devilsrule33 Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 (edited) A few good stories I thought I would share courtesy of Pierre McGuire yesterday...and no matter what you think of him...he is locked in with pretty much everyone in hockey and has picked up a ton of interesting stories along the way. The Ottawa radio guys were joking how much they hate Jersey because they have lost so many key defensemen, and now Brodeur...etc...and yet continue to be a top team. Pierre was explaining why to them, and after discussing the usual things of drafting and scouting, he started talking about Lou's no nonsense way of business. And finally we get to the stories... 1) Apparently on a charter plane, he went up to a player (Pierre did not want to give the player's name) grabbed him and threw him off the plane because he wasn't dressed properly (when the player knew what the dress code was) and told him you aren't playing here, and to take a commercial flight home. 2) This was a great one involving Scott Gomez. After they won their Stanley Cup in 2000 (so we are talking about his rookie season) they were taking a team picture, and as you may or may not know (I didn't) Lou has a rule that their can't be any jewellery or 'bling' in any team photo. Gomez tried to test this, by wearing a soldered-on gold chain, thinking that when Lou sees this right before the picture, he won't be able to do anything. Lou stops at Gomez and says something along the lines of "think you are getting away with this." He then yells for the trainer to get a bolt cutter, and he cuts the thing off right there. Maybe you've heard them, maybe you haven't...but thought I'd share anyway. Edited January 29, 2009 by devilsrule33 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devil Fan Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 I just know he is a powerful GM who forces Pat Burns to shave. He also is respected by other GMs and he was front and center when negotiating a new CBA. But Lou sets the tone pretty good though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'7' Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 I'd like to know who was the player that got thrown off the plane. I have a funny feeling it was Esa Tikkanen The Gomez story sounds a little funny. I mean what right does Lou have to destroy people's property like that. I can see him having the chain airbrushed out but not cutting it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmigliore Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 I'd like to know who was the player that got thrown off the plane. I have a funny feeling it was Esa TikkanenThe Gomez story sounds a little funny. I mean what right does Lou have to destroy people's property like that. I can see him having the chain airbrushed out but not cutting it. Or just asking him to take it off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilMinder Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Or just asking him to take it off He had it soldered on at a smaller size than his head and could not easily remove it. Which is probably why the bolt cutters got brought out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockcreature66630 Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Wow thats crazy. I know that the players are not aloud in or out of the building without a suit on. And i think that everybody know about the rule no facial hair during the regular season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bringbackbrylin Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 the facial hair thing is weird what are we the yankees? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbdf Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 i hear it carries over to the office as well - manually signs every check himself - payroll and payables, no individual emails, no individual internet access, no personal effects, pictures etc allowed on any desk, wall, cubicle whatever. It's just all business and he's on top of EVERYTHING Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadDog2020 Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 I'd like to know who was the player that got thrown off the plane. I have a funny feeling it was Esa TikkanenThe Gomez story sounds a little funny. I mean what right does Lou have to destroy people's property like that. I can see him having the chain airbrushed out but not cutting it. My money is on Deron Quint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDevs4978 Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 My money is on Deron Quint. I thought the story with him was he showed up hung over to practice and talked back to the coaches? Or at least that was the rumor I heard a little after the fact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devil Dan 56 Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 i hear it carries over to the office as well - manually signs every check himself - payroll and payables, no individual emails, no individual internet access, no personal effects, pictures etc allowed on any desk, wall, cubicle whatever.It's just all business and he's on top of EVERYTHING Wait wait wait... no Facebook Scrabble, then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neutral Zone Trap Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 the facial hair thing is weird what are we the yankees? Please, don't compare us to the Yankee$, we don't buy ( or try to) our championships Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devilsrule33 Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 I thought the story with him was he showed up hung over to practice and talked back to the coaches? Or at least that was the rumor I heard a little after the fact. That has gone around, but I think that was all talk with not much behind it. Nothing from the Devils end ever comes out. There is no such thing as team "sources" from the Devils. I was thinking Quint, but would Lou get rid of a guy because of that so quickly? Whatever he did, he must of really done something to piss Lou off to be gone so soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
langenmuffin Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 The man takes everything to the extreme. Do you remember last year during the playoffs vs. the Rags? There wasn't a Rangers logo anywhere in the building. The screens in the suites had the Devils logo VS. blank... and the scoreboard said 'New York" not "Rangers" as it usually does. I heard that he made the guys who run the game scramble at the last minute to change everything. There was also a rumor that he banned the players from having lettuce and tomato on their sandwiches after a food fight. Not only does he limit what they wear, how they wear their hair (and facial hair), he also controls what they eat. Yet, somehow the players keep coming back. I don't get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmigliore Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Please, don't compare us to the Yankee$, we don't buy ( or try to) our championships True dat. That'd be the Rangers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunninWithTheDevil Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 True dat. That'd be the Rangers yeah but it works for the yankees Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxchaznjxx Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 i always wondered what quint did to make his stay with us so short. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devil Dan 56 Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 i always wondered what quint did to make his stay with us so short. Does Lou have a daughter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxpower Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 (edited) I'd like to know who was the player that got thrown off the plane. I have a funny feeling it was Esa TikkanenThe Gomez story sounds a little funny. I mean what right does Lou have to destroy people's property like that. I can see him having the chain airbrushed out but not cutting it. it was a prank. Gomez was going to have to destroy his own property to take it off Edited January 29, 2009 by maxpower Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxpower Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 and FWIW, I would never be able to work with him in the office environment. although I hear he's softened alot and I wouldn't be surprised how many of the stories are old-schools. you see alot of media types who absolutely despised him (like Fat Mike, for example), who absolutely adore him now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJTommo44 Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Wow, I'm dying to know who that was. I would suspect it was Tikkanen as well. I was young at the time, but I remember thinking that it was odd that Lou would trade for a well known player like him, and then trade him again after only 9 games. I've always wanted to know that story. I'm guessing he had a poor attitude considering he never stayed anywhere very long at that point of his career. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRASHER Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 didn't tikkanen have a bum knee and the canucks found out about it like a week after we traded him there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aylbert Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Yet, somehow the players keep coming back. I don't get it. I'm sorry, did you think the kool-aid was a joke? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Rockies 1976 Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 (edited) Wow, I'm dying to know who that was. I would suspect it was Tikkanen as well. I was young at the time, but I remember thinking that it was odd that Lou would trade for a well known player like him, and then trade him again after only 9 games. I've always wanted to know that story. I'm guessing he had a poor attitude considering he never stayed anywhere very long at that point of his career. He basically wanted no part of New Jersey...Lou quickly made note of that (he already had one malcontent on the team in Neal Broten, and in general the '95-'96 team was an unhappy bunch) and got him out of town. Amazingly he gave a up a 3rd-round draft pick to bring him in and got a 2nd-rounder to ship him out. At that point Tikkanen was also basically taking regular seasons off and only giving effort in the playoffs. Re: Quint, I've always wondered exactly what happened with that one. Guess we'll never really know, outside of the rumors. EDIT: I remembered that Tik did pretty well once he went to Vancouver...I didn't realize how well until I looked it up. In 9 GP with the Devils he managed two assists. With Vancouver he put up 14 goals and 23 assists in 38 GP. What does that tell you? Edited January 29, 2009 by Colorado Rockies 1976 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Rockies 1976 Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Good write-up on Quint from 2007...he basically admits that it was Lou that got him to straighten himself out (apparently he had drinking issues): http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/articl...ing_experience/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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