DevilinLA Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 I'm not sure if this has been posted anywhere yet - if it has - forgive me and delete. I was away for a bit and saw this a week ago and was anxious to see what people thought of it. Its an interesting read. Its an interview with Rob McGowan of THE CHECKING LINE. He asks Rolston about the transition and some of the issues with his time in NJ. Rolston Interview Although the Devils started the year poorly, you were one of the key factors for a turnaround at the end of the season and helped them make a last minute push for the playoffs. What would you say changed in that locker room? There was a lot of changes. Obviously I think some of the guys, I think a lot of the guys quit on John MacLean, quite frankly. You know, when Jacques came back, Jacques kind of took a new approach and I think he had some credibility. Not that Johnny doesn’t, but I think with some players he may not have, which is tough, but that’s the reality of it. It was a difficult season and when things go wrong things really go wrong and I’ve never really been a part of anything like that. And I’ve really never been a part of the way the second half went, winning almost twenty in a row. I’ve never been on a team that was as bad as we were or as good as we were. I think that if we would have gotten into the playoffs that we could have really would have made a good run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justdo3043 Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 interesting....not much to add but my gf said i think he's talking about jaime! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlienDev Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Quite sad to read really. When professional athletes quit on their coach, they are really quitting on the team and the fans. You may not like his style, but damn ... keep the effort at 110%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devilsfan118 Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 (edited) BLAME LANGS! But this shouldn't surprise anyone, the team was lost last year under jmac Edited August 23, 2011 by Devilsfan118 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Facepainter Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 I read this a little while ago, and honestly the first player to stand out in my mind was Kovalchuk. He was benched one game, plus he was the most vocal about how great a coach Lemaire was after Maclean had been fired. He might not be one of the guys who quit, but I definitely think it's possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxpower Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 I could tell you who one of the quitters was. The guy who they conducted the interview with. Brian Rolston 2010 portion of 10/11 season: 21GP: 2G, 3A, -12. Brian Rolston 2011 portion of 10/11 season: 44GP: 12G, 17A, +6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 brian rolston PDO under maclean: 919 brian rolston PDO under lemaire: 1002 rolston probably wasn't giving it his all by the end, but there are 5 other guys out there on the ice with him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneykoIsGod Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 IMO, that doesn't read like a Langs thing or even a Kovy thing. Jersey has had a dysfunctional locker room for a long time now and it really came to a head under MacLean. Off the top of my head, the only guys who played balls-to-the-wall effective hockey under Mac were Elias and White. Maybe Tedenby too, but in a one-dimensional kind of way. Everyone else, to at least some degree, looked lost and/or indifferent to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devils731 Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 It's unfair but since White was bought out, when his on ice play seemed reasonable, I think he may have been part of the culture needing a change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinn01 Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Things clearly werent in perspective and order in the locker room in the beginning of last season. Does it rest on one guys shoulders... probably not. Rolston always gave it his all on the ice, its just tough when the team isnt doing as well and everyone looks to one man to blame. I wish him the best with the Islanders and Ill be excited to see how he plays against us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaneykoIsGod Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 It's unfair but since White was bought out, when his on ice play seemed reasonable, I think he may have been part of the culture needing a change. I'm inclined to agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halfsharkalligatorhalfman Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 There's plenty of blame to go around, the players, Lou for setting the team up to fail from day one with an undermanned roster, and of course John MacLean. You can't have the players quit on you 3 months into your tenure as coach, and a lot of the blame falls on MacLean (of course he's also the only one that suffered the consequences). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oofrostonoo Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 The team never seemed to recover after playing with a short roster those few games. Lou set the team up to fail...hate to say it. Perfect storm of sh!tty things happened at the start and it Johnny Mac wasn't in the right man to get through it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe B Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 The team never seemed to recover after playing with a short roster those few games. Lou set the team up to fail...hate to say it. Perfect storm of sh!tty things happened at the start and it Johnny Mac wasn't in the right man to get through it. I'm sorry, did I not see an almost 20 game winning streak in the second half? Lou took a risk, got screwed with 2 injuries and a suspension which caused the really short bench. Injuries happen but the suspension was avoidable which is why PL3 didn't see the NHL the rest of the year and he is no longer with the org. Set up the team to fail? really? Other teams have played shorthanded a game or 2 before. The devils have done it in the past during good seasons so that is not a reason for a team to implode. I'm sure the less then max roster didn't help but to say Lou set up the team to fail because of it is off the mark. Loosing a guy you brought in to be your top shutdown defenseman had more to do with the teams slump then not dressing a full roster. I'm not sure why the injury to A-train doesn't get more attention. Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDevs4978 Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 (edited) There's plenty of blame to go around, the players, Lou for setting the team up to fail from day one with an undermanned roster, and of course John MacLean. You can't have the players quit on you 3 months into your tenure as coach, and a lot of the blame falls on MacLean (of course he's also the only one that suffered the consequences). He's not the only one, just the first one. Langs, Arnott, Rolston and White getting traded/bought/sold off doesn't count as suffering the consequences? Lou took a risk, got screwed with 2 injuries and a suspension which caused the really short bench. Injuries happen but the suspension was avoidable which is why PL3 didn't see the NHL the rest of the year and he is no longer with the org. Set up the team to fail? really? Other teams have played shorthanded a game or 2 before. The devils have done it in the past during good seasons so that is not a reason for a team to implode.I'm sure the less then max roster didn't help but to say Lou set up the team to fail because of it is off the mark. Loosing a guy you brought in to be your top shutdown defenseman had more to do with the teams slump then not dressing a full roster. I'm not sure why the injury to A-train doesn't get more attention. I sort of agree with halfshark though, when you have uncertainty all offseason as to who's going to stay and who's going to go, get handicapped right off the bat roster-wise both because of the cap and playing three rookies on defense and with a rookie coach that was obviously in over his head, they kind of were set up to fail. And in the past the Devils have been able to overcome injuries (Marty, Elias for half a season, etc), but after the miserable second half of '09-10, they needed to get off to a fast start and when they cratered early, it took months to recover. Edited August 24, 2011 by NJDevs4978 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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