Simply put, Clouston was not a pleasant guy to be around. On multiple occasions throughout the season, Murray spoke to Clouston and asked him to lighten up a bit but Clouston was set in his ways. In the end it cost him his job.
Clouston is a fine hockey coach and an extremely hard working guy. It's just player management that he struggles with. He failed to reward guys that deserved to be rewarded and he punished guys at odd times. His decision to bench Da Costa in his second game with the organization down the stretch being a good example.
Clouston will land on his feet somewhere. He's a smart hockey guy and in the right situation, has the tools to succeed. There is no way he should take all the blame for the season the Sens had but he certainly has to take on some of it. This was a move that had to be made.
As for the next Sens head coach, a number of names have already begun to surface. Dave Cameron and Kirk Muller seem to come up most often. Like Garrioch has mentioned though, there is a good chance the next bench boss could come from the NHL playoffs. There are a few teams that could replace their head coach if things go poorly in the playoffs.
Claude Julien would be an interesting fit here in Ottawa.
Some of you have already noticed the Yost tab missing from the top of the page...
From the moment the new site was launched, we have awaited the arrival of our new contributor. I've been talking about the contribution of Travis Yost for awhile now. His tab on the top was there waiting for him. But unfortunately, in the end, Mr. Yost has opted for greener pastures.
Literally...
Fact is the people over at that other site recognized a talent when they saw it. They offered him more than I thought he was worth and just like that, a good idea and a potentially strong partnerships has been halted in its tracks. Can't say I blame him though.
In the meantime, I've been thinking maybe we had our new contributor here all along. It's you, the loyal SensChirp readers. In the past we have done the Chirp of the Week feature and I think this is the perfect time to get that going on a regular basis.
So if you've got something to say, send your submission to me at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
and you will have a chance to have your work featured on our new Chirp of the Week tab. Try to keep the submissions between 500-1000 words.
I'll choose my favourites and feature them on the site periodically.
I would like to apologize for leading the readers on the last little while. I had a gentleman's agreement with Yost, was confident it would get done but that quickly changed. Throughout this process I have learned a lot about the risk you run when you rely on the contributions of others.
For now, SensChirp will remain a one man show.
Thanks.
In regards to Clouston....I have always held the view that if Murray was back then Clouston would be....or why not fire him months ago when he wanted too. The fact that Murray hasn't been held at all accountable while being allowed to fire yet another coach is rather frustrating. That being said, not knowing 100% who his alternatives were it is tough to pass judgment on the decision to keep him around.
See Murray did want to replace Clouston. But what Melnyk told him at the time was that if Clouston was fired, Murray would be the guy to go behind the bench.
Murray was not interested so the decision was made to ride it out and try and work with Clouston to have him ease up a little. Didn't work out unfortunately.
They may be great coaches in the juniors, but without experience dealing with NHL egos, it's doomed for failure will all but young teams.
We may or may not be young next year, dependent upon whether we trade or keep draft picks, but I don't think we'll be able to compete well enough with too young of a team, so we'll have a good amount of veterans on the payroll that will need the experience of a NHL seasoned coach.
They NEED someone with NHL experience and put an end to the unsuccessful junior experiments.
Zzzzz
Mikhail Grabovski
http://twitter.com/SunGarrioch - Attempts reach Cory Clouston have been unsuccessful thus far. #sens
I genuinely can not believe that he was responsible for all the stupid moves/non-moves done with the team this year.
@Chirp
might even be a good opportunity for a bingo writer to step up. I've noticed you've got quite a few commenters who live in bingo or follow bingo extra closely and I think we can all agree that the relationship between the big club and the minors should go hand in hand for the next season or two.
I don't think that will happen after Clouston, its almost the same exact scenario. They'll go after a coach with a national/NHL resume.
I wouldn't also go as far and insinuate that "Clouston was an unpleasant guy to be around". We don't completely know that. I'm not going to portray the guy as a bad guy based on our own speculations.
Clouston obviously must have had some type of respect to the 'new'-looking young team down the stretch, because we started winning. With a younger roster. That tells ME that it was the older, veteran guys who were most likely unpleasant to be around. Or maybe it was mutual.
Bottom line is the teams late shift to a younger squad both showed well on the roster and the coach, because they had success. I really don't think Clouston is highly to blame. This team just did not play good hockey during the regular season.
