New Jersey Devils: 5 Craziest Lou Lamoriello Head Coach Firings

1. Robbie Ftorek – 2000

Once again, right before the start of the playoffs, the New Jersey Devils fired Robbie Ftorek. It came on March 23, 2000. Ftorek started with the Devils as an assistant for Jacques Lemaire. Then, when Lemaire stepped down after an early exit from the playoffs in 1998, Ftorek took over as head coach.

Ftorek just didn’t click with the team despite the fact they were in first place. The Devils were a dominant team in 2000, led by a monstrous defense, Martin Brodeur, and the “A” line. Everything was perfectly in place for the Devils to win it all. However, it seemed like the players and the coach didn’t get along.

That could have derailed a really good chance for Lamoriello to get his second Stanley Cup, so he made the move. He replaced Ftorek with Larry Robinson, and the rest is history. Robinson had just three weeks to instill his philosophy, but the Devils just needed tweaks. They didn’t need an overhaul. So a friendly voice was enough to get them motivated to win on a nightly basis. With veterans at every level of the team and star veterans at that, this Devils team didn’t need much to make it to the promised land.

Of course, Lamoriello didn’t want Ftorek to lose everything in the deal. He was given a job in the front office, and his name is even on the Stanley Cup. Of course, a team was able to give Ftorek another chance. He became head coach of the Boston Bruins in 2001. However, he never really saw success behind the bench. Weirdly, Ftorek returned to the Devils after he was fired by the Bruins. He became the head coach of the Albany Devils, and he stayed in that post for a few years.