00:00Ken, do you agree that sometimes, you know, it's not that you're not looking at everybody to add to a
00:06roster, but you got to have the right guys. And I go back to Lou Lamorello, the guy that orchestrated
00:12all that stuff. How important was it to try to find the right guy?
00:16I mean, you can be a talented player, but finding the right pieces or the right spark plugs to go
00:22into the engine. I think that's the true genius when you're talking about a Lou Lamorello or Pierre Lacroix or
00:28people like that, that have built great dynasties before. Is that fair to say about somebody like a Lamorello?
00:35Yeah, no question about it. In his prime. I mean, he was he's in the Hall of Fame already for
00:40a reason because he was the architect. We didn't know much about him when he came from Providence College's AD
00:47there coming to New Jersey. But the second he stepped into our dressing room, he had that presence that that,
00:56you know, factor of respect.
01:00Every guy, when he spoke, we listened because we're going, who is this guy? We didn't know a whole lot
01:06about him. But just having that, you know, that feel of this guy, he means business. And that's what you
01:16want.
01:16That's what you want from the top. That's what you want from leadership. And obviously to build the team. Look,
01:20it's not easy for any general manager or coach in any sport as far as as far as, you know,
01:27the competitive balance, especially national hockey right now is at an all time high.
01:31And for me, there's a couple of top teams. And then after that, you can throw a blanket over the
01:35next 25, even the teams that didn't make the playoffs, including my New Jersey Devils.
01:41Now they've got good players. They're good teams. But if you don't have the right pieces and everybody pulling the
01:48rope the same way and everybody understanding, you have to find certain roles to make make your team and have
01:57success.
01:57And that was what Lou was genius with. And he made sure you understood if you have a role. I
02:04mean, I've told the story many times. He told me an orchestra story with me.
02:08And when I was young, I wanted to kind of do a little bit of everything because I came out
02:13of junior. I could produce some offense at the time.
02:16But it's very difficult to transfer it to the National Hockey League, only the elite can in skill and skating
02:24or whatever that may be.
02:26And he made sure that there's pianists, there's violinists and there's drummers.
02:33And he wanted me to understand what category I fell into. That was the drummer. And at times you don't
02:41want to hear it.
02:41And you're an emotion. You wear your emotion on your sleeve as a player.
02:45But he understood that you have to do what you do best to help your team and not really step
02:51outside of it.
02:52Doesn't mean you can't score once in a blue moon, but that was the bonus because he didn't want you
02:57taken away from what what was going to help the team ultimately have success.
03:01And you got to trade really good players to to get the pieces that you want.
03:06I mean, if you look at some of lose trades over the years, I mean, fans get attached.
03:12We get attached to teammates because their dear friends are great players.
03:16And sometimes you go, what's he doing trading this guy back in the day?
03:19He traded our captain Kirk Muller, who went on to have a great career and win a Stanley Cup in
03:25Montreal.
03:25But he brought over Stephon Richie, a little different piece that he felt we needed.
03:29He was a little more dynamic offensively.
03:32So you do that over time.
03:35And it's just a feel and lose as good as good as it gets at understanding what kind of pieces
03:41you need to win.
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