Spezza thrived under Clouston. The young guys played for him. So he was a hard-ass, big deal. How about Tortorella (sp).
They did well down the stretch with basically an AHL team. Yeah the pressure may have been off but the teams they were playing were fighting for the playoffs & they still had a hard time beating this team. Clouston still had a winning record during his time. I feel, he deserved 1 more yr to see what he could do with a YOUNG team & good goaltending.
If this move was to bring in Cameron, Sens are done by Christmas & Cameron gone by New Year's - it's another Hartsburg all over again.
Lindy Ruff, Kirk Muller, Kevin Dineen -- good choices as Head Coach. Cameron, Mike Eaves, Randy Cunneyworth -- good choices as Asst Coaches.
We shall see.
This site has been so good this year, that I seldom find myself looking for anything Sens related anywhere else, not the Sun, not TSN, just here for the most part.
I'm happy that the focus here will remain on Chirp and I agree that our peanut gallery is a great contributor as well.
Johne's idea of having a dedicated Bingo-Blogger is a great idea if we can find someone who can contribute at that level.
Keep up the great work Chirp!
Spezza thrived under Clouston. The young guys played for him. So he was a hard-ass, big deal. How about Tortorella (sp).
They did well down the stretch with basically an AHL team. Yeah the pressure may have been off but the teams they were playing were fighting for the playoffs & they still had a hard time beating this team.
This is the truth.
The NHL is a professional sports league. Clouston is not the only "unpleasant" coach to be around. I'm sure there are players all over the league who think twice about their coach. They suck it up, and play. Why? Because they are some of the most wealthiest individuals on the face of this planet. CC had a bad team.
Great idea!
Totally agree with Johne, It'll be really great if we get a Binghampton senators blogger on this site!
keep up the great work, and I agree with Johne, that Bingo blogger idea might be a good one to implement, I always want to know more about Bingo but I find it tough to find one place that consolidates and combines all the info like you do, definitely something to consider
I think those guys just have success so they don't end up back there!
Bowmen is probably the smartest nhl coach still alive and him and murray can kick it old school.
Well, how many players did not like Scotty Bowman. A great deal. But they played for him, and he is the most successful coach in the NHL.
Why?
It's because those players were mature and did the job they were paid to do. Unlike, it appears, most of the veteran players in Ottawa did not want to do.
He's probably not even a hockey fan.
95% of his stuff is quite generic.
You could have hired better - say someone who could provide good detailed info on Ottawa's NCAA prospects - say JULIE ROBENHYMER !
You think Melnyk is keeping Murray around just because they're good friends? It's clearly because Murray knows what the $&(# he is doin, Melnyk has way too much money on the line to just keep Murray around for no reason.
Murray also might not be making the next coaching decision either, think of Melnyk singing Cameron's praises...
Players listened to Bowman because of his nhl success, they knew he would make the team a winning machine, he has the stats and history as proof his system works, he is not trying to get everyone to drink kool-aid. Everyone knows like it or not scotty was right, and it takes hard work to win.
Kevin Dineen who is Head Coach of Portland Pirates of the AHL (parent club is the Ducks) was appointed coach there in 2005. Would that not have been under Bryan Murray? So there is a connection. He has coached there for 6 yrs.. so he may be experienced enough to take the next step.
Do you think that may be a choice? Pierre McGuire (yeah I know) says he is the coach he would pick.
I think you just answered your own question. Murray keeps his job because he doesn't stand up to Melnyk when the owner wants a turn playing GM with the Sens.
the way Murray has been building its quite obvious that bingo and Ottawa are one big organization. Lots of teams draft and sign for their NHL clubs, while their AHL teams are filled with the guys who 'didn't make the cut'.
What we are seeing with OUR rebuild is players being signed to the AHL, and given the opportunity to move up, instead of the other way around.
The success of Binghamton will become more an more important in the coming years. I want the guys who come up here to be in a competitive and winning mentality. this is why pitts has been so succesful without their top scorers, their farm team is filled with winners.
Do you really think the owner of the team, with a business that was valued in the billions, is just running this team on a hunch?
Do you really think he'd put a $100-million-a- year business in the hands of a guy if he didn't believe in him and hadn't already done his homework?
