Albany Devils Name New General Manager
Just ahead of the American Hockey league opening its 2015-2016 season, the Albany Devils have named a new general manager. Assistant general manager Tom Fitzgerald will take over the role as being the team’s GM.
Meanwhile, New Jersey Devils vice president and general manager will now serve as the Albany club’s governor. The former Pittsburgh Penguins general manager joined his former division rival this off season.
Fitzgerald had begun his work with Albany in July when he was named the affiliate’s assistant general manager. He was with the Penguins under Shero’s guide since the 2007-2008 season when he was the director of player development with Pittsburgh. He was an assistant coach to the Stanley Cup champion Penguins team in the 2009 season.
Chris Lamoriello, the former Albany general manager, resigned on September 4th which left the position vacant for Fitzgerald to take over. He had been the general manager for the various Devils minor league teams for the past 14 years. His father, Lou, had been the long time New Jersey general manager before departing this off season to become the Toronto Maple Leafs general manager.
Lamoriello wore many hats as the general manager of the Albany club. He basically ran everything to do with the team and represented them on the team’s board of directors. There had been talk that he would reduce his role with the team anyways, with his father no longer with the organization, so it was likely that Fitzgerald would have been very involved or actually taken over as the team’s general manager in the future anyways.
Shero apparently had wanted Lamoriello to take a lesser role and that had a lot to do with his decision to leave the organization just six weeks after his father did. Albany, and the other Devils affiliates of the years, have struggled under Lamoriello’s reigns so it might have been time for a refresher in the team’s front office anyways.
The Albany Devils will begin their 2015-2016 AHL campaign on October 10th when they face the Binhampton Senators on the road.