Adam Proteau claims that the New Jersey Devils’ poor performance this season is solely their own team’s fault and that a new coach will convey a message to the players.
This season, the New Jersey Devils have not lived up to expectations. They are already out of the Stanley Cup playoff picture with just under three months remaining in the season, and coach Lindy Ruff is under intense pressure.
Regretfully, Ruff revealed late last week that media were overly pressuring Devils players over the power play.
Ruff had the option to play it cool and keep the responsibility within the company, but the fact that he pursued reporters shows how desperate he was.
To his credit, Ruff subsequently acknowledged that he had the ultimate responsibility for the team’s condition.
The Devils’ season is about to end, though, and New Jersey general manager Tom Fitzgerald must decide whether to fire coach Ruff now or try to salvage something from a team that needs a sustained run of good play to stay in the lower middle of the fiercely competitive Metropolitan Division.
To be honest, though, neither the fans nor the media are to blame for the Devils’ inability to string together even a modest three-game winning streak since late December.
It’s not anybody else’s responsibility that New Jersey’s special teams are at best mediocre; it’s the organization’s fault that it presently ranks as the seventh-worst defensive squad in the whole league.
Comparably, even though the Devils have seen their fair share of injuries and have suffered significantly from goaltending this season, New Jersey’s depth across the board was expected to be a strength, at least according to those who saw them as a top team in the Metro.
The letdown that has resulted from it simply not happening has been genuine and excruciating.
No, Ruff is to blame, which is why a replacement behind the bench is needed. It doesn’t matter if Fitzgerald hires a fresh face, like veteran Gerard Gallant, or gives the keys to Travis Green, an assistant coach with the Devils currently in place.
The point is, something has to change. Due to Ruff’s experience, the Devils have not played well enough this season.
Even in the few occasions when the majority of their talent was fit and available to play, New Jersey was a study in contradictions.
The Devils wouldn’t win everything by changing coaches, but the players would understand that it is now their responsibility to steer clear of trouble.
They require a change of perspective and a new beginning if they are to overthrow a divisional opponent and secure a wild-card playoff berth.
And switching coaches is the greatest way to achieve that. A hockey legend as old as time states that the coach must fail first after prolonged difficulties; perhaps this summer, more significant roster adjustments will be required after that.
Fitzgerald would be better served, for the time being at least, by dismissing Ruff. It’s not the first time, nor will it be the last, for a bench boss to take the fall for his team.
In New Jersey, it’s time to choose a new coach, and Ruff has little control over whether or not that happens.
He should have paid the price weeks ago because he needed a huge win/loss turnaround, and since it hasn’t happened.
