Wednesday, 04 December 2024

Lou Lamoriello

Contest: The US Athletic Hall of Fame - Contributors 2024
Embed from Getty Images
Sport(s): Hockey Executive
Statistics: Stanley Cup Champion (1995, 2001 & 2003)
World Cup of Hockey Gold Medal (1996)
Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame
Member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame
Lou Lamoriello was named the head coach of the Providence Friars hockey team in 1968, where he stayed for fifteen years, going as far as winning the third-place game in what was his final year, 1983. Lamoriello also served as the school’s athletic director for much of his tenure, and he was the man who hired Rick Pitino, who brought the men’s basketball team to the Final Four in 1987. By that point, Lamoriello was already gone, as he resigned in 1983 to become the first commissioner of Hockey East, an NCAA conference comprising New England schools. That lasted for four years, as Lamoriello was chosen by the New Jersey Devils to be their new president.

It was an interesting choice, as Lamoriello had no NHL experience of any kind. More heads turned when Lamoriello named himself the general manager, but the skeptics were quickly silenced.

The Devils had their first winning season in Lamoriello’s first year (1987-88), and they surprisingly made it to the Conference Finals. Lamoriello created a team that was defensive-minded and could lock down a lead. Showing a knack for finding diamonds in the NHL Draft, the Devils went to five Stanley Cup Finals, winning three (1995, 2001 & 2003). Lamoriello was one of the first to look at analytics, and he was one of the early general managers to scout and draft players from Eastern Europe.

Proving to be a master chemist in building an NHL team, he was tasked by U.S.A. hockey to build the World Cup of Hockey Team in 1996. The Americans won the World Cup, again proving Lamoriello as a genius.

Lamoriello left the Devils for the Toronto Maple Leafs as their general manager in 2015, where in three seasons, they made the playoffs in the last two, a vast improvement from where they were before. When his contract ended, he opted to join the New York Islanders as their president, and like he did in New Jersey, made himself the general manager.

Lamoriello is already a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and United States Hockey Hall of Fame.

We are proud to nominate Lou Lamoriello for the United States Athletic Hall of Fame.

Back to List