Robinson had to follow his heart and walk away
Dec 20, 2005
Today, the Devils were dealt another tough loss.
As Patrik Elias said to me, "Our team has had some difficult losses this season, but losing Larry Robinson is the toughest of them all. Larry was the coach we all said we wanted to play for, but now he's gone."
Scott Gomez and Jay Pandolfo both told me that Larry was a great guy and one of the special people in all of hockey. Every other player I talked to was practically speechless, except to say they were stunned and saddened that Larry had been so adversely affected by their poor play.
Robinson said that severe headaches, stomach aches, neck and back aches were affecting both his sleep and his love and performance as a hockey coach. But what probably caused Larry the most pain was the heartache he was feeling from his team's losses. He agonized over the Devs' poor play the way a loving parent would when their children are struggling.
See, Larry was not a detached coach. He flew and faltered with his team, not just as their coach and leader but as if he was a teammate playing left defense on a struggling power play. Larry cares about his players, perhaps even too much because when they failed he took it oh so personal.
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As he admitted, "I tried just about every available resource I had as a person and a coach and still we weren't able to win at the level I thought we should. I never lost much in my career and it was tearing me apart inside. I just felt stepping aside was the right thing to do."
Let's make one thing perfectly clear, Larry Robinson did not just resign for his own self-esteem to escape a gut-wrenching situation. No, as Larry emotionally pointed out to his team on Monday morning when he announced his intentions, "Please don't think I'm bailing out on you guys in this period of difficulty. But for whatever reason, I have not been able to motivate you guys to play your best. And so it's probably for the good of the team that I step aside."
Larry just cared so much.
Robinson is on a plain of respect reserved for only a very few in hockey - Wayne Gretzky, Jean Beliveau, Bobby Orr, Mario Lemieux - because Larry Robinson treats every one with respect and humility. He's one of the unique individuals who really does see the best qualities in a person. As a coach, he always believed with a little more coaching, a little more encouragement, a little more experience and a little more confidence a player will eventually come around and have a positive impact on his team.
This is how Larry Robinson sees his world, and a wonderful world it is. Every player and friend is honored to be a part of that world. And mostly Robinson's world has been winning and success, but unfortunately there are exceptions.
The Devils this season have seen periods of ineffective play that has gone on longer and deeper than Robinson could have imagined. The loss of Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer and Elias only added to the problems. However, the Devils' inability to eliminate those slumps as quickly and as effectively as they have in past years was beginning to take its toll on their beloved coach.
Larry told me, "Even though some of what was happening was out of my control, I'm the type of guy that always believes I could have done more to correct the situation."
And in Larry's world, that personal failure is not acceptable. So Larry felt his only option was to follow his heart, and his life's motto, which is "Whatever you're doing, do it as well as you can, for as long as you can. And when it stops being enjoyable and becomes a burden, the right thing to do is to make a change."
And Larry Robinson has always done the right thing.
