Devils Fire Head Coach Ftorek

The New Jersey Devils fired coach Robbie Ftorek today after the NHL's Eastern Conference leaders lost 10 of their last 16 games.

Assistant Larry Robinson will take over the team for the rest of the season, said Devils president and general manager Lou Lamoriello.

"I did not see light at the end of the tunnel - and felt that the decision was necessary," Lamoriello said.

The decision came with less than a month left in the season and the Devils trying to avoid a fourth straight playoff disaster. The team has been eliminated early in the playoffs for the past three years after winning the Stanley Cup in 1995.

Lamoriello said the recent sale of the Devils to an affiliate of YankeeNets had nothing to do with the move to fire Ftorek.

Ftorek, 48, was in his second season as Devils coach and ninth with the organization. He compiled an 88-49-19 (.625) mark after replacing Jacques Lemaire in May 1998.

The firing came two days after the Devils lost 5-0 to the Carolina Hurricanes their most lopsided loss of the season. It was the second shutout in nine games after 111 games without a shutout.

"We were not playing to our capabilities, in my mind," Lamoriello said. "I did not see this changing," referring to a lack of "ice discipline."

"I did not think we would come out of this slump - and go forward."

Lamoriello said he told Ftorek of the decision earlier today, and "he was a gentleman, the way he would always be."

Ftorek is free to remain with the organization in another capacity, Lamoriello added, although he said the two didn't discuss alternative options with the team.

Ftorek replaced Lemaire as coach in May 1998 after the Devils, who had had the best regular-season record in the Eastern Conference, were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Ottawa.

Lamoriello refused to discuss how Robinson's contract might change with his new job. Robinson, a key member of Lemaire's staff when the team won the Cup in 1995, was fired as Los Angeles Kings coach at the end of last season and returned to the Devils' staff.

Robinson, 48, played on six Stanley Cup championship teams with Montreal and is a 10-time NHL All-Star. His 20 playoff seasons are tied with Gordie Howe for the most in NHL history. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1995.

Ftorek had many of the Devils' players during three seasons as coach at Albany of the American Hockey League, New Jersey's top minor league team. He also had previous NHL head coaching experience, in a little less than two seasons with the Los Angeles Kings in 1987-88 and 1988-89, posting a 65-56-11 record.

Ftorek was the AHL's coach of the year in 1994-95 and 1995-96. He led Albany to the Calder Cup in 1994-95.

He was one of the first good American players in the NHL. Ftorek played for the 1972 U.S. Olympic team before beginning a 13-year career in the now-defunct WHA and then in the NHL with Detroit, Quebec and the New York Rangers.

The native of Needham, Mass., had 77 goals and 150 assists in the NHL. He was the MVP of the WHA in 1977 when he had 46 goals and 71 assists for the Phoenix Roadrunners. He also led the league in assists in 1978-79 with 77.

Earlier this season, Ftorek was suspended for one game and fined $10,000 by the NHL for throwing part of the team's bench onto the ice during a 3-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.

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