HEARTBROKEN, LEMARIE RETRIES

The energy is gone, so Jacques Lemaire is walking away from coaching. Four days after the Devils were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round for the third straight year, the 64-year-old Lemaire made the announcement Monday that he was retiring as a coach. “It’s tough to leave what you like, but it’s a decision that I made,” he said. Lemaire said he thought about retiring several times this season and that the loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in five games had nothing to do with his decision. “It’s not the team, it is not the result or the lack of result we had in the playoffs,” a glassy-eyed Lemaire said. “It’s not that at all. It’s the end of the line. I’ll be 65. It’s just time.” Lou Lamoriello, the Devils’ president, said Lemaire, who posted a 588-441 won-lost record in 16 seasons as an N.H.L. coach, would stay with the Devils in a role yet to be determined. “I didn’t see that coming,” goaltender Martin Brodeur said. “I think Jacques has a lot of passion for the game, and he showed it all throughout the year and the playoffs, and I think that drive was there. It seems to be there, but he knows it better than anybody, and you have to accept what he wants to do.” Lamoriello said he had not thought about a replacement. Whoever gets the job will be the Devils’ third coach in three years. (NY Times)