Confirmed with Link: Devils re-sign Steve Bernier (1 year, $600k)

[glenwo2]

If you go back I started this conversation with if the team fails this season. We are on the same page. You just said the same thing. Enough

YIKES! I will back down, sir.

 

[JerryGigantic]

I don't think Lou's job is on the line. I think Lou is very much safe.

Don't you think the owners have had enough? missing the playoffs 3 out of 4 years with a previous history of continued success. Every thing they bought is doing well, financially, except the Devils Hockey team. Who did they leave in charge? You guess it. Lou!
You can only ride the past just so long. Eventually it turns into 'what are you doing for me today"

The owners have been here for all of a year, and no.

Fair enough, lets talk again, if the team fails this season , I am sure we will be talking about Lou leaving the team. .

Lou has the safest job in hockey. The new owners are basketball guys, Lou is one of the most respected executives in the history of hockey and, frankly, all of sports. They openly have deferred to him and handed over hockey operations. He will run this show until he retires, and on his own terms.

All the Lou disrespect, and all the constant calls for his job on these threads, well precisely ZERO of that exists in the real world. None. Whatsoever. He is beyond respected, he is revered, and rightly so, by the people who matter among ownership and throughout the game. The amount of "currency" he has accumulated in his Hall of Fame career can handle a couple bad years, especially with all the special circumstances (Kovalchuk bailing, previous owner going broke, etc...)

There is no "hot seat", as there is the constant expectation to win, and constant pressure to live up to the Devils successful history, administered by the man himself. He expects and demands a lot, and always has, including of himself.

And Lou will write his own ticket to retirement when he (and he alone) decides to hang it up, which most people think will happen relatively soon anyway. Doubt there will be more than 2-3 more seasons, max, on his own timetable. So no way these new owners decide to shame a legend in his twilight, and tarnish the legacy of the team they paid hundreds of millions to buy. Especially as many of his recent moves have been pretty solid (Schneider, Jagr, the young D, etc...)

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

Lou has the safest job in hockey. The new owners are basketball guys, Lou is one of the most respected executives in the history of hockey and, frankly, all of sports. They openly have deferred to him and handed over hockey operations. He will run this show until he retires, and on his own terms.

All the Lou disrespect, and all the constant calls for his job on these threads, well precisely ZERO of that exists in the real world. None. Whatsoever. He is beyond respected, he is revered, and rightly so, by the people who matter among ownership and throughout the game. The amount of "currency" he has accumulated in his Hall of Fame career can handle a couple bad years, especially with all the special circumstances (Kovalchuk bailing, previous owner going broke, etc...)

There is no "hot seat", as there is the constant expectation to win, and constant pressure to live up to the Devils successful history, administered by the man himself. He expects and demands a lot, and always has, including of himself.

And Lou will write his own ticket to retirement when he (and he alone) decides to hang it up, which most people think will happen relatively soon anyway. Doubt there will be more than 2-3 more seasons, max, on his own timetable. So no way these new owners decide to shame a legend in his twilight, and tarnish the legacy of the team they paid hundreds of millions to buy. Especially as many of his recent moves have been pretty solid (Schneider, Jagr, the young D, etc...)

I can't stand all the talk of "WE MISSED THE PLAYOFFS A WHOLE HEAP OF TIMES YO" talk without any acknowledgement of the ridiculous circumstances around these past few years. We lose two top-20 wingers in the league, a blossoming high-volume shooter in Clarkson, have the worst shootout luck in the history of the shootout, and then trade for Cory Schneider just to put him right back in the middle of another "goalie controversy." Except unlike in Vancouver, it's between Schneider and one of the worst (statistically ) goalies in the league.

Lou deserves a statue for keeping the team as afloat as it's been in the wake of what's happened since 2012.

 

[schoenfeld]

josh harris does not want to be the man who fired lou lamoriello. for better or worse its in his best interest to ride lou out till the old man says its time to go.

 

[JerryGigantic]

josh harris does not want to be the man who fired lou lamoriello. for better or worse its in his best interest to ride lou out till the old man says its time to go.

Precisely. And in far fewer words.

; )

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I can't stand all the talk of "WE MISSED THE PLAYOFFS A WHOLE HEAP OF TIMES YO" talk without any acknowledgement of the ridiculous circumstances around these past few years. We lose two top-20 wingers in the league, a blossoming high-volume shooter in Clarkson, have the worst shootout luck in the history of the shootout, and then trade for Cory Schneider just to put him right back in the middle of another "goalie controversy." Except unlike in Vancouver, it's between Schneider and one of the worst (statistically ) goalies in the league.

