Paul MacLean entered his tenure as head coach of the Ottawa Senators being known as a “player’s coach.” But he departed as head coach of the Sens on Monday, known as a coach who’s players eventually tuned him out.
One man that did not tune out anything was team President Brian Murray. MacLean’s recent comments in which he implied that he had the disadvantage of coaching an out-manned roster with players that he was afraid to put on the ice in key situations did not sit well with either players or with Murray. Murray fired MacLean, the 2013 Jack Adams Award winner for NHL Coach of the Year, and replaced him with Ottawa assistant Dave Cameron. But an honest assessment of the situation reveals that MacLean may have been more right than wrong in his critique of the team and that this firing will do little to change Ottawa’s status as an Atlantic Division also-ran.
Outspent and Outmanned
It is ironic that the Sens fired MacLean the day after Ottawa rallied from a 0-3 deficit to defeat the Vancouver Canucks in a thrilling 4-3 overtime triumph that had MacLean pumping his fist after the game. What actually happened was that the Senators quit playing within a strict and structured system after falling behind and instead went into pond hockey mode, which sparked their incredible rally to win. Ottawa was 11-11-3-2 and ahead of only Buffalo in the Atlantic Division standings on the day of MacLean’s firing. MacLean was in the first year of a new three year deal at the time of his departure.
While MacLean’s recent comments about his subpar roster may not have been politically correct they are also more true than not. MacLean may have been begging to get fired when he recently said that he was “scared to death no matter who we’re playing and scared to death of who I’m playing.”
In today’s hyper sensitive world of spoiled players that have huge egos and need constant coddling, it was the beginning of the end. Ottawa has long suffered from penny pinching ownership that time and again has been penny wise and pound foolish. Ottawa ranks 30th in the NHL for payroll, so MacLean indeed had a point.
Unsustainable Style
Even in his one big season of 2013 in which he lead the Sens to a second round playoff spot MacLean’s coaching style was thought to be unsustainable. Ottawa combined career years from its top players with goal-tending that was above the norm to make that playoff run. Once the scoring and goal-tending began to level off last year, the wins did as well.
Losing the Room as he Lost Games
Murray said that there was an “uneasiness” in the Ottawa dressing room.
“Some of the players felt that they were being singled out a little too often maybe,” said Murray. “That’s today’s athlete. They want to be corrected, coached, given a chance to play without being the center point of discussion in the room.”
Perhaps that is the problem with today’s athlete, at least at Ottawa. Such brittle psyches are Ill-equipped for the brutal marathon that is the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Mental toughness is ultimately what makes a champion and the whining Ottawa players clearly lack such character.
Defenseless
MacLean’s Senators offered little defensive resistance to opponents entering their zone. The Sens ranked next to last in the NHL on defense for shots allowed. Murray was frustrated with the sloppy back end play.
“We continue to be a big turnover team in our own zone,” said Murray. “Our goal-tending has been, to say the least, outstanding most nights to give us a chance to win hockey games. The chances against our team are, some nights, atrocious. I think that there’s an obligation for a lot of people, the players included, to perform better than that. But the leader of the pack is always the coach.”
