`C' is for champion

Sporting News, The, June 19, 2000 by Larry Wigge

THE LEMIEUX FACTOR

He may not have been the playoff MVP he was for New Jersey in 1995, but having Claude Lemieux's constant chatter, experience and hard-nosed approach certainly helped the Devils to another championship.

"I don't worry about people saying I'm not as good as I once was," Lemieux says. "Hey, I think I'M smarter and wiser.

"And I know how to win."

Lemieux now has four Stanley Cups to his credit: one with Montreal (1986), one with Colorado ('96) and two with the Devils ('95 and 2000). In doing so he becomes the first player to win a Cup with one team, win one with another team and then return to win again with the former team. --L.W.

Goodbye, Mr. Robinson?

Could Larry Robinson win the Stanley Cup and walk away from coaching even without a full season with the Devils?

You bet.

But he's having too much fun proving to others he can coach after being fired by the Kings in May 1999.

Robinson never expected he'd like coaching again, and who could blame him after his Kings qualified for the playoffs just once in four years. For that reason, he had to be cajoled into taking over for Robbie Ftorek in late March with just eight games left in the season.

All Robinson could remember were the long hours and lack of success. Perhaps forgotten was the joy of winning six Stanley Cups playing with Montreal and one as an assistant with the Devils in 1995.

But he became comfortable with these Devils, starting with more depth and discipline than any of his previous teams. He wasn't soft on his players, the knock he received in Los Angeles--Robinson ripped into top-line players Petr Sykora and Patrik Elias for a lack of effort in Game 2.

The team was 4-4 under Robinson in the regular season and 16-7 in the playoffs. He became only the third coach to be hired midseason to go on to win the Stanley Cup, joining Toronto's Dick Irvin in 1932 and Montreal's Al MacNeil in 1971.

Would the Devils be in this position if Ftorek was still coaching?

"Absolutely not," says Devils center Bobby Holik.

"Truth is, I'm very proud of where I am today when compared to where I was at the end of last year," Robinson says. "1 never got a chance to finish what I started in Los Angeles. It's nice to know I'm not what everybody said I was. I'm not too soft and not able to be a coach because of that."

Could Robinson walk away?. Yes, he's one person who has had enough success in this game to walk away for good. But he won't. --L. W.

Senior writer Larry Wigge covers hockey for THE SPORTING NEWS. E-mail him at wigge@sportingnews.com.