NEWARK, N.J. _ It had been nearly 20 years since Alain Nasreddine coached behind a bench without John Hynes. Tuesday night at Prudential Center, the 44-year-old Montreal native ran an NHL bench for the first time in a regular season game without Hynes, taking over as the interim coach of the New Jersey Devils after the organization dismissed the head coach earlier in the afternoon.
He could only come up with one word to truly describe his feelings: Weird.
It was weird being behind the bench without Hynes.
"That's what's been going through my mind," he said before the Devils hosted the Vegas Golden Knights at Prudential Center. "A lot of people would be excited about this. But like I said earlier, it's mixed emotions. I owe this guy a lot, pretty much everything in my coaching career. So I get my opportunity, he loses his. So it's it is a little bit bittersweet."
Nasreddine's record as a head coach is 0-1-0 after the Devils were defeated by the Golden Knights 4-3 at Prudential Center. Jonathan Marchessault had a hat trick for Vegas and P.K. Subban's brother Malcolm Subban made 32 saves against a New Jersey squad that is clearly still searching for answers.
Alain Nasreddine: What to know about NJ Devils interim coach with John Hynes fired
This is not going to be a quick fix for New Jersey, but Nasreddine will get some time to figure it out.
"I was never a head coach," Nasreddine said. "But I believe in my abilities."
