54 replies to this topic

[TravisZajac]

I don't post too often on here..I've seen lots of people(Mainly Devils fans)'s opinions about a new change of culture within the Devils organization. It might have come to the top of the top. The four last playoffs exits has come to two things that's making this team unstable : 1- Not being able to get the right coach(Which makes a lot of different systems over the years, different mentalities from coach to coach...etc) 2- Not being able to fix that D. Teams win with a great D. Just look at the previous champions of the anterior years. Or even the last four teams remaining in the playoffs, they all have great defensemens.

I'm not saying Lou is doing a bad job as a GM..I've loved his moves like I've hated some of his. Lou's gonna be 68years old coming october(I think?), Brodeur's 38 years old(Sixth may) There's 2years-3years TOPS before Brodeur retire, and it'll be hard for the Devils if they do not fix that D or keep being an unstable franchise.


It has to come for Lou to really do something this Off-season. (Which has happened not often in the past.) I'm not that pessimist or optism for the next few years..I'm just saying we should be glad Lou brought the fans(and Brodeur) all the glory to the Devils's organization. It might be the time for him to step down and renew a new culture within the Devils's organization.

[MantaRay]

Granted Lou has made a lot more mistakes than usual these past few years (Sutter, JL, Kovalchuk, Peters) but overall I don't think anyone could have kept us so competitive (2010 aside) over the last decade.

Lou is still the best GM in Sports.

[Hi, I'm VALUE!]

The intriguing part of this is that Lou, at 68, could retire anytime he damn well pleases. How Vanderbeek chooses to move forward from there, if there is no current contingency plan (read: nepotism) in place will be an interesting, franchise-defining moment, especially since Brodeur would most likely be gone at that time.

As for his "mistakes", I can't say that Kovalchuk was a mistake. He knew that he had to have a premier scorer on his team to have a puncher's chance of winning the Cup, and based on that he traded for the best scorer available. There's no WAY Lou could have known the team would tank it so badly in the Flyers series.

But knowing that now, and how he reacts this offseason in response, will be a huge determining factor in how the team does moving forward.

[skullsmasher]

No.

[Revan]

Every year people (including me) bitch about Lou doing nothing at the deadline and not reacting to the past playoff failures. Now that he made a move and it didn't work 100%, some would crucify him. Hey, the Kovy deal was right. Sure, giving up a 1st and Bergfors will be a pain if we don't re-sign Kovy. But keep in mind people expected a lot more to go the other way in that trade. Plus, we got rid of Cormier, who would be dead weigh. Oduya wasn't kicking ass this year either and we traded Bergfors after he was held pointless in God knows how many games. So, really, Lou couldn't have given them less. If he traded a guy like Elias or Zajac in that package, it would hurt a lot more.

This year, Lou at least tried. I wanted him to do it, he did it, it didn't quite work out the way we hoped, but it's not like we traded half the team.

[Devs3cups]

Forget it.

[nyrsuck26]

No.

This.

[Daniel]

I hear Mike Milbury isn't doing anything.

[TackleDummy]

The answer is no. However, I could change my mind if Lou decides it's time for another round of bad contracts to aging vets or starts throwing out no movement clauses like he's giving away Halloween candy.

[Brandon]

No. I would have a hard time naming five GMs that are better than Lou in the league.

[Martyisth3b3st]

Whoa TZ, where the hell have you been?

And.. reading that post... why the hell did you come back? Haha nah, only kidding.

[LucifersDog]

Granted Lou has made a lot more mistakes than usual these past few years (Sutter, JL, Kovalchuk, Peters) but overall I don't think anyone could have kept us so competitive (2010 aside) over the last decade.

Lou is still the best GM in Sports.

I am sorry to disagree but the Devils haven't been competitive since 2003.

Since the lockout Lou has made many bad contracts. Lou has lost a number of players that would have been better to be a Devil. The Devils strategy has been a failure since 2003.

Why would you keep him because of his history in this sport that"s as good as yesterday.

Please say Good bye Lou.

Edited by LucifersDog, 18 May 2010 - 07:01 PM.

[titans04]

I am sorry to disagree but the Devils haven't been competitive since 2003.

Since the lockout Lou has made many bad contracts. Lou has lost a number of players that would have been better to be a Devil. The Devils strategy has been a failure since 2003.

Why would you keep him because of his history in this sport that"s as good as yesterday.

Please say Good bye Lou.

