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Cory Clouston Will Not Return as Head Coach of the Ottawa Senators |
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In potentially the least surprising move in franchise history, Cory Clouston has been relieved of his duties as the head coach of the Ottawa Senators, effective immediately.
Joining Clouston on the unemployment line includes all of the assistant coaches, including Greg Carvel and Brad Lauer. Bryan Murray will now have to hire another coach, and with the 2011 NHL Draft lottery just a few days away, expect him to get to work immediately.
In regards to Clouston, the writing was on the wall regarding his job status for quite some time. The team struggled all season long, and the only real high point of the season was thanks to a surplus of youth coming through the ranks and playing effective hockey over the past twenty games. Some speculated that his ability to bandaid the locker room and work with the new roster on the fly might save his job for at least another season, but such wasn't the case.
Clouston's going to land on his feet somewhere, that much is for certain - with the right tools, he'll do quite level at either the AHL or NHL level. That's not to say he's the perfect coach, but I can't imagine many - if any - bench bosses would've had success over the course of multiple seasons working with the likes of Brian Elliott, Pascal Leclaire, and Mike Brodeur.
His ability to connect with players is admirable, but his stubbornness and inconsistency quickly became his downfall. On multiple occasions, we saw the same egregious errors (e.g. too many men penalties, an almost infinite number of defensive zone turnovers) continue to plague this team. While I would've liked to see a bit more player accountability regarding the aforementioned, Clouston had to take some of the blame.
As the first team to relieve their head coach of his duties, the Senators get a jump start on the head coach search. Let the rumors begin!
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
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