Monday Jul 09, 2012

Larry Robinson joins San Jose Sharks as Devils' exodus continues

It's already been a tough summer for the Devils. First assistant coach Adam Oates left to become head coach of the Washington Capitals. Then Zach Parise signed with the Minnesota Wild. Now Larry Robinson has left to become an associate coach with the San Jose Sharks. He said retirement was "a possibility" but he would not have returned as an assistant coach with the Devils because it was hard on his wife. “I don’t think that was an option," he said of the job as Pete DeBoer's assistant coach. "It wasn’t so much for me. I enjoyed working with Peter and the staff there. And, of course, I have a tremendous respect for Lou. But I just found it very difficult for my wife. She spent a lot of days by herself. I didn’t want that burden on her again. She missed the kids and being around her grandkids. That’s what made this move that much easier for us.” Robinson said he considered taking his old job with the Devils as a roving special assignment coach but preferred to stay in the NHL. "We had entertained the thought that if nothing else came I would still work in Spain 11/12 SILVA Home Jersey some way with the organization as far as a consultant or whatever," he said. "When this job came around and the fact I was going to be moving to a place I felt comfortable with and also my wife was going to be close to our family on the West Coast it made it a lot easier.” “It wasn’t so much I decided not to go back to New Jersey as much as we wanted as a family to try to move a little closer to our family. For me it’s not that difficult. I go to the rink and I’m there most of the day. But my wife didn’t have any contact with family. It was always over the phone, so I found her days were very long.“I wanted to move to a place where not only I would be comfortable but she would be, too. The biggest thing was for me to come here and see if we both felt comfortable with the area and we both fell in love with the area. I’m kind of a first impression guy.” The 61-year-old Hall of Famer said the Devils' finances were not an issue. "Not at all. I don't make enough money to impact them financially," he said. Retirement was possible. “That was a possibility," Robinson admitted. "Everybody kept telling me the same thing, I was too young to retire. I took that into consideration. The thing about retirement is, retirement is forever. Having gone so far in the playoffs last year, I’d like to do it again." He stressed he was not a candidate to take head coach Todd McLellan's job if the Sharks struggled. "I can address that right now. That was the first thing I said when I came into the room. I do not want to be a head coach. I'm not here to take Todd's job. I'm here to help in any way I can," Robinson said. "I wouldn't want to be a head coach knowing there is somebody with a gun behind me waiting to shoot me whenever something went wrong. You've got the best head coach here in the best position possible. I don't foresee any problems at all." Robinson, who spoke to the media today, spent 15 seasons (and 19 years) with the Devils as a head coach, assistant coach and special assignment coach. He was the team's head coach Mar. 23, 2000 to Jan. 28, 2002, and again July 14-Dec. 19, 2005. After this past season, Robinson told general manager Lou Lamoriello he was considering other options. Joining the Montreal Canadiens was one possibility. Canadiens' GM Marc Bergevin contacted Lamoriello and requested permission to speak with Robinson. That was granted. “Marc approached Lou Lamoriello and asked if he could get permission to speak to me," Robinson recalled. "I returned the call to Marc that day. Then we had another talk later on because I was going through a move from Jersey. I spoke to Michel Therrien and Marc on another occasion. Then the only conversation I had with Marc was after they made the decision to hire J.J. (Daugneault).“I wasn’t ecstatic or disappointed. I wasn’t anything. I didn’t have time to think about it that much. We’d just gotten finished with 2 ½ months of playoff hockey. We were in the middle of a move and in the middle of a tropical storm, so I wasn’t thinking too much about hockey at the time. No I wasn’t disappointed. Unfortunately it didn’t work out for me in that organization, but that’s just part of the hockey business.” Sharks GM Doug Wilson waited until after Robinson became free on July 1 and no permission was needed to speak with him. Robinson's daughter and his grandchildren live in Redondo Beach, Calif., which made the offer from the Sharks so tempting. “Doug (Wilson) waited until all the channels were open and then we spoke," Robinson said. Robinson also inquired about a position with the Tampa Bay Lightning, which would have been reasonably close to his home in Florida. “I thought about it. If I didn’t feel comfortable here and my wife wasn’t comfortable, it was an option," he said of Tampa Bay. "My house will be there in the future but I like the decision I made.” Devils head coach Pete DeBoer now is left with only Dave Barr from his coaching staff after one season with the club. Lamoriello said he will name two new assistant coaches soon. "We could go outside the organization or stay within," he said. "We're certainly looking into all situations. We'll have that solved shortly. Pete and I have been talking." He spoke of losing Robinson, who had been with the organization since 1993. “I knew what Larry was thinking at the end. He didn’t know if he wanted to retire, coach or cone back and do what he did (with the Devils) for a period of time,” Lamoriello said. “Teams contacted him because he was undecided, which was no problem.“With his daughter being in L.A., it would be a chance for his wife. I support that Spain Euro 2012 Jersey and respect it 100 percent. There is certainly no issue whatsoever.” * * * Forward Patrik Elias underwent groin surgery in Philadelphia, according to the Devils. Lamoriello said it wasn't related to the groin problem that required surgery in the summer of 2009 and forced Elias to miss the first 13 games of the 2009-10 season. "They did exploratory surgery before he went back to Czech and there was a little bit of a tear on the opposite side," Lamoriello said. "He'll be ready to play in three weeks. "He went to the same doctor that did the other side. The surgery was done in Philly." * * * Lamoriello said he is still talking contract with restricted free agent Mark Fayne, who filed for salary arbitration. "We hope to get it settled," Lamoriello said.

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