Ottawa Makes Another Change

Ashley Gallant | National Hockey League

Feb 27, 04:53 PM | Hype this story!

The Ottawa Senators were looking to shake things up yesterday at the trade deadline. They were reportedly in the running for Marian Hossa, but the best Bryan Murray could do was Martin Lapointe.

However, after the Senators were shut out for the second consecutive game, Murray decided to shake things up after all.

Out is head coach John Paddock and assistant coach Ron Low.

Back in is Bryan Murray. The rest of the coaching staff will remain.

The Senators were the clear favourites for coming out of the East after they posted a 16-3 record in their first 19 games. The trouble started in November and December when the team went on a 7-game losing streak. They have been just 20-19-6 since that time.

While the Senators have been slumping, other teams have been winning. Ottawa finally surrendered the Eastern Conference lead the other day to the New Jersey Devils, and the Montreal Canadiens are one point back of the Senators for the lead in the Northeast Division.

With the Penguins currently holding the fourth spot in the conference, and a Pittsburgh-Ottawa game this Saturday, it is entirely possible that the Senators could fall to the fifth seed by the end of the weekend.

This move by Bryan Murray was not surprising in the least. In fact, I believe that this is a better move than acquiring a player like Hossa. With Alfredsson, Spezza and Heatley, did they really need another sniper? No. The team has shown in the past that the offense can be great, the defense solid, and the goaltending competent. What the players need is for someone to come in and tell them what needs to be done. Murray will do that, and Lapointe will not sit by and watch everyone coast through the season.

The players feel guilty about Paddock’s firing because they haven’t been playing well, but they don’t feel as though all is lost.

“We respected John but we just couldn’t get anything going. He had to take the fall for us not preforming and I feel bad about that,” said Mike Fisher. “We still have confidence. I think knowing that Bryan has gotten us there before, maybe this is what can turn us around. But it wasn’t John’s fault.”

Bryan Murray found success with the Senators last season as they cruised to the Stanley Cup Finals. Will he be able to turn things around in the next few weeks, or have they lost too much confidence to be able to compete against New Jersey/Montreal/Pittsburgh in the playoffs?

Only time will tell.

Comments

  1. KG

    Feb 27, 10:37 PM

    Smart move by the Senators. At least Murray’s ego wasn’t big enough for him to admit that his guy wasn’t working…

    I think with Murray back behind the bench the Senators will start playing better..Not good for the East…

  2. Ashley Gallant

    Feb 28, 11:41 PM

    Oops, I guess I forgot to click submit when I left a comment earlier today..my bad.

    I’m with you KG, this was a smart move by the Sens. Well, it was really the only move they could do at this point. Paddock was letting the players get away with stuff, especially the goaltenders. Murray couldn’t pull off his Gerber/Emery for Khabibulin/Lalime trade with Chicago, so now he has to fix the leaks in what he has.

    Whether this change makes the Senators play better remains to be seen, but I think that they’ll wake up sooner or later and be strong down the stretch.

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