Robinson Fits in New Jersey

Larry Robinson left L.A. two years ago with what seemed to be a huge sigh of relief. When the Kings let him go, it was as if they had done him a favor.

Soon enough, he was back with the New Jersey Devils, back with the organization that gave him his first break in coaching--as an assistant to Jacques Lemaire in 1993-94.

It was familiar territory and Robinson seemed content to be one of Robbie Ftorek’s assistants for the 1999-2000 season. The pressure of coaching in a no-win situation with the Kings was but a distant memory. He would tutor very good players on a very good team. He could smile again.

But an odd thing happened late last season.

Devil management decided Ftorek (also a former King coach) wasn’t the right man to guide the team into the Stanley Cup playoffs. Eight games before the regular season ended, and with the Devils in first place in the Eastern Conference, the club took the unusual step of firing Ftorek. Robinson was selected to be the next coach.

Nice break, eh?

With Robinson in charge, the Devils won the 2000 Stanley Cup championship. He was only the third coach in NHL history to take over a team during the regular season and lead it to a championship.

Now, Robinson has the Devils one victory away from a second consecutive championship. New Jersey leads the best-of-seven series against the Colorado Avalanche, three games to two. Game 6 is Thursday at Continental Airlines Arena.

These days, Robinson looks nothing like the frazzled man who left L.A. after the Kings went 32-45-5 in 1998-99, the last of his four seasons behind the bench.

Robinson appears more confident, more at ease (even when upset with the Devils, which he has been on occasion). He isn’t as quick to make dramatic changes to his line combinations or defense pairs, which was one knock against him during his tenure with the Kings.

The Devils don’t always mirror him, but when they are playing their best hockey, Robinson’s calming influence can be seen in his players. And when Robinson speaks, the Devils listen.

“The real key is he has our ultimate respect,” center John Madden said the other day. “When a guy plays for 20 seasons in this league and wins all those Cups and all those awards, everyone automatically respects him.”

Robinson helped the Montreal Canadiens win six Stanley Cup championships during a career that stretched from 1972-73 to 1988-89. He also played for the Kings for three seasons before calling it quits in 1992. Robinson was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 1995.

“He is the ultimate players’ coach,” said Colorado Avalanche defenseman Rob Blake, who played with and under Robinson in L.A. “It’s almost like there’s a lot of player still in him. He had a tough time in L.A. because there were so many players coming and going, but he was the perfect guy to come into New Jersey and calm that team down.

“If you watch Larry, if you listen to Larry, if you’re around Larry, you can’t help but learn from him.”

From a distance, what has been most impressive about Robinson in his short time as the Devil coach is that he always calls it the way he sees it. If the team is not performing--and the Devils were not even close to his standards in the first three games of the finals--he lets them and everyone else know.

“I don’t think it will take meetings,” he said after the Devils lost Game 3 to the Avalanche to fall behind in the series, 2-1. “I think it just takes a little soul-searching. If a coach has to light a fire under his players at this point in the season, then those players shouldn’t be here.”

New Jersey then won two in a row over the Avalanche, including a 4-1 romp Monday in Game 5 that set up the potential Stanley Cup-clinching game Thursday.

Last season, when the Devils trailed the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-1, in the conference finals, Robinson called a team meeting and proceeded to shred his players. Duly motivated by Robinson’s anger, the Devils won the next three to take the series, then whipped the Dallas Stars in the finals.

This season, Robinson benched defenseman Colin White for making a boneheaded play during a game in the Devils’ second-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He also scratched Sean O’Donnell, a former King defenseman, for Game 5 against Colorado because he wasn’t playing well.

Robinson also has criticized his players during the finals for taking foolish penalties.

But he hasn’t been afraid to praise them too. He seems to have learned when a player needs a kick in the rear end and when he needs a pat on the back.

“Hockey is a game of mistakes,” he said. “Mistakes are part of the game. But there’s no excuse for being out-hustled and outworked.”

More than anything else, that seems to be Robinson’s coaching mantra with the Devils.

In the final analysis, Robinson and the Kings simply weren’t a good fit. Robinson and the Devils have been an almost flawless fit.

One more victory and together they will have formed a budding dynasty in the Meadowlands.

Slap Shots

Colorado Coach Bob Hartley did his best to quash rumors that center Peter Forsberg would play in this series. Forsberg had his spleen removed May 10, hours after the Avalanche defeated the Kings in Game 7 of their second-round series. “There is absolutely no way Peter Forsberg can be in the lineup,” Hartley said.

Kevin Dineen of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Ray Ferraro of the Atlanta Thrashers and Adam Graves of the New York Rangers were selected by the Professional Hockey Writers Assn. as finalists for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, presented to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of sportsmanship, perseverance and dedication. The winner will be announced June 14.