The Senators relieved Paul MacLean of his duties on Thursday. MacLean has been with the club since 2012 and led the team to 2 playoff births, including one series victory. Under MacLean the Senators have had a 114-90-35 record, where he won a Jack Adams award in 2013.
The firing comes after a recent 5 game losing streak. MacLean was visibly worried last night as his fate as coach clearly wasn’t bright.
I had a piece yesterday on whether or not this was the time to fire MacLean, where I believed that firing a coach after a direct slump was never a good idea. In the case of MacLean, it wasn’t a decision that was made on the fly by Bryan Murray as issues with Ottawa’s defence have been evident for more than a year.
Murray cited the struggles of 13-14 for the reasoning of MacLean’s firing, as well as some specific issues in the room. The idea of “old Paul” vs “new Paul” has been brought up by the media and fans, where the firing may be attributed to that.
To quote Murray from his 2:30 PM press conference about MacLean’s attitude.
"“I would say there was an uneasiness in our roomI thought when he came here, he was a guy that related very well to the player, he was a player himself.. but it seemed that kind of drifted. Specifically, he became more demanding of his players.”"
Murray also took a jab towards MacLean based on his “I’m scared to death” quotes. Murray claimed he felt that maybe MacLean didn’t believe in the group where Murray followed by saying “I don’t think our defence is too bad”.
Sep 24, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Ottawa Senators head coach Paul MacLean (right) and assistant coach Dave Cameron (left) during a break in the action against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. Ottawa defeated Toronto 3-2. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Moving Forward
With MacLean no longer behind the Senators bench, Dave Cameron is set to take over as bench boss. Cameron has served as Coach in the AHL and as a World Junior coach.
Cameron will hold the title of “Head Coach” without an Interim tag. The move comes as one that is not shocking, as its the easy move to make. Dave Cameron knows the Senators system and should keep it simple until the seasons end.
At this point, numerous previous NHL coach’s are free agents. John Tortorella and Dan Bylsma likely highlight that crew, and you can add MacLean to that list. The Senators could consider their options at the seasons end, but at this point Cameron has 2 seasons on his deal where another firing would have to occur to make a change.
Cameron has the chance to take this team to the playoffs, and with 55 games left it’s certainly a possibility. If all goes well, he should serve as coach for as long as Chris Phillips is in Ottawa.