The Ottawa Senators are currently on their third head coach in the past two seasons and sitting near the bottom of the Eastern Conference. The one constant over that time has been general manager Bryan Murray, and one of the former coaches is pointing the finger directly at him for the team's recent failures on the ice. John Paddock, fired by the Senators on February 28, 2008, blasted his former boss saying, among other things, that he's now "next in line" to take the fall.
From the Camden-Courier Post (via TSN)
"We were 14 games over .500 when I was fired. They're seven under now. Somebody needs to take responsibility for that. Whether the coaches he hired and fired were good or not, they're his players and they're either not playing good or can't play, one or the other."Paddock didn't stop there, adding "the players are not very good, that's the problem."
Ouch.
How the mighty have fallen. Just two years ago this team was steamrolling the rest of the Eastern Conference on its way to the Stanley Cup Final against the Anaheim Ducks.
A season ago, the Senators again started strong as they raced out to a 16-4-0 record through their first 20 games. Since then? The Senators are a dismal 46-52-16, keeping company with the Atlanta Thrashers, New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning at the bottom of the conference.
In late January, owner Eugene Melnyk insisted that the team was fine and just needed a few bounces to turn everything around. In response to critics that said the franchise needed blown up, he told them to get their own bombs and blow themselves up.
Less than a week later, head coach Craig Hartsburg was sent packing, paving the way for Cory Clouston to take over behind the bench. Quite a bold move for a team that doesn't need "blown up."
Aside from former coaches, former players have also sounded off on Murray this season as defenseman Mike Commodore, currently playing for Columbus Blue Jackets, when he's not rolling around in money in his underwear, claimed that Murray would say things to the media that he wouldn't say to his face.
It's doubtful that Melnyk is still holding out hope for a late-season playoff push, seeing as how Ottawa would have to win at least 22 of its final 30 games to even have an outside shot. Not likely to happen for the lowest-scoring team in the league.
While Paddock's words could come across as nothing more than sour grapes for being fired when the team was 14 games over .500, he does make a valid point. Murray has tried a revolving door of coaches while the team itself continues to struggle. Once you get beyond Dany Heatley, Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza there is no offense to speak of, and that has to be a reflection on the general manager.