Lou deserves a statue for keeping the team as afloat as it's been in the wake of what's happened since 2012.

thats all well and good...but what happens if we miss the Playoffs AGAIN this year? thats 4 misses in 5 years. how long does this keep Lou "safe?" what about 5 in 6?

 

[JerryGigantic]

thats all well and good...but what happens if we miss the Playoffs AGAIN this year? thats 4 misses in 5 years. how long does this keep Lou "safe?" what about 5 in 6?

Could be 5 seasons in a row, wouldn't matter. Petey D will go face first into the wood chipper should we fail again next season, but aside from that, Lou is "safe" until he decides to retire.

 

[schoenfeld]

thats all well and good...but what happens if we miss the Playoffs AGAIN this year? thats 4 misses in 5 years. how long does this keep Lou "safe?" what about 5 in 6?

but what if they make the playoffs and even win a round or two, will lou have still "lost" it then or will you guys move into a new narrative.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

but what if they make the playoffs and even win a round or two, will lou have still "lost" it then or will you guys move into a new narrative.

Its not a narrative. We've missed 3 of 4 years. That's a fact. But no one likes to point any blame around here

 

[StnTwnDevil]

Its not a narrative. We've missed 3 of 4 years. That's a fact. But no one likes to point any blame around here

3 of 4 years yes, but they just so happened to go to the the finals in between. Something a majority of teams would trade a couple one and done playoff seasons for.

Egger's also brings up the fact that the Devils lost their 2 best scorers, in back to back seasons. Yet the Devils were battling for a playoff spot very close to the end. On top of that, in the lockout season, Kovalchuk went down for 10 games, and the Devils proceeded to lose 10 in a row.

Should we also just throw a "that's all well and good" comment over the financial debacle Lou was dealing with during the last 3 years?

There are more than enough reasons to think that its absolutely insane to be calling for Lou's head right now.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I'm not calling for it right this second. But if they miss again then I think you have to at least debate it.

 

[glenwo2]

Umm...is this the Steve Bernier thread or is this another Devils Team Discussion thread?

 

[Bleedred]

Bernier sucks.

 

[Ripshot 43]

Close thread please. It's a constant reminder/downer

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

I guess what it comes down to is that I don't blame Lou for re-signing Bernier. With all that's gone wrong with the team the past 3 or 4 years, it's tough to let legitimate NHL players walk for nothing, no matter what their role. I'm sure it's not hard for Lou to imagine a scenario where Josefson busts, Boucher can't hack it yet, Sislo can't hack it at all, and Matteau sucks, and suddenly he's wishing he still had Bernier or Carter around while Sestito plays 10 minutes a night on the fourth line.

And Bernier really is most likely the best of the CBGB bunch. There's a reason he got drafted in the first round when Carter and Gio didn't get drafted at all. The problem is that he's a complete black hole in the top-6. He was never able to keep up with real scoring forwards in the NHL, which is why he was bounced from the Sharks, to the Canucks, to Florida, and then finally to the Devils where he didn't stick until there was a spot for him on the fourth line. He's a guy we should never ever see in the top 6 and yet...we have Deboer.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I guess what it comes down to is that I don't blame Lou for re-signing Bernier. With all that's gone wrong with the team the past 3 or 4 years, it's tough to let legitimate NHL players walk for nothing, no matter what their role. I'm sure it's not hard for Lou to imagine a scenario where Josefson busts, Boucher can't hack it yet, Sislo can't hack it at all, and Matteau sucks, and suddenly he's wishing he still had Bernier or Carter around while Sestito plays 10 minutes a night on the fourth line.

And Bernier really is most likely the best of the CBGB bunch. There's a reason he got drafted in the first round when Carter and Gio didn't get drafted at all. The problem is that he's a complete black hole in the top-6. He was never able to keep up with real scoring forwards in the NHL, which is why he was bounced from the Sharks, to the Canucks, to Florida, and then finally to the Devils where he didn't stick until there was a spot for him on the fourth line. He's a guy we should never ever see in the top 6 and yet...we have Deboer.

Carter is much better suited to a 4th line role than Bernier. Bernier is probably not even an NHL player anymore.

 

[Devils Dominion]

Carter is much better suited to a 4th line role than Bernier. Bernier is probably not even an NHL player anymore.

Based on last season, barely a beer leaguer.
The guy did nothing to help the team.