NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- The first time Jeff Vanderbeek listened to Brent Sutter, the Devils' owner knew he was the right man to return New Jersey to glory.
Sutter spoke of discipline, commitment, effort and team, all the things that Vanderbeek and Devils president and general manager Lou Lamoriello believe make a Stanley Cup champion.
"Just the way he looks at things is the way we look at things," Vanderbeek said Friday after Sutter was hired as the Devils' third coach in three years. "He said it's what's on the front of the jersey, not the back. People think that's corny. That's the mentality we have, and it works for us."
The question now is can Sutter work for them. The 45-year-old Sutter will try to become the team's first coach in three seasons to start and finish a season.
Larry Robinson, who led New Jersey to a Stanley Cup title in 2000, stepped down halfway through the 2005-06 season because the pressure got to him. Claude Julien was hired last summer, but Lamoriello dismissed him with three games left in the regular season because he didn't like the way the team was playing. Both times Lamoriello finished the season as coach.
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While it took two months to hire Sutter, Lamoriello said he was the No. 1 choice to coach the team that won the Atlantic Division title last season.
