friend.

In terms of recovery i agree with CR1986,you cant tell what is going to happen in the future. Look at Chicago, they were a nightmare and couldnt even get a game on TV, fans hated the owners, it was a mess. Look at the turn around there. American sport is strange in that it rewards failure with the draft. As long as we dont become an average team we will be fine.

That being said, I am far less enthusiastic about this year than I was last year.

[NLinfante]

Not sure if this was directed at me but my point was that I think Lou did want to sign Parise long-term when he was an RFA, regardless of the knee injury, but was handicapped by JVB's finances. That's not Monday morning QBing, simply stating that Lou was handicapped by Ownership.  

 

Besides, Zach had a knee injury.  Athletes blow out knees all the time and come back fine.  Given that Lou later signed Clowe to a 5 year deal coming off several concussions and Zajac to an 8 year deal despite not playing anywhere near as well as he did pre achillies injury, I seriously doubt he was taking a prove your health stance with Parise's knee.  

 

Not really directed at anyone in particular. I am a big proponent of people being allowed to express whatever they want on this forum, but the sob story about letting Zach go for nothing is well in past. We'd be better off as a fan base to let it go rather than pretend like the decisions involved were simple and, subsequently, unforgivably mismanaged.

 

 

And, for the record, I agree with you that finances played a big part. 

Edited September 25, 2015 by NLinfante

[jerseysteve]

I think a lot of his innuendos regarding events on the Devils are pretty much crap.  End of the day it's on Lou.  So a lot is just damage control and softening of his past mistakes to make the Leafs a more attractive destination IF any of his policies drove players away.

 

There is no doubt in my mind Zach Parise's leaving had very little to do with money - and I dont see Lou allowing himself to be hi-jacked to THAT degree - Suter or some other buddy would have to have been in the deal too I'm sure just to soften the Langenbrunner fiasco as distant as that may seem to everyone now. Fact is - over-paying for "character" players hamstrung the team a lot IMO.

 

I think the chatter about the Devils encouraging players to play hurt is upsetting to Lou.  I might be misinterpreting a little but still.   As if he couldn't pay a better medical staff?  As if he couldn't make that a priority for some reason?  Like ownership was saying "Hell no - put that injured guy out there - his absence will hinder the bottom line!"  I think it just never really occurred to him how to fix the problem.

 

I wish that the Devils had been able to mediate a wedding of old knowledge with new.  I get that it's not worth the effort with so much to do.  I just think it could have been handled with a lot more integrity and confidence. I have to say - I am impressed with Shannahan's confidence.  Although we all know what they say about confidence.  It's that feel you get before you fully understand the situation.

I've seen two separate interviews with ZP in which he stated the Devs financial uncertainty factored into his decision. He also reaffirmed his desire to go home. Given the timeframe of his dad's death, you have to believe he may have known his dad was sick when he decided to leave. Stop trying to find reasons to bury Lou. He's done too much for our organization and U.S. Fans, and doesn't deserve it.