Lou Lamoriello

You know, this was the one thing that the NHL could hold over the heads of the NBA and say, "At least we're not like the NBA in this." Like, you know, it's one for all, all for one.

It's, you know, the, the crest on the front of the jersey is more important than the name on the back, as Lou Lamoriello always liked to say.

I don't like that it's shifting and players are just trying to put together dream teams or, you know, load up, um, with one another.

You know, especially as a guy who lives in Toronto, I c- I could see a scenario if this season doesn't turn out the way the Leafs want it to, you know, Auston Matthews could be next.

If I had empty seats...

Now, I had a big argument with Lou Lamoriello about this once, and he-- You'll be surprised to know that he refused to concede the argument to me, Kyle.

Like, he, his belief is that if you're paying full price for a ticket, you should never turn to someone next to you and have them say they got in free.

He was like, "Nope, you cannot allow that because," or severely discounted, "because then a person sits there and says, 'Why am I paying full price for this ticket?'" Fair.

I totally agree.

Like a Lou Lamoriello staple.

I totally agree.

You have a, you form, like, an organizational identity.

Yes.

But Lou Lamoriello, every single season, you're like, "What, what rabbit is this guy pulling out of his hat?"

Yeah.

And then the man traded for Doug Gilmour at one point, right?

... don't forget, like, when he...

And I'm old enough to remember reading about this in, in the hockey news.

I remember getting the edition and reading about Lou Lamoriello from Providence College and how everybody around the NHL mocked the decision.

Like, "Okay-"

Hmm.

So I was, so when I was looking at it, I was like, all right, who are all the teams that Lou Lamoriello was GM of?

[laughs]

They all have mascots.

Um, Mark Schwab says he's gonna start, he's gonna start watching some football, and he means European football, so watching that soccer.

Um, uh, is this Lynn, Lynn Mars over here? "In other words, we shouldn't panic because chemistry takes time despite the [laughs] current misery." Uh, I think, I think we go by the old s- you know, Lou Lamoriello system of after 10 games, you do an assessment.

These first five, not looking pretty.

Not looking pretty.

There we go Yeah, I don't know.

They need to, uh, h- I mean, I don't know if it's the coach, if it's some of the players, if it's a combination of both, but something's gotta give with this team, and I'm gonna put my faith in Sonny Mehta to be able to make the right call for what's best for the New Jersey Devils, not what's best for a couple players or, or whatnot.

Who's, what is best for this team? Maybe there needs to be some more of that old Lou Lamoriello mentality of crest on the front, not name on the back.

Agreed.

Um, so I think it buys you some time.

You don't have to, you know, to, to quote, uh, my old friend Lou Lamoriello, who used to say this a lot, "When you have time, you use it." And I think that's a mantra that every GM kinda carries through, especially now in the era of cap gymnastics.

[inhales] So they give themselves some time to see, uh, a little bit more clearly into Shesterkin's recovery and a little bit more clearly into the goalie market, if that's the way they wanna go.

Yeah.