With the ink barely dry on his contract, Craig Hartsburg is out as head coach of the Ottawa Senators. Cory Clouston becomes the club's fourth head coach in the last year, elevated from the Sens' AHL farm club in Binghamton. Clouston will be here for the rest of the season. GM Bryan Murray says he suspects he could be here well beyond that.Hartsburg leaves behind a record of 17-24-7. The dismal season certainly wasn't all his fault. The work ethic just seemed to disappear last year and not Hartsburg, Bryan Murray nor John Paddock could resurrect it. The club's woes are often blamed on the fact the Sens don't have anyone on defence who's slick with the puck. But that alone doesn’t explain why 80 per cent of this roster seems to be having career worst seasons.
They all look uncomfortable, discouraged, unprepared and disorganized, rowing in different directions. As I said to Pierre this morning, some of that has to be coaching. I was shocked that Hartsburg survived the last horrendous road trip. This latest roadie, albeit brief, turned out to be the final straw.
GM Bryan Murray has now played his final card. Two years in a row, he hired two coaches with unimpressive NHL coaching resumes then fired them in the very same season. Though this move may have been prompted by the owner, Eugene Melnyk still must be ticked. Make it two coaches and two goalies, all gone, their pockets lined with Melynk's dough.
Between now and September, Murray is going to need to do something pretty impressive with this roster to restore Melynk’s faith in him. Murray took care of his 2007 heroes in free agency. This left no money to shore up a very thin blueline, once they realized it wasn't very good. Certainly, Murray inherited John Muckler’s mistakes (signing Gerber, not re-signing Chara) but probably deserves to be fired as much as Hartsburg did.
Clouston is in his second year with Binghamton. He hails from Viking, Alberta, home of the Sutter family, a good omen if you love the Sutter work ethic. Clouston was head coach of the WHL's Kooteney Ice from 2002-2007, earning a .637 winning percentage with a 209-110-24 record. He is a two-time WHL coach of the year, and was named Canadian Hockey League coach of the year in 2004-05
Between now and September, Murray is going to need to do something pretty impressive with this roster to restore Melynk’s faith in him. Murray took care of his 2007 heroes in free agency. This left no money to shore up a very thin blueline, once they realized it wasn't very good. Certainly, Murray inherited John Muckler’s mistakes (signing Gerber, not re-signing Chara) but probably deserves to be fired as much as Hartsburg did.
Clouston is in his second year with Binghamton. He hails from Viking, Alberta, home of the Sutter family, a good omen if you love the Sutter work ethic. Clouston was head coach of the WHL's Kooteney Ice from 2002-2007, earning a .637 winning percentage with a 209-110-24 record. He is a two-time WHL coach of the year, and was named Canadian Hockey League coach of the year in 2004-05 Clouston, We Have a Problem
What's wrong with a coach who needs no introduction? A guy with a proven NHL track record who commands instant respect? Guys like that are out there right now yet the Sens continue to go with "hunch" hires. I honestly can't believe Melnyk agreed to let Murray hire a third guy with no track record of NHL coaching success.
Don't get me wrong. Clouston may prove to be just what the doctor ordered. But it's another off the page hire and thus, it feels like a low percentage Jason Spezza pass. There's a chance it might work beautifully but, as the last 2 hires showed, there's a better chance it won't.
