Hartsburg Fired!

Good quote from Murray: "There will be judgements made before the deadline."

shabbs wrote:So we'll have three coaches on our payroll - Paddock, Hartsy and now Clouston...

We have become the Tampa Bay Lightning...

argh, we're actually WORSE than t-bay...

plus, at least they have Lecavelier...

this franchise is a royal mess... it's going to take a couple years to clean this all up I think

Murray is on Fan 590 now... saying that Cory has the job for now with an option to go forward with it. Not labelling him as "interim".

What?

Here is Lyle Richardson's (Spectors Hockey) take on the firing from his blog on Fox Sports. IMHO right on.

Hartsburg Fired as Senators Head Coach.
Feb 02, 2009 | 7:36AM |

The struggling Ottawa Senators have called a press conference for 11 am today where it's expected they'll announce the firing of Craig Hartsburg as their head coach.

Hartsburg was hired last summer by Senators general manager Bryan Murray after consultations with team owner Eugene Melnyk. His no-nonsense style was expected to motivate a Senators team which collapsed in the second half of last season under easy-going John Paddock, whom Murray fired and replaced behind the bench to finish the '07-'08 campaign.

Unfortunately Hartsburg didn't seem to be a good fit with the Senators as they picked up where they left off last season, floundering through the first 48 games of this season to sit 14 points out of a playoff berth as of today.

Early reports suggest the last straw came following the Senators 7-4 defeat to the Washington Capitals on Sunday, when Hartsburg publicly blasted his team for not working hard enough.

It's not the first time Hartsburg called out his players this season but it's apparent his message wasn't sinking in.

To be fair to Hartsburg he was working with a Senators roster which had been significantly depleted of depth since its run to the 2007 Stanley Cup final.

Goaltending had been an issue early on, although that seems to have settled down with Alex Auld and rookie Brian Elliott established as their tandem.

Elsewhere however depth has been a significant problem, particularly on the blueline and second line scoring, and those are issues Hartsburg couldn't solve.

Management found itself hard-pressed for sufficient cap space this season, handcuffed by expensive contracts. Murray got stuck with the inherited mistake of Martin Gerber's $3.7 million salary, but he also overpaid Mike Fisher and Antoine Vermette, who've done nothing to earn their new salaries this season.

No one faults Murray for not retaining a fading Wade Redden, particularly when the NY Rangers were willing to overpay for his services, but an aging Jason Smith at $2.6 million was not a suitable replacement. The Senators needed a puck-moving blueliner, not a veteran stay-at-home defenseman.

The expensive contracts for Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley were also a problem but one could scarcely fault Murray and Melnyk for opening the vault to retain these two. Still, their salaries and their lesser numbers this season compared to their recent previous performances have made them easy targets for fan and media criticism.

If however the Senators had decent second line offense it would take considerable pressure off the first line. Daniel Alfredsson, Spezza and Heatley have 39 or more points this season. None of the other forwards have more than 18. That speaks volumes for the Senators offensive woes.

The problem of course is a lack of cap space and of viable trade bait to bring in the help the Senators desperately need.

Depth problems cannot be overcome with a coaching change. Hartsburg probably wasn't the right coach for this team but replacing him isn't going to magically produce more seocnd line scoring or pluck a puck-moving defenseman out of thin air.

This is a move done out of desperation by a general manager who has run out of options.

*Update* The Senators announced they've promoted Cory Clouston, the head coach of their AHL affiliate, as Hartsburg's replacement. Good luck, Cory, you'll need it.

shabbs wrote:Murray is on Fan 590 now... saying that Cory has the job for now with an option to go forward with it. Not labelling him as "interim".

What?

Probably the only way to get him to take the job. I think it's lip service. The benefit is that Clouston is in way over his head. He's not even a decent AHL coach. Last season he was totally in over his head. This season, with more talent, he's still under .500.

This is going to get alot worse before in gets better. The Cherry on top of all of this of course is that now we have a real good shot at a top 2-3 pick.

If I thought for a split second that Clouston is here for the long term, I'd start a fire Clouston thread right now.

