My Five Favorite Devils Coaches | 40 YEARS WITH STAN

If you're wondering how I went about picking my Five Favorite Devils Coaches, it was easy. All I had to do was turn on my memory machine. Remember; over the decades, I did a ton of broadcasting Devils games for SportsChannel and then MSG Networks. I covered all three Cup-winning clubs. During those many years, I got to know every single New Jersey coach whether he liked it or not; and I don't mean to be a "wise guy" by that remark.
Neither Jacques Lemaire nor Larry Robinson nor Jim Schoenfeld -- just to name a few -- could avoid me. Before every home game, I hosted a segment called "Coach's Corner." It amounted to a five-minute third-degree about our guys against whoever our foe happened to be.
Some mentors -- Herb Brooks being one -- occasionally would dispatch an assistant but, win or lose, they all were cooperative and a precious few were even funny. Actually, the funniest by ten miles was Tommy McVie and the most intense was Herbie Brooks.
As for my list, let me point out that every single one of them was a favorite in one form or another, it's just that I couldn't possibly have a ten-way tie for first!
Okay, here we go:

1. JACQUES LEMAIRE (1993-1996)

For starters, let me say that I was there for Lemaire's introductory press conference, and -- like everyone else -- I was startled by Lou Lamoriello's announcement. (As usual, Lou kept a lid on leaks.) From the get-go, Jacques captivated the media. He had the knack. He was candid, amusing, insightful and never took himself too seriously; except, perhaps, after a bad loss.
After one game in which Mike Dunham replaced Marty Brodeur and produced a shutout, I confronted Jacques after the game. (This actually was the first time we ever televised a post-game scrum.) I said, "Jacques, you'll have to start Dunham again on Monday in Philly; right?" But Lemaire shook his head. "No?" So, I shot back: "But, Jacques, what's better than Mike's shutout?" There was a twinkle in his eyes as he answered: "What's better is Martin Brodeur!"
I once asked Bobby Holik to pick his favorite coach of, all-time. "Jacques Lemaire," he said. "And who," I asked, "is the runner-up?" Holik: "There is no runner-up."
After all, it was Lemaire who orchestrated the four-game sweep of Detroit that produced New Jersey's first Stanley Cup. And, I should add, that the five or six other Devils I'd asked about their favorite bench boss, all said Jacques -- and on the short hop as well.
Apart from his super-brain, Lemaire was appreciated for his humor. When somebody asked how he felt about the closing of Boston Garden, Jacques demurred. "I'm not a romantic. . . about cockroaches and rats running around," he chuckled. "No, I am not." And after he delivered New Jersey's first Cup, Lemaire was asked if he'd consider coaching the Canadiens again." This time he was serious when he replied: "No matter what they would offer, my sanity, my health, and my life are worth more to me."
You see, you just had to love this guy.

2. LARRY ROBINSON (2000-2001)

The two things Robbie and Jacques had in common were their Montreal Canadiens championship roots and affable personalities. Let's face it, you'd be hard-pressed to find a nicer guy in the world than Larry Robinson -- or Jacques for that matter. The difference was presence.
Just as he had that dominating persona on the ice, so did Robbie behind the bench or running a practice. His bigness matched his no-nonsense approach that inevitably was salted with a sense of humor.
One day a reporter commented to Larry that he always seems calm, like the Easy Rider of hockey. Robbie grinned and replied, "There were times when I was squeezing my stick so hard, maple syrup came out!" Unlike Lemaire, Robinson never looked like he was made to be a head coach but his players simply loved him for that and rarely -- if ever -- took advantage of his good nature. He also was admired for his ability to play a high-grade brand of polo. Actually, he once managed to compare hockey trades to a horse he owned.
"You may have the most beautiful horse in the world, but if he doesn't win on the racetrack, why keep him? You might as well have a mule if he wins!" And Robbie's biggest win came that night in Dallas when Petr Sykora was injured early in the game and the Devils looked doomed.
But Larry stayed calm and the coach was repaid when Patrick Elias skimmed the best "blind" pass in NHL history for Jason Arnott to convert behind Ed Belfour!
Robbie may have been the happiest guy on the ice: and we who knew him were so happy for Larry.

