Trevor Shackles: Boucher Fired; Crawford Named Interim Head Coach Guy Boucher is out

The Sens brass can’t seem to get it together, can they.

I think this is a boon for Boucher. The writings on the wall in Sens town. He still gets paid, and gets a free get out of jail card. Getting fired sucks, but in this case Boucher should be dancing all the way down the hall on his way out of the building.

F.

Should've happened before the season.

Fans of other teams can say what they want, this guy wasn't wanted in the first place and the only reason he was chosen was because Melnyk had no money to pay a REAL coach. Bruce Boudreau with his daughter and granddaughter living in Ottawa said he wanted to coach here but they went with Boucher. He took a decent roster and did nothing with it. The trip to the Cup finals was lightning in a bottle rallied around causes that were easy for the players to get behind - Anderson's wife's cancer, MacArthur's concussion and sudden return from nowhere, Murray's cancer diagnosis etc. Everyone with half a brain knew they couldn't duplicate it. Only two snakes (sorry Isles fans) left to go GM and the worst owner in the league!! #MelnykOut

Should've happened before the season.
- AlfieFever

agreed. the only reason it didn't, IMO, was that you would have had to bring in an actual replacement and by extension pay 2 x head coaches. this way you just pin the interim tag on Crawford and he keeps the same salary....no extra money out of dip poops pocket.

I think in the offseason they should promote the coach from Belleville (can't remember his name)

if OTT had a real owner, joel quenneville would have been named the new coach of the sens.

All you have to remember about carwford is the whole fiasco he created with the bertuzzi/moore situation. That is his legacy getting a guys neck broken then they threw bertuzzi under the bus.

Fans of other teams can say what they want, this guy wasn't wanted in the first place and the only reason he was chosen was because Melnyk had no money to pay a REAL coach. Bruce Boudreau with his daughter and granddaughter living in Ottawa said he wanted to coach here but they went with Boucher. He took a decent roster and did nothing with it. The trip to the Cup finals was lightning in a bottle rallied around causes that were easy for the players to get behind - Anderson's wife's cancer, MacArthur's concussion and sudden return from nowhere, Murray's cancer diagnosis etc. Everyone with half a brain knew they couldn't duplicate it. Only two snakes (sorry Isles fans) left to go GM and the worst owner in the league!! #MelnykOut
- Go_Sens_Go

Your reasons are probably valid & sound right but the optics & timing are horrible like every other major decision this team has made. What a fcking gong show. I dont know how but the league needs to step in & get this ownership changed. Whatever the Sens are legitimately worth to a bonafide buyer, the league should kick in a couple extra hundred million as incentive to Melnyk to sign off & get some better ownership for this team.

All you have to remember about carwford is the whole fiasco he created with the bertuzzi/moore situation. That is his legacy getting a guys neck broken then they threw bertuzzi under the bus.
- oil90

he's going to be our HC for about 19 games....and then in all likelihood he'll be fired also.

not overly concerned about it.

Your reasons are probably valid & sound right but the optics & timing are horrible like every other major decision this team has made. What a fcking gong show. I dont know how but the league needs to step in & get this ownership changed. Whatever the Sens are legitimately worth to a bonafide buyer, the league should kick in a couple extra hundred million as incentive to Melnyk to sign off & get some better ownership for this team.
- Kevin R

Until there is new ownership Sens are doomed. Coaching was the least of their problems

Although Boucher deserved to be fired they should have waited until the end of the season. I guess Dorion wants to win a couple more games to lessen the odds that Colorado gets the #1 pick overall. What an organization.

Fans of other teams can say what they want, this guy wasn't wanted in the first place and the only reason he was chosen was because Melnyk had no money to pay a REAL coach. Bruce Boudreau with his daughter and granddaughter living in Ottawa said he wanted to coach here but they went with Boucher. He took a decent roster and did nothing with it. The trip to the Cup finals was lightning in a bottle rallied around causes that were easy for the players to get behind - Anderson's wife's cancer, MacArthur's concussion and sudden return from nowhere, Murray's cancer diagnosis etc. Everyone with half a brain knew they couldn't duplicate it. Only two snakes (sorry Isles fans) left to go GM and the worst owner in the league!! #MelnykOut
- Go_Sens_Go

your 100% right and I agree that getting rid of the coach now was the right decision. It's almost like they are washing away the old and starting a new chapter in Sens history. Why not wait until the end of the season?...well because you want your younger kids to grow with the "new" direction the Sens are going now. We all now they will have another coach to start next season but at least for now, for the younger kids, its a fresh start for them and the organization. Its a new voice and maybe they can end this season on a high note that will carry over to next season. They weren't going to do that with Boucher in charge. Everybody saying the Sens are done but with the talent they have coming up and if they can spend wisely (in free-agency), the can get right back into the playoffs soon.