He said it's his job for the remainder of the year, meaning he's not going to actively look for someone to take over now. He also said that he hoped he will continue next year. "This is a good coach" he said. I don't feel reassured, sorry Bryan.

Murray saying this is the "most disappointing" group of players he's ever had when you look at the potential they have and how they've performed.

wprager wrote:He said it's his job for the remainder of the year, meaning he's not going to actively look for someone to take over now. He also said that he hoped he will continue next year. "This is a good coach" he said. I don't feel reassured, sorry Bryan.

Yeah. "Good coach" "knows the players" etc...

Sounds like what he said when Paddock was brought in.

It's like a time warp...

wprager wrote:He said it's his job for the remainder of the year, meaning he's not going to actively look for someone to take over now. He also said that he hoped he will continue next year. "This is a good coach" he said. I don't feel reassured, sorry Bryan.

not trying to defend Murray, but what is he supposed to say. Corey is just here until we find someone else. That basically means the players know he has no real power. What Murray and Melnyk say to the press and in public is or can can be different from what is said in private. Corey may know he's just here until the end of the year, and if he turns things around, he'll stay. If not he'll be out. In the mean time I wouldn't be surprised if Murray reaches out to one or more established coaches to guage interest.

Just my 2 cents.h

I wonder if Murray is trying to avoid the "public interview" like last time with daily reports on who was being interviewed and who was #1 choice and what not. That was pretty ridiculous.

You're right Dawg's Wife... what Murray says to the press is most likely just lip service and what's really going on is being kept behind club doors.

Dawg's Wife wrote:

wprager wrote:He said it's his job for the remainder of the year, meaning he's not going to actively look for someone to take over now. He also said that he hoped he will continue next year. "This is a good coach" he said. I don't feel reassured, sorry Bryan.

not trying to defend Murray, but what is he supposed to say. Corey is just here until we find someone else. That basically means the players know he has no real power. What Murray and Melnyk say to the press and in public is or can can be different from what is said in private. Corey may know he's just here until the end of the year, and if he turns things around, he'll stay. If not he'll be out. In the mean time I wouldn't be surprised if Murray reaches out to one or more established coaches to guage interest.

Just my 2 cents.h

Yeah, well, he could have saved Melnyk some salary and taken over himself. Hitch gas grey hair and can't skate either. That was *not* an excuse.

On the other hand, he might be a tad too busy blowing the team up to spend any time coaching.

Problem is, Murray can't effectively both coach and GM a team. As soon as he steps on the ice as coach, the players would respond differently to save their Donkey. He needs a guy to tell him who is and who isn't working.

Another fired coach eh...it really does feel like groundhog day.

"I got you babe..."

Team 1200 is pre-empting Jim Rome to cover the coaching change. Steve Lloyd is the moderator and Mike Eastwood is at the Sens' practice. Lloyd pointed out that Hartsburg's contract is guaranteed so he gets paid for next two-plus years. Hartsburg is due to sit down with Murray to discuss a possible future role in the organization.

Here is the report from the Press Connects Binghamton:

February 2, 2009

Hartsburg Out, Clouston In As Ottawa Sens Coach

Cory Clouston, second-year coach of the Binghamton Senators, will replace Craig Hartsburg as the new Ottawa Senators coach.

A formal announcement on the coaching change was made at 11 a.m. Curtis Hunt, the Ottawa Senators assistant coach, has been offered the the job as head coach in Binghamton, Brian Murray, Ottawa Senators general manager, said. Management gave him 24 hours to make his decision.

Hartsburg's firing comes on the heels of Sunday's 7-4 defeat Sunday night at the hands of the Washington Capitals.

Under Hartsburg, the Ottawa Senators compiled a 17-24-3-4 record and sits 13th in the 15-team Eastern Conference. The Senators are 14 points out of the eighth and final playoff spot.

It is widely believed that the Ottawa team has underperformed considering the team's talent.

So, they're saying that Cory is NOT a player's coach and will light fires when needed.

We'll have to see...

I think we should fire 3 more coahces before we start to blame the players.