3. PAT BURNS (2002-2003 to 2004-2005)

How could I forget the day Burnsey was hired by Lou Lamoriello. Rather than schedule an in-person press conference, The Boss decided on a conference call. That was fine with me since I was driving out to a reunion of my Brooklyn neighborhood chums. I was driving -- cell phone to my ear and my buddy, Abe Yurofsky, was sitting in the passenger seat.
Nobody I had known had a clue who Lou would select for his next coach but now the time had come for Lamoriello to take the mike and announce: "My new coach is -- Pat Burns." Having forgotten that everything I said on my phone was being transmitted over the conference call, I blurted "HO-LEY SHOOT!" Except, I didn't say "shoot."
Of course, my happy expletive carried all the way to the Northwest Territories and on to the Cocos Islands.
But we all got over that in a hurry since Burns was a solid choice but 180-degrees different from Jacques and Larry. For one thing, Pat could intimidate you with a stare like nobody else in the world; except, of course, Lou. Like Lemaire, Pat had gone through the wringer of coaching the Habs and he never forgot it.
We once asked him how much pressure was involved in coaching the Canadiens. He wasn't kidding when he replied: "In Montreal, you can't even have a bad practice."
We discovered soon enough that Pat ran a tight ship and there was no sentimentality behind the bench. Mister Devil, himself, Ken Daneyko learned that lesson when Burns benched him through the 2003 Final against Anaheim. That is until Game Seven at the Meadowlands when Pat celebrated the franchise's third Stanley Cup.
Interestingly, prior to that 2003 postseason, Burns had gone to a boat show. While checking out a Chris Craft, the salesman asked about the size of a boat Pat was seeking. "The longer we go in the playoffs," Pat chirped, "the bigger the boat!" Yeah, I vividly recall how the Ducks stretched the tournament to a seventh game before Marty Brodeur and Mike Rupp combined to sink the Ducks.
If there was any coach who made the theory of "Tough Love" work to perfection it was our coach with the Harley motorcycle. And how can you not love a guy like that?
You can't!

4. TOM MCVIE: (1990-1991 to 1991-1992)

There's no question that Tommy McVie ranks as the stand-up comic among coaches. Which, in a sense is unfortunate because the gravel-voiced leader was a darn good coach; and dead serious about his gig. I remember him being good enough, mind you, to take a young Devils team to a seventh playoff game against the Rangers before capitulating. But that was not Tommy's first time around. He tasted the harsh syrup of defeat in the club's early days and was leading the club that night in Edmonton when Wayne Gretzky called our lads "A Mickey Mouse outfit."
Unlike other NHL mentors, McVie had the ability to shrug off defeat with either humor or philosophy.
In the Mickey Mouse game sequel in East Rutherford, the Devils almost contained Gretzky, Inc. before losing 5-4. In the post-game press scrum McVie waxed philosophical: "I know it's gonna be tough at times. I like to quote Waylon Jennings' song that things can't always be what you want them to be. That 'Sometimes it's Heaven. Sometimes it's Hell. And sometimes I don't even know."
Nor was McVie reluctant to poke fun at his young club's inadequacies. To wit:
"Emotion carries you a long way. But it's a short-term friend. What you need is a long-term companion like talent." Then, there was the classic McVie squelch after he was asked how he slept after a loss. "I slept like a baby," he replied, tongue well-ensconced in cheek. "Every two hours I woke up and started crying!"
Then there was Tom's retort courteous when someone suggested that get a regular day job. "If I wasn't coaching hockey," McVie explained in all seriousness, "then I think I'd probably be driving the Zamboni."

5. JIM SCHOENFELD (1987-1988 to 1989-90)

The very first "Miracle Season," -- 1987-1988 -- was choreographed by The Redhead. This was Lou Lamoriello's first full campaign as bossman. First, he gave the previous coach Doug Carpenter a long leash until a horrendous loss to the Rangers in December 1987. After a high-level conference with himself, Larrupin' Lou chose Schony, a former ace Buffalo defenseman, as Doug's successor. When Jim took command, New Jersey's chances for their first playoff run were slim and none. Following the 1988 Olympics in Calgary, Schony added goalie Sean Burke to the roster and suddenly the club moved in hot pursuit of the Rangers.
By April 3, 1988, the final night of the season, the Devils were in Chicago playing an hour behind a Rangers victory over Quebec. Still, if Schoenfeld's outfit somehow could beat the Blackhawks, the boys would be in; and, of course, everyone in Devils Country knows that Johnny MacLean's overtime shot past goalie Darren Pang did the trick.
Defenseman Craig Wolanin pointed his finger at the miracle coach and summed up the secret: "Jim made us believe in ourselves."
Under Schoenfeld, New Jersey would next upset the first[-place Islanders in the opening round and follow that with a pulsating series victory against the Capitals.
Now in the third round, Schoenfeld made headlines after his confrontation with referee Don Koharski. Schony's "Have another doughnut, you fat pig!" became so famous that author Glenn Liebman included it in his book, "Hockey Shorts -- 1001 Of The Game's Funniest One-Liners."
It represented the one time that Jim Schoenfeld had a better one-liner than Tom McVie.
That -- in and of itself -- is why The Redhead made it to my list of five favorites.
I rest my case.