from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

In his first interview since being let go by the Devils, DeBoer had nothing but praise for his former boss.

"I loved working with Lou, I'll be honest with you,'' DeBoer told ESPN.com Tuesday morning. "I learned a great deal. It was a great investment for me as a person and as a coach to be around him for the last three and a half years.

"I had come from Florida where I had a little bit of a bad taste in my mouth about the NHL, having gone through three ownership groups and three GMs in the three years I was there. Lou was exactly what I needed at that point in my coaching career. I don't have any regrets about coming here and I sure don't have any regrets about working for him.''

The fact of the matter is that DeBoer, like most coaches, saw it coming.

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