Confirmed with Link: DJ Smith fired, Jacques Martin in as interim, Alfie as assistant

[Burrowsaurus]

Pretty cool to think that Jacques and Alfie will coach Brady and Stu.

Nothing but the best to DJ.

We don’t even know if Alfie knows what he’s talking about

 

[inthewings]

Wish him well.

This whole mess began with a puffed chest, foolish baravdo move by the organization to part ways with Dorion for something he did two years ago. I am fully convinced that if they did not do that, DJ would have been fired back in November, before Sweden.

Instead, we have lost another season dithering around and while the hires yesterday are good for short term, and non-committal, I am not impressed at all with the new owner/POHO handling of this season. They tried to win a social media game and torpedoed the season instead

Your take is that this season was torpedoed not by the GM of the last 7 years, but by the owner and POHO who took control in September? And that firing the GM whose team is going to miss the playoffs for the 7th straight season was foolish, and the decision where the mess actually began?

These are some of the wildest takes I've ever seen on HFboards, and this forum is awful so that's saying a lot.

 

[DaveMatthew]

Wish him well.

This whole mess began with a puffed chest, foolish baravdo move by the organization to part ways with Dorion for something he did two years ago. I am fully convinced that if they did not do that, DJ would have been fired back in November, before Sweden.

Instead, we have lost another season dithering around and while the hires yesterday are good for short term, and non-committal, I am not impressed at all with the new owner/POHO handling of this season. They tried to win a social media game and torpedoed the season instead

I'd say the season was torpedoed because the "board" allowed Dorion to continue operating as normal into the summer when the sale was pending. Then when Andlauer finally took over, he did not immediately tell IT to lock Pierre out of all team accounts.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Sanderson on the bike will be iconic

 

[DaveMatthew]

We don’t even know if Alfie knows what he’s talking about

You don't think Alfie knows how to play forward at the NHL level?

Wild. Alfredsson is a HOFer. There's no question that he knows what he's talking about.

The only question is, can he effectively communicate what he knows?

 

[Mark Stones Spleen]

We don’t even know if Alfie knows what he’s talking about

Yeah but we knew with certainty that DJ didn't know what he was talking about. Temporary uncertainty is better than certainly bad.

 

[BondraTime]

we have debated this before. I am not willing to go down that rabbit hole

Just remember 2 things

1) Darche's reputation is more a contracts guy than a big picture buy/sell kind of guy. So, on a team when you need a Wheeler/Dealer..a Trader Jack.. maybe Drache is not your man.
2) Graig Buttons' mid summer X message.. Steve Staios will be Ottawa's next GM.. Maybe he knew something.

So, maybe Darche is not their target and maybe the plan is Staios to be POHO and GM.

A guy posted on here that he heard; they have yet to hold interviews for the GM spot... one month later..things fall part with Dorion in early November, he is fired in mid November.. they have had 6-7 weeks to start the process and not even interviews!!!

Something different is occurring.. either Staios stays in both roles. Or a candidate (presently employed as a GM) is being targeted. In which case, end of season.

There's no going down a rabbit hole, it's just the extremally easy understanding you can't just leave your contract as you stated

Well yes, you can't interview people under contract unless given permission, which tracks with what everyone has been saying for the better part of 6 months. They won't be given permission to get the guys they want until the offseason, because teams don't want to let their guys go outside of the offseason.

And the bolded is just completely made up, and you're making it up because you can't understand that teams aren't letting guys they have employed as Asst. GM's go in the middle of a season. The chances of them pursuing a current GM is astronomically smaller than them going after a guy employed outside of a GM spot in another organization.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

You don't think Alfie knows how to play forward at the NHL level?

Wild. Alfredsson is a HOFer. There's no question that he knows what he's talking about.

The only question is, can he effectively communicate what he knows?

Of course. I mean in the context of coaching.

Yeah but we knew with certainty that DJ didn't know what he was talking about. Temporary uncertainty is better than certainly bad.

Martin>>>>>> dj.

Alfie. Is a guy who played hockey. Not a coach. But hey we will see

 

[jbeck5]

You do realize you can't just jump out of a contract, right?

Isn't the unwritten rule that you allow guys in your organization to talk/leave to other organizations if it's a promotion being offered?

Didn't Ottawa get shat on for exactly NOT doing this a couple years ago?

 

[BankStreetParade]

Wish him well.

This whole mess began with a puffed chest, foolish baravdo move by the organization to part ways with Dorion for something he did two years ago. I am fully convinced that if they did not do that, DJ would have been fired back in November, before Sweden.

Instead, we have lost another season dithering around and while the hires yesterday are good for short term, and non-committal, I am not impressed at all with the new owner/POHO handling of this season. They tried to win a social media game and torpedoed the season instead

Yup. They've been a step behind since they took over. Guy's been on the job for months just evaluating the team. Like, does it really take that much time to evaluate? Everyone and their grandmother knew DJ had to have a short leash to start the season. 10 f***ing games ago, we were .500 with lots of runway ahead of us. A 3-7 record later and the season is over. At the end of October, we were 3-4 and on a 3-game losing streak. You could have ended it right there and made a change. It took how many days from that point to do literally anything? Less than 2 weeks ago they appoint Martin a senior advisor. Yesterday they finally fire the coach after losing 5 of the last 6 games. What was he evaluating? What criteria hadn't been met yet for dismissal?

