The Devil is in the details

The biggest story in the hockey world this week has been the New Jersey's Devil's decision to fire Claude Julien with three games to go in the regular season. It's fair to say that pretty much every hockey observer caught off-guard by the news, including Julien himself.

Most of the mainstream media (here, here,here, here) as well as the bloggers (here, here and here ) have already had their kick at speculating as to why the move was made, but the Devil's organization hasn't shed much light on any rationale.

I'm more concerned about the impact the move will have on my pool picks. Before the surprise move, the Devils were one of the teams with all the ingrediants for a long Cup run. They have plenty of playoff experience, one of the best goaltenders in the league and a great penalty killing unit. They have enough snipers up front to score a few goals too.

I probably would have given the Devils an equal shot as conference-favourite Buffalo to advance to the Stanley Cup final. However, this move by Sweet Lou leaves me with more questions than answers. Is there something wrong in the dressing room that merited the firing? Did Devil's upper management believe the team was headed in the wrong direction? Or was it simply a difference of personality?

The bottom line is I have a lot less faith in New Jersey now than I did before and it will likely impact my decision come pool time.