This is just priceless - an interview with Eugene Melnyk:

https://twitter.com/shooc...tatus/1100581182499041280
- punchanello77

todays' winner

My favorite bit in all of this is Dorion notifying the players that their play has been unacceptable and no more excuses...
... but you traded all our good players
... I said no more excuses

Oh, and that bit about "we're a skill team".. maybe he meant "we were a skill team until I got promoted"

Melnyk's Sens have done the impossible... rival Ballard's Leafs

My favorite bit in all of this is Dorion notifying the players that their play has been unacceptable and no more excuses...
... but you traded all our good players
... I said no more excuses

Oh, and that bit about "we're a skill team".. maybe he meant "we were a skill team until I got promoted"

Melnyk's Sens have done the impossible... rival Ballard's Leafs
- grim

I think their worse.....Ballard’s leafs lasted much longer, but the lows for Melnyk’s Sens is lower than the lows for Ballard’s leafs IMO

I think their worse.....Ballard’s leafs lasted much longer, but the lows for Melnyk’s Sens is lower than the lows for Ballard’s leafs IMO
- sensarmy_11

Atleast Ballard got his coach to wear a brown paper bag....

Eklund: Guy Boucher: A Passive Aggressive Firing. Right Move or Ridiculous?
- Eklund

He didn't deserve to be fired ... what kind of expectations should management have (in reality) with a roster is depleted of talent in such short period of time.

Like the "handling of the Karlsson situation"... this appears very amateurish.

or stated otherwise "DUMB"

He didn't deserve to be fired ... what kind of expectations should management have (in reality) with a roster is depleted of talent in such short period of time.

Like the "handling of the Karlsson situation"... this appears very amateurish.

or stated otherwise "DUMB"
- BorjeFan4Ever

Pretty sure this was based on his performance over the last 2 years, not just the last 2 games.

Boucher “deserved” to be fired. You can certainly question the timing of it, but if it wasn’t now it was at the end of the year....either way it was happening.

Wonder if Jim Ballsillie still wants to own a team and if so has uncle Gary and cousin Bi forgiven him and removed the 'Black Ball' label from him.

Frank Seravalli
@frank_seravalli
Pierre Dorion said he met with #Sens players this morning. "I told them that our play recently wasn't acceptable." He said he told them: "No more excuses." 😳

Imagine the balls on this guy for criticizing how someone else does their job


- eichiefs9

Imagine trading away your best players and the telling your team "no excuses"

todays' winner
- 21peter

That is almost as good as the Nonis version

A pure defensive minded tool that even made them making the playoffs a few years ago and go on a spectacular run as boring as Fk. See ya.

IS melnick a Canadian or American ?
- pzoxic

no one with a brain is going to take credit for that one

IF KEEFE ACCEPTS A JOB WITH THE OTTAWA SENATORS I WILL CALL HIM A SNAKE TO HIS FACE!

I WILL TAKE MY TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS KEEFE JERSEY BLAZER AND DEFACE IT AND THROW IT ON THE ICE!!!!!

THE LEAFS GAVE HIM AN OPPORTUNITY, AND THIS IS THE LOYALTY HE SHOWS TO THE FANS?!?!?!?!?!?
- Atomic Wedgie

That would be extremely unclassy of you and we would have to tell you to stop being a baby and get over it!

Overall the team needs a change. Nothing wrong with Boucher. They should have waited until the end of the season to do it but otherwise it’s ok. Definitely not his fault that the team super under performed but things have to change.

WHY? The guy had nothing to work with. You knew you were not expecting to make the playoffs. You knew you were out of the playoff race.....Why do it? Off season you dont renew his contract and you all go your separate ways. Cold and classless. Good luck to you GUY I hope you find a better place.

Habs vs Rags tonight, let's get it. We need the 2 points

Boucher didn't deserve to be renewed, but getting let go like this is a little classless, UNLESS they did it for a good reason.

This being the Sens, there's probably no good reason.

It's not like turning the ship around's going to do anything.

I wonder who they'll hire to fill the hole in? It's not like Melnyk will want to spend $$ on a good coach. At this point, I'd hire Jacques Martin back - he's good with young players and he's local. Isn't he an assistant coach in PIT these days?

Actually, just figured out an upside to Boucher's firing - less Ceci ice time.

Firing Guy Boucher was the best thing Tampa has ever done. They would likely have an extra cup if it wasn't for him.

Ottawa will be a much better team without him.

Eugene Melnyk is the cancer that needs to go

edit: that said, I really wanted a coaching change so they go on a run and don't finish 31st
- AlfieisKing

This would go down as the BEST TANK JOB EVER in league history.....




If they owned their 1st pick!

Firing Guy Boucher was the best thing Tampa has ever done. They would likely have an extra cup if it wasn't for him.

Ottawa will be a much better team without him.
- Bolts91

I agree 100%, never liked his coaching style.

Tough being a Sens fan right now

I agree 100%, never liked his coaching style.
- .OHOH.

i think there are 2 issues here....firing Boucher, and the timing and reasons behind it.

1. firing the coach - it was obviously going to happen, it needed to happen, he lost the room and his message wasn't getting through.

2. the timing and reasons - I 100% believe that the reason Boucher was fired when he was is because Melnyk wanted the media attention on that and not the fact that just the day before the Lebreton deal fell apart. this owner and GM are (frank)ing weasels, a cancer on the NHL.

Frankly, this goes beyond just making the organization look bad, i think it's starting to make the league look a little bad. This makes the league look bad the same way that the 80's leafs made it look bad, the same way that Al Davis' raiders made the NFL look bad, the same way that the expos did and marlins do make MLB look bad........having a team that is SOOOOOOOOO dysfunctional reflects poorly on the league, and i'm shocked that they havent' tried to intervene in some way

- .OHOH.

Yep, it's been a tire fire for a couple of years, now. Each time you think the fire's as big as it's going to get, something happens that just makes it bigger.

At this point, other than the franchise moving, I can't see what could go more wrong. We've lost all the star players, we have no 'real' coach (no offense to Crawford), we have a puppet GM, a skeleton front office, and an owner whose purse strings are sewn together.

Firing Guy Boucher was the best thing Tampa has ever done. They would likely have an extra cup if it wasn't for him.

Ottawa will be a much better team without him.
- Bolts91

Oh yeah, maybe even two!

I think that might be right trying to get the focus off the teams dysfunction, putting it on the coach, the team doesn't have a stadium coming. Threat to move (although I doubt it).

If everyone is focused how the coach didn't preform (who would be able to!?) then the issues with the actual team isn't important. Nor is still not having your actual first pick which they shouldn't have picked last year! Then they could now.