Langenbrunner faced the Devils in Dallas last season, a 1-0 Jersey victory Feb. 22. He still won’t go into specifics on the issues that led to his departure.
“A lot of things happened,” Langenbrunner said. “It sort of changed with the direction the team was going.
He was asked to waive his NTC before the season started and refused. That's where the odd-man out started. Lemaire made it known he was not a fan of Langs prior to that and wanted him moved so when Lemaire came back to replace Mac it spelled the final countdown. Finally when the season was in the dumper
Whatever the reasons, changes were severely needed aside from the systems and we were destined for more 1st round outings if it continued.
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Although his relationship with coach Jacques Lemaire has been fine since the Devils fired John MacLean on Dec. 23, Langenbrunner had a disagreement with Lemaire last spring. He was a healthy scratch in Carolina on April 3 against his wishes, but was upset primarily because Lemaire asked Colin White to wear the 'C' that night. White refused.
Langenbrunner was a pissy captain and that's about all we need to know. You might not respect the coach for whatever reason but if you're going to play "mind" games with Jacques Lemaire... you'll probably end up on the losing side, or not
I still remember the comments made by Mario Tremblay, on everyone's favorite radio station in Montreal (wich doesn't exist anymore BTW), when Langenbrunner didn't want to be the #4 shooter of a shoutout and Parise almost had to convince the guy on the bench to take the shot.
It's hard to view someone on his entire career when he left the way he did. All I know is that when he bolted, we started winning again and the team that acquired him was winning and started losing.
There's a lot more fire behind the smoke we saw...
But White was made expendable for a number of reasons, and I think the disagreements with coaching/management expedited that process.
__________________
"Why I'll be a Devil forever [...] two words. Trust and respect." - Mr. Pat Burns
"I learned not to question Cowbell's willingness to ban." - Brian Boyle
As little as anyone knows about the reasons behind White's departure (carefully balanced mix of team needs, redundancy at his position, and attitude/locker room issues), I would safely assume not wearing a letter had little to nothing to do with his departure. I don't think Lou is the type to knock someone for showing respect for a teammate. It may tell him other things however...
When there is a problem between a player and a coach, I tend to think the coach is right.
It doesn't matter who is right or wrong but you should never let's that stuff get public or influence a game. Refusing to take a shootout attempt because you don't like the coaches decisions is simply childish behavior. If you don't like the coaches decisions, finish the game and talk to the coach after the game behind closed doors. And if you don't feel your coach is having your back as team captain, you maybe should consider to hand in your C.
it doesn't matter who is right or wrong but you should never let's that stuff get public or influence a game. Refusing to take a shootout attempt because you don't like the coaches decisions is simply childish behavior. If you don't like the coaches decisions, finish the game and talk to the coach after the game behind closed doors. And if you don't feel your coach is having your back as team captain, you maybe should consider to hand in your c.
I hope no idiots boo him this evening. Remember that this guy was an important and productive part of this team for a long, long time. The Spring of 2003, enough said.
But the way I see it, Lemaire did not strip Langenbrunner of his captaincy for whatever reason. So there had to be some respect.
In retrosopect, he should have. After Langenbrunner refused to take a shootout, I would ripped it off his sweater. That's absolutely disrespectful to not only the coaches, but your teammates.
I hope no idiots boo him this evening. Remember that this guy was an important and productive part of this team for a long, long time. The Spring of 2003, enough said.
How you leave your job often plays more into how people remember you than how you came into it. Just ask Penn State Football fans.
Langenbrunner had a spat with the coach, acted like a baby to the media, then followed that with absolutely piss poor play. His 2.8 contract could have been replaced by a younger player making much less money so bye bye Langs. At the time of his trade he had 4 goals and 10 assists in 31 games and was a -15.
Rolston had injury issues and never produced at a rate that would justify his 5.025 contract. The Devils needed to replace the production they thought they were going to get with Rolston and Brian's contract hindered their ability to do so. Rolston played 65 games and had 14 goals and 20 assists last year. Right now there are four players (Henrique, Zubrus, Clarkson, and Sykora) who combined make a mil more than Rolston that are each going to surpass that production.
White, injury or not, became soft, offered absolutely no offensive capabilities, was slow, and was eating up 3 mil in cap space.
It was up to Lou and Vanderbeek to get this team to be competitive again. If I was the GM, the first people I'd look at were the older players with large contracts that weren't producing. I can't blame Lou for giving Rolston that kind of money because Rollie was the class of that free agent year and most likely got offered more elsewhere... but he never produced at his Minnesota rate here in NJ since returning.
I hope no idiots boo him this evening. Remember that this guy was an important and productive part of this team for a long, long time. The Spring of 2003, enough said.
LONG ANSWER:
Benedict Arnold was perhaps the most heroic figure on the American side of the Revolutionary War, debatably an even more amazing figure than George Washington..... right up until the point he betrayed his country. I'd wager that 95% of Americans only know of his betrayal, and know nothing of his earlier career and remarkable heroics.
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Originally Posted by Richer's Ghost
How you leave your job often plays more into how people remember you than how you came into it.
