Paul MacLean sat down with "The Casket" -- a community newspaper in Antigonish, NS -- and talked about a dozen different topics surrounding the Ottawa Senators, including their failed 2013-2014 campaign and what lies ahead. The entire interview is well worth your time. Pretty bang-up job from whoever was behind it.
A few of the most fascinating quotes, I think, are found below:
CASKET: The leadership of the Senators was something that was called into question. From your perspective did you have good leadership under the direction of team captain Jason Spezza?MACLEAN: When you talk about leadership it’s an everybody thing, not just the guys wearing the letters. Actually, the leadership of the group starts at the top with Eugene Melnyk, Brian Murray and myself. If you want to talk leadership it’s not just the players but the coaching staff and the management as well. We have to do a much better job of sending the message of what the expectations are. From the players perspective, any time you replace a guy like Daniel Alfredsson, who has been there for 17 years, there is going to be a bit of an adjustment period. Jason has never been a captain before so when you assume that role it’s a different boat you have to steer. I do believe there was some adjustment that needed to be made but at the end of the day, when it came down to leadership, everyone of us didn’t do a good enough job.
I like that Paul MacLean's trying to lift the burden of blame from the shoulders of the players and bestow it onto the front office to some degree. This is something he's consistently done since, I don't know, game twenty or thirty of the regular season. I think it's this sort of stuff that endears Paul MacLean to his players -- remember, the player exit interviews (the ones that spoke highly of the head coach) was a big factor in keeping Paul MacLean around after a brutally disappointing season.
The Spezza defense is an interesting one, too. It's not the first time he's done it, and he expanded on that point a bit later in reference to a question about the captain's future with the team:
CASKET: Do you believe it’s important to have Jason Spezza back in the line-up next year?MACLEAN: It’s very important. Jason is one of the most skilled offensive players in the league and every team can use a player like that. At the same time we’re still in the process with Jason where we need him to work on making some changes in his game to make us a better team.
An emphatic defense while indicting the player. In one breath, basically. It's pretty amazing how much the team loves parts of his game but seemingly dislikes the overall skill set that Jason Spezza brings to the table.
One final thing, on UFA-to-be Ales Hemsky:
CASKET: Ottawa acquired Ales Hemsky at the trade deadline. Assess his performance with the Senators and can fans expect to see him skating with your club next year?MACLEAN: Ales brought a dimension of speed and skill off the wing that we didn’t always have and we really liked the way he came in and played. He is coming off a contract that was pretty lucrative with the (Edmonton) Oilers, so the contract stuff is now between Ales, his agent and Brian Murray. We like what he did for our team but whether or not he comes back I think is going to be his decision more than ours. We’ve had some input on the situation and believe he can make our hockey club better but at the same time now it comes down to mathematics. He’s earned the right to be an unrestricted free agent and if he gets something better he’ll probably take it.
Sounds about right. Good player, the team wants him back, but they fear he'll be offered more elsewhere and will leave.
Anyways, click that link. There's so, so much more stuff, and they deserve the traffic. Plenty of quotes about turnovers and penalties and future plans and the like.