Hopefully this is the end of the 11/7 roster makeup. On the bright side, Boucher can now practiced what he preached as he'll have lot's of time to rest now #RestIsAWeapon.

Just days ago on Monday, Dorion is pleading with the fan base to "trust us" over the rebuild, then gives his coach the vote of confidence, then fires him days later when, in reality, he simply continued to do the same poop he's been doing all year. Not going to help build trust.

Hopefully this is the end of the 11/7 roster makeup. On the bright side, Boucher can now practiced what he preached as he'll have lot's of time to rest now #RestIsAWeapon.

Just days ago on Monday, Dorion is pleading with the fan base to "trust us" over the rebuild, then gives his coach the vote of confidence, then fires him days later when, in reality, he simply continued to do the same poop he's been doing all year. Not going to help build trust.
- ATrainTwentyFour

Why do fans and media ever trust or believe anything sports GM's/owners/coaches say? It always makes me laugh when we hear, but days ago the coach had his word (or some other wording to that affect). It never changes, and everyone always falls for it.

Why do fans and media ever trust or believe anything sports GM's/owners/coaches say? It always makes me laugh when we hear, but days ago the coach had his word (or some other wording to that affect). It never changes, and everyone always falls for it.
- powerenforcer

Never actually believed him, just pointing out the hypocrisy at play here.

I'm going to go ask Colorado how that first round pick is about to shape up to? Surely the coaches fault there, too.

Possible next coach:

Lindy Ruff (assistant in NYR)
Todd McLellan
Bob Hartley
Dan Bylsma (assistant in DET)
Dave Tippett
Michel Therrien
Randy Carlyle
Patrick Roy

Luke Richardson (assistant in MTL)
Sheldon Keefe (coach of Toronto Marlies)
Jim Montgomery (coach at University of Denver)

Who do you want?

Pierre Dorion is in so far over his head it isn't funny.

The guy should be a head scout. That is what he knows how to do. He bungles everything else he touches.

I feel bad for Senator fans. You don't deserve this mess.

Pierre Dorion is in so far over his head it isn't funny.

The guy should be a head scout. That is what he knows how to do. He bungles everything else he touches.

I feel bad for Senator fans. You don't deserve this mess.
- punchanello77

I agree

Possible next coach:

Lindy Ruff (assistant in NYR)
Todd McLellan
Bob Hartley
Dan Bylsma (assistant in DET)
Dave Tippett
Michel Therrien
Randy Carlyle
Patrick Roy

Luke Richardson (assistant in MTL)
Sheldon Keefe (coach of Toronto Marlies)
Jim Montgomery (coach at University of Denver)

Who do you want?
- AlfieisKing

It's going to be Mann.

Feel utterly terrible for Ottawa fans. They absolutely deserve better than this.

This starts and ends with ownership. Until that gets dealt with nothing will change. Get new ownership and clean house top to bottom, then you can worry about coach and roster and drafting and building it back up.

This is just terrible to see. Even coming in getting stomped as an expansion team you knew there was some hope to draft high and build it up, you could get behind vets like Tugger and Rhodes etc, you had Yashin hell even Daigle at first that gave some sense of moving on up building up talent and getting there. Even with Spezza and Emery et all you knew they would come out and there was a good chance of having a solid season and being entertained by the team.

These kids getting rushed and tossed to the wolves do NOT inspire hope, and honestly it's brutal for them to get out there and be suffering loss after loss.

Boucher should have been gone at the start of the season not 19 games left. It is a sad state of affairs overall.

I sincerely hope Melnyk goes and the team gets sold to ownership that really actually cares. The sooner the better!

Until there is new ownership Sens are doomed. Coaching was the least of their problems
- sensfanatic

It all really comes down to this. Ottawa has one of the worst owners in NHL history.

There is no longer a team President. Dorion is only GM because he is cheap and willing to be a puppet for Melnyk. He is not qualified to be a GM.

Dorion's gaps are only amplified by the smallest Hockey Ops department in the NHL. Because once again, the owner won't pay to staff it properly. So a GM that is in over his head has almost no support group around him.

Boucher was the coach because - look for the theme here folks - he came cheap. He was in Europe and essentially out of the NHL. But Ottawa hired him because he came at a fraction of the cost of a top end coach.

Eugene Melynk can not afford to own an NHL team. Former Sens owner Bruce Firestone tweeted this on Wednesday:

What are the 3 fastest ways to get poor?
a) get divorced
b) buy a horse ranch
c) buy an NHL team
Guess who has done all 3 (hint: it's not me)

Combine Melnyk's lack of money with his toxic personality and you have the gong show that is the Ottawa Senators. You just wonder if the NHL will have to intervene at some point.

It's going to be Mann.
- AdamFrench

Unless there is somebody cheaper.