There isn\u2019t a trace of bitterness or regret in Lou Lamoriello\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n
In his first interview addressing being let go as general manager of the New York Islanders in April, the Hockey Hall of Famer sounded at peace Monday as he put in perspective where he is now and a remarkable hockey life lived.<\/p>\n
And just to be clear, he\u2019s not fully retired, still working as an adviser to Islanders owner Scott Malkin.<\/p>\n
But for a man who has run a team ever since taking over the New Jersey Devils in 1987 \u2014 and also was busy every fall after becoming head coach of the Providence College hockey team in the late \u201960s \u2014 this is indeed a new feeling.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s absolutely fine.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s totally different and unique,\u201d Lamoriello, 83, told The Athletic on Monday morning. \u201cThere are more nights you sleep much better.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that with a laugh but was quick to add that his daily regimen hasn\u2019t changed as far as getting up early every day and getting on with his day, which still includes calls and meetings.<\/p>\n
The difference is he\u2019s not running a hockey team and not traveling with one, either.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a believer in being with the team,\u201d Lamoriello said. \u201cMy day is totally different. It\u2019s controlled by me. I\u2019m not involved with the hockey side, which is the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s had a few chats with new Isles GM Mathieu Darche, especially helping during the transition.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a couple of lunches with him during training camp,\u201d Lamoriello said. \u201cWe communicate. I am a fan of Mathieu, I like him.\u201d<\/p>\n
As far as the day to day, Lamoriello still watches as much hockey as ever.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just enjoying the blossoming of some of these young players that are coming into the league or have been in the league a year or two,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the days of being in day to day for the hockey team, I\u2019m retired from that part of the game, I believe it\u2019s time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Again, he sounded very content as he said this.<\/p>\n
Lamoriello attended the NHL Board of Governors meeting on Oct. 15 in New York City and plans to do the same for the main Board of Governors meeting in Colorado Springs next month. That\u2019s part of his gig as consultant to Malkin \u2014 a role that extends past this season as per his contract.<\/p>\n
The reality is that Lamoriello planned to make this kind of transition a decade ago when still in New Jersey. When the late Ray Shero became Devils GM in May 2015, Lamoriello stayed on as team president. The plan was eventually for him to become a consultant to ownership over time.<\/p>\n
However, Toronto Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan offered Lamoriello the Leafs GM job, which he couldn\u2019t resist, given how special an opportunity that was.<\/p>\n
In Toronto, Lamoriello planned to be GM for three years, which actually did happen. And he remains close with now-Pittsburgh Penguins GM Kyle Dubas, who replaced him as GM in Toronto in 2018.<\/p>\n
The idea at the time was that Lamoriello would stay on as a consultant with the Leafs, the same as in New Jersey. But yet again, another team came calling. The Islanders hired Lamoriello as GM in June 2018. The original deal was that he would be GM for four years and then consult for a few years after that. He ended up being Isles GM for seven years before the change was finally made after last season.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a long way of saying Lamoriello has now transitioned into the consultant role he had first envisioned for himself a decade ago in New Jersey.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never thought I\u2019d leave New Jersey,\u201d Lamoriello said. \u201cEven today, I never thought I\u2019d be anywhere but New Jersey. Similar to my days at Providence. They had opportunities there. I never thought I\u2019d leave there.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s made a point of having his own office separate and at a different location from the Islanders\u2019 team headquarters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know what the job is to be a general manager and to run a club \u2014 the independence you need,\u201d said Lamoriello, whose 1,470 regular-season wins as NHL GM are second only to David Poile\u2019s 1,533. \u201cYou don\u2019t need anyone looking over your shoulder. That will never happen. I support Mathieu, and if he wants to talk, I\u2019m there. I like what he\u2019s doing. And I\u2019m enjoying the other part of the game now.\u201d<\/p>\n
What a ride it\u2019s been in hockey for him over the past six decades. Three Stanley Cup championships. GM of the U.S. team that famously won the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe game has been great to me,\u201d Lamoriello said. \u201cI never thought of it as it being a day at work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lamoriello said the relationships he forged with people in the game are what he values most. He said it\u2019s been \u201chumbling\u201d how many of those people have reached out to him since last season to check up on him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank God I\u2019m in good health,\u2019\u2019 said Lamoriello, who enjoys the occasional glass of Italian Brunello red wine. But just one.<\/p>\n
The reality has set in. His GM days are over. About 10 years after he thought they would be.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no looking back. I\u2019ve been very fortunate,\u201d Lamoriello said. \u201cI\u2019m blessed with a great family, three great adult kids, seven grandkids. That\u2019s something special. You\u2019ve got to feel good. How can you not feel good? Why wouldn\u2019t you?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all positive.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There isn\u2019t a trace of bitterness or regret in Lou Lamoriello\u2019s voice. In his first interview addressing being…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297705,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[4822,394,385,99,1788],"class_list":["post-297704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-new-jersey-devils","tag-new-york-islanders","tag-nhl","tag-sports","tag-toronto-maple-leafs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297704\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}