As of Monday, Claude Julien is unemployed! The Devils' head coach was fired earlier today in a surprise move by GM Lou Lamoriello. But with a record like they have and the position they are in for the playoffs, many are asking, why?
Lamoriello said that he and coach Julien were not on the same page both hockey-wise and mentally for many reasons. "I did not feel that we were going in the right direction, both mentally and hockey(-wise), going into the playoffs, for a variety of reasons," the New Jersey Devils GM told The Canadian Press. "It was never my intention to ever possibly go back (behind the bench) again," Lamoriello said. "It's just the timing to put somebody else in at this time with the number of games left wouldn't have been fair."
Julien has now been fired in the middle of the season for 2 straight years. Last year he got booted from Montreal during a lengthy slump and now, he's gone from New Jersey.
This isn't the 1st time that Lamoriello has made a late season move going into the playoffs. He fired Robbie Ftorek with eight games left in the 1999-2000 season and Robinson led the team to its second Stanley Cup title.
Lamoriello will coach coach the final 3 games of the season for the Devils starting with Ottawa, and then the Flyers and the NY Islanders.
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