The New Jersey Devils former backup goalie says he won’t be ready to start the season in the NHL. Eddie Lack will now look at other opportunities.
Some unfortunate news out of the Eddie Lack camp. Some New Jersey Devils fans might not even remember that he was a part of the Devils organization last season, but he actually started the season on the Opening Night roster. He didn’t play any games as the Devils rode Keith Kinkaid until Cory Schneider was ready to go.
Lack’s season ended terribly. Actually, it was never very good. In his six appearances, he posted a .863 save percentage while allowing a 4.10 goals against average. It was an underrated storyline from last season that the Devils third option in net was unplayable.
We later learned that Lack had been injured for a long time, and he finally was getting it fixed. After shutting himself down in December, Lack got surgery on his hip. Today, we learned he was dealing with hip pain for the past six years. If you take a look, that actually spans his entire NHL career. Those years he was exceeding expectations in Vancouver were done with pain.
Well, today he announced he would be taking his career in a different direction. Lack says he was going to take a break from professional hockey because he is still recovering from surgery to get him back to NHL level. In the meantime, he would become the goalie coach for the Arizona State University hockey team. One might question why a college like Arizona State has a hockey team, but we assure you it’s actually a great college hockey city.
Sure, Lack’s career with the Devils wasn’t star studded. The Devils traded defenseman Dalton Prout to get Lack. Even with Lack’s short career in New Jersey, it’s still clear they won that trade. His biggest moment in New Jersey came against the Tampa Bay Lightning on the road. He faced 51 shots and stopped 48 of them. The Lightning gave them everything he had, but Lack was just great that night, and if the Devils lose that game they don’t make the playoffs that season.
We wish Lack luck in his future endeavors. Unfortunately, it will be really hard for him to work his way back in the NHL. We hope he can do it, but we’re talking about a 31 year old who was a fringe player in the first place. Also, taking 18 months away from hockey after your 30th birthday might be a death blow to the career.
Again, we hope we’re wrong and we with Lack the very best. Either way, maybe he returns to the Devils as a coach one day.