You guys talk sometimes like the NHL is some utopian world where only the Senators' interests are catered to: all players, coaches, GMs and hockey people are for the consideration of our team only.
You do realize that there are 29 other teams always evaluating? Some making the exact same moves we're making.
Seriously, get a grip. Stop saying **** like "Murray should have been fired" and start telling us who else should be put in charge instead and how feasible that plan is.
Sorry to hear about Yost. I agree that this would have been a very good partnership and in the long run would have been of greater benefit to both of you. Unfortunately, these kinds of things happen all the time in many industries. I've seen top talent in my industry jump ship for more money and promises that surely could not be honoured. Many times over, these people have regretted their decisions.
I'm sticking with Chrip. Over and over again you've proven to be the more reliable and grounded site to get my Sens info from. Looking forward to the letter of the week too. It's always good to get differing points of view, after all.
I bet Butler tears it up for Bingo, should give him a huge confidence boost riding into next season.
Nevermind
On coaching: I echo the others who say no more junior coaches. We need a firm, trusted hand steering this ship over the next three years. Someone who knows how to work with Spezza AND focus emerging talent.
No worries about Yost!
Do you think there's any chance Lindy Ruff leaves Buffalo for us?
Imo he is without a doubt the best candidate out of the possiblly available coaches. I think he's canadian too so that could be a draw. He's had that Buffalo team overachieving for years, and it's pretty clear this team needs a veteran coach, not another rookie learning his trade.
Go Red Wings and Stars today!
If Clouston's legacy is helping get that douchebag exposed for what he is and out of town on a rail, then he's the best coach in Sens history.
This is more about Clouston not being the best fit than him being a crap coach. He had some success, some failure. In the end they're going another direction - all part of hitting the reset button. Fisher, Kelly etc - solid players that any team would want, but they're out so we can start fresh. Clouston thing is similar IMO.
As for Yost - who needs him? We all come here for Chirp anyway. Love Johne's idea though.
So, Slickshoe, I suggest you try to find a single Oilers fan who thought he was a good coach who was a positive impact on the team.
To me, it's a no-brainer to not even consider Craig MacT. I will continue to jump on anyone who makes this suggestion. I may be an asshole, but I'm right.
He was hated by sooooo many fans and a bunch of the players. He had on successful year and the rest were COMPLETE shit. He's even a bad analyst.
I have 5 close friends who are huge EDM fans. They disagree about almost everything except for unanimously liknig Gretzky, Messier and Smyth. One more thing they all hve in common is their hatred for MacT.
Why don't we just hire all the Mac's at TSN. MacGuire and MacTavish would ensure we're the laughing stock of the league next year too...
Julie is hawt.
Andrew Ladd
Not bitter but definitely frustrated. I understand his position on things-hard to turn down the money.
Definitely a talented guy. Wouldn't extend the opportunity to just anyone. Think he would have fit in here quite nicely and I'm pretty sure he felt the same way.
Ah well! I like the idea of a Bingo blogger that has been talked about today.
Phillips - Lee
Cowen - Karlsson
Rundblad - Gonchar
Carkner
Kuba???
OR
Kuba - Karlsson
Phillips - Lee
Cowen - Gonchar
Carkner
Rundblad --> AHL
OR
Phillips - Karlsson
Rundblad - Lee
Cowen - Gonchar
Carkner
Kuba???
OR
Phillips - Karlsson
Cowen - Lee
Rundblad - Gonchar
Carkner
Kuba???
No room. Sorry. If we somehow get a GM to take Kuba off our hands and another GM to take Gonchar ... then maybe. Hale was competent too. Wiercioch looks like he can be a player with some more work. Benoit showed some flare etc.
Nothing wrong with having some great spare parts in Bingo.
You are by far the dumbest person I have never had the misfortune of meeting in person.
You give Heatley waaaaay too much credit. He wanted to leave because he didn't want to back-check. In fact, had he been more professional about his JOB Clouston might not have lost his nerve to hold star players (i.e. Kovalev) accountable.
All bad things in the world can somehow be blamed on Heatley.
Smith is ahead of Benoit and Wiercioch at this point in time. He is clearly better than Carkner. That said, room may be a problem and he may go to Bingo as first callup. I think there is a chance Cowen starts in Bingo.
Yeah but he did not start out with those stats. He was a hard-ass at the beginning.. yet the players did respect him & did the job.
