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Inside the NHL

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The Team to Beat  

After a 13-victory streak, the Devils again look Stanley Cup-tough

By Kostya Kennedy

Last Friday afternoon, one year after Larry Robinson took over as coach of the Devils and just hours before New Jersey ran its winning streak to 13 games with a 4-0 home victory over the Canucks, Robinson was hanging around the dressing room talking about his job. "I feel like a father of 20 kids who have all turned out great," he said about the defending Stanley Cup champions. Then he sighed. "It's too bad that when you've got to be hard on them, you've got to be hard."

The addition of Bob Corkum last month has given New Jersey greater depth and a face-off specialist. Tim Defrisco

Robinson, 50, is known as Big Bird, and the nickname suits him not only because he's big and birdlike (6'4", with a long wingspan) but also because he has a kindly manner worthy of Sesame Street and because he likes to take players under his wing. He particularly enjoys these Devils, a dedicated and deeply talented bunch that at week's end led the Atlantic Division (42-18-12-3) and had shown no signs of self-reverence over the streak, which ended with a 4-2 loss to the Penguins on Sunday.

Robinson has guided New Jersey with gentleness as well as with flashes of anger that, for example, led him to bench such integral forwards as Scott Gomez, Bobby Holik, and Petr Sykora when their play slipped. Each responded to the benching with renewed vigor. "He doesn't get mad often, but when he does, he tells you to your face what's wrong," says Gomez. "Then he gives you the chance to make it better."

This season, with its late run of success, contrasts with last year, when New Jersey struggled for much of the second half. Not only was coach Robbie Ftorek dismissed and replaced by Robinson, an assistant, with eight games left in the season, but G.M. Lou Lamoriello also shook up the Devils in mid-March by acquiring sniper Alexander Mogilny and skilled defenseman Vladimir Malakhov. Those moves helped New Jersey win the Cup. This year Lamoriello has made only subtle changes. "They have no weaknesses," says Canucks coach Marc Crawford. "Other top teams might do one thing better than New Jersey does, but New Jersey has the whole package."

The Devils had scored the most goals (262) and surrendered the second fewest (175) in the Eastern Conference, and Robinson has been coaching with an eye to the playoffs, spreading around ice time, giving No. 1 goalie Martin Brodeur an occasional breather and resting older players such as defenseman Ken Daneyko and winger Randy McKay. "Last year at this time we had to focus on playing the right way," says Robinson. "Now we're playing the right way, so we're just tweaking. I'm proud of these guys."

Issue date: April 2, 2001

For more Inside the NHL see this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands Wednesday, March 28. Click here to subscribe to SI.

 

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