Good News, Devils Fans: Coaches Do Slightly Better 2nd Time Around

Since the New Jersey Devils decided to bring back Jacques Lemaire for a second go-around behind the bench, I wanted to take a look back at the other situations in NHL history where a coach made a return to his former team.

The somewhat promising results (if you're a Devils fan) after the jump.

So, You're Back Again
Coach	Team	1st Win %	2nd Win %	Dif
Al Arbour	Islanders	.531	.398	-.133
Art Ross	Bruins	.487	.506	+.019
Bob McCammon	Flames	.440	.577	+.137
Bob Pulford	Blackhawks	.381	.454	+.073
Cecil Hart	Canadiens	.552	.381	-.171
Charlie Burns	North Stars	.227	.286	+.059
Dave Lewis	Red Wings	.800	.585	-.215
Dick Irvin	Blackhawks	.464	.271	-.193
Don Waddell	Thrashers	.400	.447	+.047
Ed Johnston	Penguins	.329	.554	+.225
Glen Sather	Oilers	.559	.367	-.192
Glen Sonmer	North Stars	.440	.319	-.121
Harry Neale	Canucks	.337	.391	+.054
Harry Sinden	Canadiens	.459	.548	+.089
Ken Schinkel	Penguins	.337	.462	+.125
Larry Pleau	Whalers	.263	.472	+.209
Larry Robinson	Devils	.529	.438	-.091
Lou Lamoriello	Devils	.640	.666	+.026
Michel Bergeron	Nordiques	.457	.150	-.307
Milt Schmidt	Bruins	.374	.274	-.100
Newsy Lalonde	Canadiens	.537	.402	-.135
Paul Maurice	Hurricanes	.407	.578	+.171
Sid Abel	Red Wings	.410	.514	+.104
Tony Granato	Avalanche	.408	.390	-.018

Just a couple of quick notes:

1) I think this is all of them. After hours of digging through the Hockey-Reference library this should be all of them. If you know of any that I missed, or find any that I missed, please point it out in the comments and I'll factor them in.

2) In some cases, like Art Ross for example, the coach had more than two stints with the team. In such situations, I combined the second and third records as the second winning percentage, simply to save space on the chart and make it all fit.

3) Dave Lewis' first coaching job with the Red Wings? Five games. Lou Lamoriello's second stint with the Devils? Two games.

4) Of the 24 coaches that had more than one head coaching job with a specific team, 13 of them did better the second time around, while 11 of them did worse the second time around. The overall winning percentage the first time: .456. The second time: .437. Keep in mind, these winning percentages are low because almost all of these guys coached in an era where games could end in ties.