Heartbreak News,The head coach and two all-time players of the Ottawa Senators have announced their departure.
Senators fire coach D.J. Smith and temporarily replace him with Jacques Martin
On Monday, the Ottawa Senators fired head coach D.J. Smith. Hall of Famer and former captain Daniel Alfredsson joined the organization as an assistant, and Jacques Martin took over as temporary manager.
Since owner Michael Andlauer took over three months ago, the NHL team in Canada’s capital city has undergone the most recent restructuring. Following a league inquiry that cost the Senators a first-round draft pick, Andlauer ousted longstanding general manager Pierre Dorion on November 1. Steve Staios was swiftly hired by Andlauer to be president of hockey operations after he left the Edmonton Oilers.
Twelve days after Martin was appointed as senior adviser by Staios, who is currently the team’s interim general manager, Smith was fired, making the 71-year-old coaching veteran a target. At the time, Staios claimed he discussed the choice with Smith.
From then, the Senators have dropped to last place in the Eastern Conference after dropping five of their previous six games. Ottawa leads the NBA with 22 points, followed only by the Chicago Blackhawks.
During a video conference with reporters from Arizona, Staios stated, “It’s never good timing, but I think this was the time to make the decision to bring some hope to our players and really in search of some consistency to our game.” “We all want our games to be more structured, more detailed, and more consistent.”
After leading the Senators for nine seasons (1995–96–2003–04), Martin will take the bench once more. With Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017, he won the Stanley Cup twice as an assistant coach. He has 17 seasons of head coaching experience in the NHL.
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