Devils bring back Stanley Cup Winning Coach Jacques Lemaire as Head Coach

The Devils reached back into their glorious past to help spur the development of their present and future by hiring Jacques Lemaire as their new head coach.

Two Stanley Cups, nine head coaches (counting two stints each by Larry Robinson and Lou Lamoriello), a new city and arena, and 11 years later, Lemaire is back with the franchise that he led to its first Stanley Cup championship in 1995. Contract terms were not announced at the time. Joining Lemaire on his staff will be assistants Mario Tremblay, Tommy Albelin, and goaltending coach Jacques Caron. Scott Stevens will take on a more active role with the Devils and their AHL team in Lowell.

The 1995 cup winning coach replaces Brent Sutter, who resigned last month to move closer to his home in Alberta. He later became the Calgary Flames head coach.

Lemaire spent the last nine seasons as the head coach of the Minnesota Wild (since they came into existence), and he led them to six straight seasons with a .500 plus winning percentage. The highlight of his tenure in Minnesota was when he led them to upsets over the Colorado Avalanche and Vancouver Canucks in the 2003 playoffs that culminated with a loss in the Western Conference Finals to the Anaheim Ducks. Lemaire resigned as the Wild head coach after this past season.

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TAKE: Hopefully the Devils can find some stability behind the bench with this hire. Lemaire lasted five seasons on the bench (1993-1998), but since his departure after the '97-98 season, no coach has lasted more than two full seasons. New Jersey has failed to make it out of the first round of the playoffs the last two seasons and will clearly have its hands full in replacing Brian Gionta and John Madden, who both departed via free agency. Lemaire has proven he can get the best out of his players when he took the Devils past the first round of the playoffs in '93-94 for the first time in five years, and won the Stanley Cup in 1995. He also developed consistency in Minnesota with an expansion team and had lots of success there.

(Photo Courtesy of the Minnesota Post)