I thought they were sending Da Costa too. Even though I don't think he could play in the playoffs unless injuries occur.
Yeah but the Sens got rid of that over-bearing contract for a player... based on his stats the last 2 seasons APPEARS to be slowing down.
Michalek, though definitely not the goal scorer, is a cheaper, younger, and faster player all-around.. and hopefully, staying healthy, will contribute on a higher level next year. He finished the year with 18 goals I believe, 8 behind Heatley but points wise not nearly as much.
It makes a difference when you have a goaltender who could not stop a beach ball, in Elliott. Sorry don't mean to be mean.. but that's a fact. Look when Anderson took over.. a much different team with a lot more confidence in the goaltender.
It could have been Bowman coaching this team.. bad goaltending would have affected his stats as well.
Murray has said many, many times that Cowen will start in the NHL next year. Of course, things can change but I think the team is committed to making sure Cowen sinks or swims next year. Rundblad too for that matter.
Kuba, Gonchar and Phillips play no matter what (unless one of the first two get traded - but nobody'd take them).
Karlsson, Lee, Rundblad, Cowen - all ahead of DSmith on the depth chart.
Carkner - I'm going to guess Murray really wants him around. He's "local" of a sort and popular in the room, plus very comfortable in the press box. Now maybe we could move him and rely on Neil and ZSmith to drop the gloves ... but neither guy is a true heavyweight.
Wiercioch, Benoit, Hale - all guys that can play when needed but (agreed) DSmith is probably ahead of them.
Any way you slice it, no room for DSmith.
Great idea! I would welcome this sort of news and insight.
David Jones (seriously, look it up!)
We also want Nashville to win one and only one round so we get an extra pick in the Fisher deal. It would be a third rounder, but (IMO) that's better than getting a later first rounder this year if they go far enough to get us a second rounder.
It's either crap luck or the coaches aren't the problem.
I'd rather the 20th overall and no 2nd rounder next year than
27-30th overall and a 2nd
Technically 21st overall ... but yes. I'd almost feel better if they lost in the first round since we'd then be guaranteed that pick (or even better if someone below them in the standings were to get to the conference finals).
Heck, dream scenario though is that Nashville wins their series against the Ducks. Then have the East final with two of Montreal, Buffalo and the Rangers, and the West final with two of Chicago, Phoenix and the Kings.
Then that Nashville pick would become 17th overall and we'd still get an extra third rounder in 2012.
Sens win the draft lottery (of course).
Nashville beats Anaheim with Fisher playing.
Pittsburgh beats Tampa Bay with Kovalev playing.
Rangers, Buffalo and Montreal all win their first round series. (Or at least two of them do.)
LA, Phoenix and Chicago all win their first round series. (Or at least two of them do.)
Nashville then loses in the second round.
Pittsburgh loses in the second round.
The rest of the second round is all won by the lower ranked teams.
After that, it doesn't matter.
It's a good call by Yost to stay at HB because it was either here or there, and it's much better to be considered the best blogger on one of the most visited sites, then the backup blogger on a site visited only by Sens fans (not saying you don't get great traffic Chirp, but people come to read you, I think Yost would become an afterthought on here because of his writing style). Both are phenomenal writers and I'm glad us Sens fans have 2 guys like Yost and SC to write for our team!
are you going to be having a hockey pool for the playoffs?
Pretty sure ruff and Murray could move past a yelling match from a few years back. Ruff is arguably one of the best coaches in the NHL consistently in my opinion.
Ah yes. Any ideas for how we could do that? Something simple and easy to organize.
How about pick one skater per position (2 defense, no goalie) for each conference, as well as 1 team per conference (no goalie because wins will be awarded for the team.) No changes can be made after the playoffs begin
Points System
Forwards
Goal= 2 points
Assist=1 point
Defense
Goal=3 points
Assist=1 point (or 2 points, but the best defense pile assists up as easily as forwards in playoffs)
Team
Win= 2 points
I think this method is pretty simple because once the picks are made you can just wait until the end of the playoffs and don't have to deal with people resubmitting after each round.
