FanHouse LouLamoriello

As anyone who struggled to get the new health care legislation passed over the weekend can attest, it's hard to make systemic changes. The momentum of history carries us along, forcing the boldest and most tenacious of us to aggressively fight the tide in the name of progress.

It may not be nearly on par with lowering the unemployment rate or giving our education system a breath of fresh air, but in the world of this lovely escape we call hockey, few in recent history have had as big of an impact in these terms as Lou Lamoriello. It's entirely appropriate that he's being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday night as a "Builder," because he built a dynasty out of a doormat as well as a hockey nation out of a nation with just a curious interest in the sport.

But when I think of what makes Lou Lamoriello great, I don't think about what he's done. I think about the character and personality that drove all that success.

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It's not exactly a national secret that hockey teams tend to go through coaching changes about as often as a high school kid goes through a change of clothes (speaking on personal experience, that's about once per year). As we begin the conference finals, it's probably worth pointing out that three of the four teams taking part -- the Pittsburgh Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes and Chicago Blackhawks -- experienced a change behind the bench during the regular season.

The New Jersey Devils added to their blue line on Monday afternoon, acquiring defenseman Niclas Havelid from the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for 24-year-old defenseman Anssi Salmela, as reported by TSN. And with that, the madness leading up to Wednesday's trade deadline has begun.

Havelid, 35, is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent following the season, and has recorded two goals and 13 assists in 63 games for Atlanta.

Back in November, the prospect of months without Martin Brodeur seemed like a long and daunting wait, but with Scott Clemmensen and Kevin Weekes playing the way they have, the time has gone quicker than expected. Still, everyone in New Jersey wants Marty back, and we're getting closer and closer to the reality of having No. 30 between the pipes again.

Brodeur had his first full practice with the team today after almost four months. "I'm comfortable to go into a game if I had to [Sunday]," he told Tom Gulitti, but any hockey fans hoping for a cinematic return against the incredible Sharks to inject some drama into this NHL season will have to settle for Claude Lemieux possibly playing his former team instead.

Things have been bleak in New Jersey ever since Martin Brodeur went down with his elbow injury, and they didn't exactly get any better on Friday night when the Devils fell, 3-1, to Washington. The Devils are now 1-5 since Brodeur's injury, and have scored just five goals in the five losses. Perhaps instead of acquiring a new goalie to replace his injured star, Lou Lamoriello should consider picking up somebody that can actually fill the net. Just a thought.

Scott Clemmensen was the hard-luck loser for the Devils on this night, giving up only two goals on 26 shots (the third goal for Washington was of the empty-net variety).

Battle of New York with the all too familiar recap for Devils fans:

It's already becoming a familiar script. A good effort by an undermanned Devils team, but the offense can't put the puck past a goaltender you wouldn't expect to play well and despite acceptable goaltending on their own end, it's all just good enough to lose. That's what's facing the Devils right now after their 3-1 loss in Washington, dropping them to .500 (7-7-2) just two weeks after being four games over.

Alex Ovechkin continued his recent hot-streak by scoring his fifth goal (empty net) of the year and also picking up an assist. He's now scored in three straight games, after going ten in a row without a goal. It was only a matter of time before he started to catch fire.

Brooks Laich and Tomas Fleischman also scored for the Capitals, while Patrick Elias scored the lone Devils goal.

Unfortunately for the Capitals, the win came with a price as they lost the league's leading scorer, Alexander Semin, to an "undisclosed injury" in the second period. He did not return to the game.

While the news of Martin Brodeur's elbow injury is still resonating from Newark to East Rutherford and back, Blackhawks General Manager Dave Dale Tallon was quick to get on the horn and offer a helping hand. Actually, he was probably trying to offer himself a helping hand, but that's okay, too.

According to Tim Sassone of the Daily Herald, Tallon was making plans to call Devils General Manager Lou Lamoriello to gauge his interest in Nikolai Khabibulin, now that Brodeur is expected to miss three-to-four months recovering from a torn distal biceps tendon.

A Devils source said interest in Khabibulin was a "definite possibility," but another source indicated Lamoriello might prefer to wait several weeks to pursue another goalie until he sees how Weekes performs.

Khabibulin is off to a strong start for the Blackhawks, but they've been trying to get rid of him since, what seems like, the day they signed him. He's already passed through waivers once this year, and they've never been able to find a team willing to take his contract in a trade.

I covered the Bob Hartley/Don Waddell Death Watch in this morning's edition of The Ice Sheet. The score as of around noon EST: Hartley = "dead," Waddell = "new interim head coach." Ben Wright over on the Blueland Blog has some details and immediate fan reaction from the Thrashers faithful, who have seen what was a playoff team last season go oh-for-six with zero points this season. TSN's Bob McKenzie helps fill in the blanks on Hartley's dismissal. Reaction from Thrashers fans on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution sports site is pouring in.

Waddell, the Thrashers' executive vice president and general manager, coached nine games for the Thrashers (3-5-1) in the 2002-03 season after he fired Curt Fraser 33 games into the season and before he hired Hartley as his replacement. Previously, he coached from 1987-92 in the IHL, making the playoffs three times.

Waddell is scheduled to meet the media this afternoon, so I hope one of the Atlanta hockey writers asks him the obvious question: If the Thrashers turn this thing around while he's behind the bench, is Waddell prepared to pull a Lou Lamoriello and remain head coach/general manager/ruler of all he surveys for the rest of the campaign? It's not like the Thrashers don't have talent on this roster; it's just that Hartley couldn't figure out how to get an Atlanta team that's all offensive flourish to play Tkachuk hockey.

Previously on FanHouse:
NHL Coach's Hot Seat
Thrashers: Waddell and Hartley Won't be Fired

For the second time in recent memory, New Jersey Devils GM Lou Lamoriello has sacked a winning head coach on the eve of the playoffs. Blogger Tom Benjamin asks, where's the outrage?

This is the sort of move that makes me hate the business side of sports entertainment. Even if we accept that the decision to fire Claude Julien will marginally improve the New Jersey chance at a Stanley Cup - a dubious premise - it's still wrong. Not only did Claude Julien do nothing wrong, he's actually done pretty well. Is there any other business where this kind of behaviour from senior management is considered acceptable?

Normally, the shelf life on NHL coaches is the shortest in the world of professional sports. But when the team you run has won three Cups in 12 seasons and reached the Finals one other time, outrage is going to be in short supply. I also don't doubt that the Devils may be the only team that could pull off a maneuver like this one. Playing in the shadow of the Rangers, the media spotlight has never shined terribly brightly on the Devils, and that's the case even in years when they've played brilliantly and won Stanley Cups.

And the fact of the matter is that Lamoriello may very well have found the model NHL franchise to work his magic with, something I've discussed with my friend Greg Wyshynski from time to time. Without the constant media attention that teams in other large markets enjoy, or suffer from, his decisions don't come under nearly as much scrutiny as a Glen Sather or John Ferguson, Jr. Sure, it might also mean smaller crowds and meager television contracts, but something tells ms Lamoriello has made his peace with a tradeoff that allows him more latitude with his team than another other GM in the league.