Lou Lamoriello ran the Devils for 28 years and was the Maple Leafs general manager the past three seasons. The transition to being the Islanders’ president of hockey operations and general manager did not give him a moment’s pause.
“The day you decide,” Lamoriello, 75, said when asked how quickly he flipped that mental switch.
In other words, always look forward.
The NHL is a vastly different league today than when Lamoriello, the Providence College athletic director, was hired away in 1987 to be the Devils president. There are 10 more franchises, with a 32nd potentially to be awarded to Seattle, an ever-increasing salary cap, an influx of European and U.