TOTOWA, N.J. -- Saying the club no longer worked hard enough to overcome its talent deficit, the New Jersey Devils Tuesday fired general manager and coach Billy MacMillan and named Tom McVie as coach.
McVie, who was the coach of the Devils' minor league affiliate in Maine, ran practice as New Jersey held a press conference only a few feet away. The Devils also installed their vice president of hockey operations, Max McNab, as the new general manager. In the same shakeup, director of player personnel Bert Marshall was fired and replaced with assistant coach Marshall Johnston.
'It's our obligation to give our fans something better,' said Bob Butera, president of the 2-18 club. 'None of our fans expect us to win the Stanley Cup. But they do expect us to be in every game and to work harder. We thought that we had lost that edge.'
'Last year the Devils were rated the hardest-working team in the league or close to it,' said McNab. 'Why they were willing to give that second effort last year and they are not now is a mystery.'
MacMillan's ouster had been building for some time. The team was flogged 13-4 in Edmonton Saturday night and after the game, Oilers' superstar Wayne Gretzky ridiculed the Devils as 'a Mickey Mouse operation.'
Butera denied that Gretzky's criticism had anything to do with the club's decision to fire MacMillan.
'No, emphatically,' said Butera. 'We are incensed that any hockey player, particularly one of the character of Wayne Gretzky, would make those comments. We don't want any hockey player telling us how to run our club.'
'The reason Wayne Gretzky took a shot at the New Jersey Devils is that he is a close friend of Ron Low (who played goal in the 13-4 loss) and when he saw his good friend having all those goals scored against, he said something that normally he wouldn't say,' said McVie. 'He is a class young man.'
McVie has previously coached in the NHL with Washington and Winnipeg, neither time with great success.
'When I had the players I won and when I didn't, I didn't,' said McVie.
A key to the shakeup appears to be some crucial personnel decisions made by Marshall. One was the urging of the drafting of Rocky Trottier in the 1982 entry draft even though he had a bad knee.
Maine player John Paddock will replace McVie as coach of the Mariners.
MacMillan's brother Bobby, whose play has been subpar this season, sounded encouraged, if disappointed, by the news.
'At first I was upset but now I feel quite a lot of pressure off me,' said Bobby MacMillan. 'There was pressure. I feel very much for Billy. He gave so much to the Devils and each loss made him sag a little more.'