I don't know that there's an easy way because of the number of people who would enter, but you could wait for the final standings and just have people do a playoff tree (including each series record in case multiple people have the right tree)
I thought that was fantastic. Winchester is pretty tough, and it looked like he was fully prepared to drop the gloves, but Smith is a bit bigger, bit tougher, and stepped in when he thought that Winchester was over-matched (Horton is huge, by the way)
I've seen where alot of you don't really think Smith brings alot to the table, but I bet that he was the most popular guy in the room following that game...he has to be back next year, in my view.
That was one hell of a tilt! Had me out of the chair cheering. Great job by Smith.
Let me know if there is one that I can use. Would definitely be willing to set that up.
http://www.hockeydrunk.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/nhl_playoff_bracket.xls
Brian Lee and carkner could be the odd men out
after training camp i'd like to see cowen and maybe rundblad start off in bingo for a few months. if we keep benoit and hale or smith up it would better our chances for victory early in the season and will help us in the long run for a playoff spot. by christmas cowen and rundblad get promoted and we'll be better off with them learning in the ahl first. lee or weircroich could be trade bait during the draft.
http://twitter.com/SunGarrioch - Murray defended his hiring record on coaches. Admits he just hasn't found the right guy here.
http://twitter.com/SunGarrioch - Said he could have waited until wednesday to fire clouston but there was no point.
if you are going to do a playoff pool, I'd recommend tying it to a charity (rogers house or do it for Darren come to mind)
you could have a registration fee of 5-10$ with half of the proceeds being donated to charity.
i would keep it fairly simple; something like
choose 12 forwards, 6 defensemen and one team
1 point for goals, 1 point for assists, 2 points for team win additional 3 points for shutout.
just my thoughts.
Auto-ads should be illegal, they are an invasion of my privacy
Thanks for no auto-ads chirp, I'll stop coming if you get some
AS for those D-Pairings.. its pretty obvious
Kuba-Karlsson
Rundblad-Lee
Phillips-Gryba
sorry to all the well-wishers... gonchars carreer is over.
now our team looks promising. A good coach should be willing to take on this task without worry of failure.
As for the Heatley question.. Heatley may have seen what was coming but he did not improve any because of it. Heatley's final stats this year: 26G 38A 64 Pts in 80 games. So much for 50 goals or 40 or even 30 and he has a great play maker in Jumbo Joe too. He must have a reduced role which will prompt him to demand a trade this summer and not accept the best available offer. Good riddance.
Wow I really like that as a first or second line. I hope we can get as much coverage as possible for Bingo and a blogger would be a great idea (easier said than done finding one). And FireBall hit the nail on the hammer about Yost, hes a excellent blogger for someone living in NYC and writting about the Sens. He has followed the team since joining HB and his coverage is usually a good read. On the other hand Chirp is a great insider and treats his fanbase really well, thus why the community here at SensChirp has grown so much. Hats off to both you for your good work following the Sens. When hockey season starts my 3 favorited pages are Hockeybuzz, Hfboards, and Senschirp.. cant get enough of my hockey.
This.....
Kuba-Karlsson
Rundblad-Lee
Phillips-Gryba"
Really? You'd take Gryba over Cowen? You'd take KUBA over Cowen?
Gryba over Cowen? obviously! Cowen hasn't played a minute of hockey in the NHL or even the AHL.
You guys need some reality checks.
http://healthyscratches.blogspot.com/2011/04/nhl-draft-lottery-primer-sens-edition.html
Having Kuba and Karlsson on the same line let alone the top line is a disaster waiting to happen. Neither one is defensivley responsible or physical and only one puts up offensive numbers.
Cowen may not have NHL experience but he was closer to making the team this season than Gryba was.
Cowen with 0 NHL games played on a ELC or Kuba with his $3.7M contract and horrible defensive game that pretty much cost us 10-20 games this year...What would you choose?
Hopefully his 2 goals he scored at the end of the year will get some stupid GM to take him....
1) chris phillips for the first 60 games of the season
2) Brian Elliot
3) Sergei Gonchar's inability to provide any kind of offence OR defence
4) Karlsson/smith/ ruutu penalties at the worst times for the first 50 games
5) Spezza being injured (can't really blame him for that)
I'll admit Kuba was absolutely brutal for the first 15-20 games he played this season. But it wasn't exactly ideal circumstances and if you'll remember, Kuba said he wasn't ready even after being cleared by doctors. its no wonder he didn't perform well right away.
Captain alfie... no, cowen wasn't closer than Gryba.