+1

[Daniel]

I am sorry to disagree but the Devils haven't been competitive since 2003.

Since the lockout Lou has made many bad contracts. Lou has lost a number of players that would have been better to be a Devil. The Devils strategy has been a failure since 2003.

Why would you keep him because of his history in this sport that"s as good as yesterday.

Please say Good bye Lou.

Say it ain't so.

[oofrostonoo]

Granted Lou has made a lot more mistakes than usual these past few years (Sutter, JL, Kovalchuk, Peters) but overall I don't think anyone could have kept us so competitive (2010 aside) over the last decade.

Lou is still the best GM in Sports.

Hindsight is 20/20.

Peters is the only one I think anyone could agree with.

Sutter took a team that was supposed to finally miss the playoffs and made them again one of the best teams in the league (regular season wise)

Lemaire had us atop the league at one point on a very injured team. We had a horrible matchup in the playoff and a bad second half. I think if we had any matchup we would have gotten through at least to the second.

Kovalchuk...would have done the deal over again. Would have loved to see him play under Sutter.



Look at the majority of other GM's in the league and I would bet their borderline rearview mirror mistakes would be more significant than Lous.

Besides San Jose I'd say the big shots in the league this year were all built by their team sucking so bad they loaded up with draft picks (pitts, wash, chi)

Detroit and NJ are still the only constant competitors...



Edit: Legit Lou mistakes: Rolston, Peters, & Skimping on D.

Edited by oofrostonoo, 18 May 2010 - 08:30 PM.

[TravisZajac]

Whoa TZ, where the hell have you been?

And.. reading that post... why the hell did you come back? Haha nah, only kidding.

Well you know..Cegep(School before going into University)(27hours etc)+ working 20hours+ of job..

You got into Miami?

To be honest with you, I wanted to be sincere with the Devils's future. Brodeur'll retire(It'll be a very sad day..) and Lou isn't getting any younger. He might be one of the best GMs of all time(Pollock beats him..even though Lou cites him as an influence.) The fact is, this isn't 2003 anymore. I wonder sometime if Lou is really to be blamed for the recent failures.. He had to face the loss of Daneyko,Stevens,Niedermayer and Rafalski. Lou helped the Devils staying on top, but I'll not be surprised when Brodeur and Lou retires, the Devils goes into 4+years of rebuilding

[Colin226]

Besides San Jose I'd say the big shots in the league this year were all built by their team sucking so bad they loaded up with draft picks (pitts, wash, chi)

Detroit and NJ are still the only constant competitors...

Does anyone think that maybe in the "new NHL" it's better to follow the strategy of "suck, build high draft picks, win, suck, repeat" or the Devils strategy of "remain at a good, but not elite, level and always build for the future"??

Maybe Lou is using outdated tactics that worked better pre-lockout.. He keeps us good enough to make the playoffs but the teams that build up a ton of superstars (as a result of tanking for years) end up being better and beating us..


The Florida Marlins use the first strategy well in baseball.. They'll suck for a few years, then build up a championship team for a season or two, and then dump all the high priced players for sucky players again.. It makes some years bad but when you have a championship season it feels so damn good..

[HellOnICE]

The thing is - these teams don't use those strategies - usually - on purpose.

[Colin226]

The thing is - these teams don't use those strategies - usually - on purpose.

Well you never intentionally tank for a few seasons but the Pens went from good in the early 90's to bad when they got Fluery, Malkin, and Crosby.. They obviously did something to go from good to bad, even if it was an error.. I'm just saying, maybe you can't win as easily if you try to be consistently good because there's always going to be a team or two that's going all out to win that year at any cost so you'll lose to them.. Sure, in 5 years they'll have nothing and wont be in the playoffs but you'll be consistently making the playoffs only to lose to the team that's going all out that year

Edited by Colin226, 18 May 2010 - 09:33 PM.

[HellOnICE]

Well you never intentionally tank for a few seasons but the Pens went from good in the early 90's to bad when they got Fluery, Malkin, and Crosby.. They obviously did something to go from good to bad, even if it was an error.. I'm just saying, maybe you can't win as easily if you try to be consistently good because there's always going to be a team or two that's going all out to win that year at any cost so you'll lose to them.. Sure, in 5 years they'll have nothing and wont be in the playoffs but you'll be consistently making the playoffs only to lose to the team that's going all out that year

Yea they were in bankruptcy.