Watching their dispassionate players sleepwalk their way through back-to-back shutout losses was enough for Ottawa Senators general manager Bryan Murray and owner Eugene Melnyk.
The wheels of change began last week when Murray called his boss to suggest it was time for him to return behind the bench. After the Senators failed to score a goal in consecutive outings against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins this week, Melnyk gave Murray the go-ahead to relieve his friend John Paddock of his head-coaching duties.
"The results that we have been having or not having was an indicator that some adjustment or emotion had to be brought back to the team," said Murray, whose team not only suffered back-to-back blankings for the first time since November of 2000, but has gone a dismal 2-4-2 since acquiring Cory Stillman and Mike Commodore in a trade eight games ago.
Ottawa assistant coach Ron Low also was fired yesterday. Paddock was not asked whether he would like to remain on the bench as assistant coach, the position he held under Murray when the Senators advanced to the Stanley Cup final last spring.
Ottawa Senators coach John Paddock gives direction to Dany Heatley as he hops over the boards for a second period shift during NHL hockey action against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh on Feb. 23. (Gene J. Puskar/AP)
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Instead, he and Low were offered other roles in the organization. Paddock and Low told Murray they will take two or three weeks before making a decision.
The Senators installed Paddock as their head coach last summer when Murray was promoted to general manager, replacing John Muckler, whose contract was not renewed. Murray asked his players for input on the next coach and they gave Paddock a vote of confidence.
The transition was seamless. The Senators set an NHL record for the best start at 13-1. Even as late as Jan. 12, after a big 3-2 victory over the powerhouse Detroit Red Wings, they were 29-10-4. But the Senators have gone just 7-12-2 since beating Detroit and have fallen out of top spot in the NHL's Eastern Conference standings.
"It's shocking that it has come to this," Murray said.
"But the bottom line in our game or any professional sport is that the past three or four games, from an effort point of view or a structure point of view, I certainly felt something was amiss. I told [the players] they have to take responsibility for this as a group."
Murray felt some players may have taken advantage of Paddock's easygoing manner. In the final 18 games of the regular season, beginning tonight in Philadelphia against the Flyers, he wants to see more emotion in the Senators' game.
Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson denied the players quit on Paddock.
"That's b.s. if you ask me," Alfredsson said. "He had the ears of everyone in the locker room. We're in a rut here and it's not going to change overnight. It's a difficult day. It feels like we let him down. He's been part of our success here. It feels bad that we couldn't come out and get him a few more wins down the stretch. We know we're a better team and we have to turn it around quickly.
The players took responsibility for Paddock's dismissal. There have been rumblings that some players in the dressing room aren't on the same page. There also have been a number of incidents involving controversial netminder Ray Emery, and some players believe Paddock should have anointed Martin Gerber as the No. 1, even after Emery recovered from his off-season wrist surgery.
Gerber certainly has the better statistics. But both have been ineffective since splitting the job.
Lately, though, they haven't been getting much help up front. The Senators' play has been loose. The team defence was not up to snuff.
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