Well, as I wrote earlier this morning, there were whispers and rumors that the Senators were on the verge of firing head coach Paul MacLean, and even the comeback win last night wasn't enough to save his job. The Senators fired their coach today, and it shouldn't come as a shock to anyone.

Quite simply, MacLean approached things differently after winning coach of the year two seasons ago and the upset win over the Habs that spring.

Last year, I wrote that MacLean seemed to buy his own press, and the worst thing that could have happened was the "player 61" nonsense that took the media by storm. MacLean seemed to become the guy whose crap didn't stink and was really too quick to change things up before allowing them to take hold.

I didn't like the way he handled the goaltending duo right from the start of last season, and I really don't think he gave the Spezza-Ryan combination a legitimate chance to work before he changed things up and never really went back to it.

There were a lot of times over the past two seasons where decisions were made that were head-scratchers, and I was surprised he wasn't let go after the end of last season. Bryan Murray pretty much acknowledged that he was a different coach in his third season, and I really think the success went to his head, and he was unable to reel it back in, and became almost a caricature of himself. "The this" and "the that", and his certain mannerisms and quirks were cute at first, but there was no depth to his thinking, at least in the media, and it was probably time for a change.

The team seemed to lack structure, and if the structure was in place the accountability to follow it wasn't.

Those two things - structure and accountability - are what this young and developing team needs going forward.

Dave Cameron will take over on an interim basis, but some of the whispers around the press box last night seem to think that it could eventually become a package deal when the succession plan for Bryan Murray's exit is finalized, where a former GM and coach from another Eastern Conference team might fill both roles. It is a tricky situation, with Murray's future uncertain, to usher him to the door so quickly, but in the meantime Cameron will simply be keeping the seat warm, although 65 or so games is a long time to have an "interim" tag.

I don't necessarily think the players quit on the coach, but for whatever reason he had a terrible time getting any kind of consistency from his guys.

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