[Mike F]

Maybe he just needs to get to know the players?

In all seriousness, it's consistent with his past practices

On December 19, 2005, following the surprise resignation of Larry Robinson as Devils head coach, Lamoriello took over the position on an interim basis. The Devils eventually made it the Eastern Conference semi-finals before falling to the Carolina Hurricanes. When asked on television after the Devils' victory over the New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs if he was interested in becoming head coach permanently, Lamoriello replied "Absolutely not", hiring Claude Julien as coach following the season.

On April 2, 2007, Lamoriello once again took over as interim head coach after firing Julien. The firing took place with three games left in the season, when the Devils had the second-best record in the conference and were on their way to setting a franchise record for regular season wins.