Instead of promoting the AGM we have to an interim role so the POHO can stay focused on big picture things, they instead appoint the guy with no NHL experience doing either the POHO role or the GM job to do BOTH. This is f***ing outlandish. An entire season wasted because of indecisiveness and inexperience. What a way to ingratiate yourself to the fans who bought tickets BECAUSE ownership was changing hands, they expected a good season and thought things would be handled competently going forward.

And instead the owner's out there making smarmy comments about "the guys in section 320" or whatever the f*** it is like he's so clever and so much smarter than the average fan. If Melnyk had said anything close to that, the fans would have bought the entirety of the Rideau Center to turn it into one giant Melnyk Out billboard that could be seen from the ISS.

 

[BondraTime]

Isn't the unwritten rule that you allow guys in your organization to talk/leave to other organizations if it's a promotion being offered?

Didn't Ottawa get shat on for exactly NOT doing this a couple years ago?

In the offseason? Absolutely.

In season? No. Teams generally don't want to let a divisional rival poach an Asst. GM during a season. Verbeek did with Anaheim a few years ago with Detroit tanking and Stevie Y and his relationship, it would likely be much different for a team like Tampa who are playoff bound.

Ottawa did get shit on for not letting Capuano interview in the offseason. That doesn't make much sense, but shows teams value their contracted employees.

I sure hope the Sens wouldn't allow Bowness to leave next week if offered a GM role, it puts them way back. In the offseason, if offered that role, absolutely, they have time to assess and replace him.

 

[coladin]

Ridiculous.

The season was torpedoed by Dorion. That's it. He was the one who never acted on Smith's obvious shortcomings. He's the one who still has us handcuffed with no cap space. This team, on the ice, from the players through the coaching staff was Dorion's creation.

To blame people that acquired exactly zero players on the roster and hired none of the coaching staff that have run up a 11-15 record is some wild stuff.



I'm sure Darche would have loved to take the job. He's under contract with a division rival. He can't just walk out the door without legal repercussions.

They basically fired DJ the moment Martin was hired. Everyone could see that a mile away, including DJ. If they did it December 6, Martin would not have been prepared as he is now to take over. But they have known for weeks that a coaching change was required. I am not buying the whole support angle by Staios. Find me other senior coaching advisors for coaches, which I might add, all three (DJ, Capuano, Hynes) have been head coaches, and there is another 3 in the sky or whatever, I have lost track.

They could have fired Dorion at the end of the season. Instead, we have a POHO who needs to now find a GM, and that new GM needs to hire a coach. Clearly, Staios didn't bank on this team performing like last year, and he was late in trying to fix this team.

And yes, I blame the owner and his team as they have been following this team basically all last year, so they are not blinded by being "new" to this team. They aren't

 

[DaveMatthew]

They basically fired DJ the moment Martin was hired. Everyone could see that a mile away, including DJ. If they did it December 6, Martin would not have been prepared as he is now to take over. But they have known for weeks that a coaching change was required. I am not buying thr whole support angle by Staios. Find me other senior coaching advisors for coahces, which I might add, all three have been head coaches, and there is another 3 in the sky or whatever, I have lost track.

They could have fired Dorion at the end of the season. Instead, we have a POHO who needs to now find a GM, and that new GM needs to hire a coach. Clearly, Staios didn't bank on this team performing like last year, and he was late in trying to fix this team.

And yes, I blame the owner and his team as they have been following this team basically all last year, so they are not blinded by being "new" to this team. They aren't

Dorion could not have continued in his role. He was a toxic presence in the building.

At least DJ was liked. Dorion was not.

Staios is the GM, he doesn't need to find a GM to hire a coach. He might choose to, but he doesn't have to. And at no point has he said that that has to be the order of events.

 

[coladin]

Your take is that this season was torpedoed not by the GM of the last 7 years, but by the owner and POHO who took control in September? And that firing the GM whose team is going to miss the playoffs for the 7th straight season was foolish, and the decision where the mess actually began?

These are some of the wildest takes I've ever seen on HFboards, and this forum is awful so that's saying a lot.

There was no benefit to this season in firing Dorion at the point they chose to. Everyone has been signed, extended. All they did was hamstring the team from firing the coach back before Sweden.

Oh, they showed great accountability. Wowwee, great, at the expense of what? Lame duck GM/POHO who couldnt' act on a season slipping away? So they do this interim angle.

You are missing the point. If Dorion was here, he would have fired DJ a month to six weeks ago. That is what matters most

 

[DaveMatthew]

There was no benefit to this season in firing Dorion at the point they chose to. Everyone has been signed, extended. All they did was hamtring the team from firing the coach back before Sweden.

Oh, they showed great accountability. Wowwee, great, at the expense of what? Lame duck GM/POHO who couldnt' act on a season slipping away? So they do this interim angle.

You are missing the point. If Dorion was here, he would have fired DJ a month to six weeks ago. That is what matters most

Why would this new owner and POHO have given Dorion the autonomy to fire/hire a coach? The guy was proven to be incompetent and a liar.

Dorion was the person steering this organization into the iceberg. The mistake Andlauer made was not firing him on Day 1. Hell, he should've told the Melnyk estate to remove him as soon as he was named the preferred bidder.

The funnier part is that Andlauer has gone on the record to say that Dorion asked him, in the summer, what he wanted to do with DJ. Andlauer told him it's his decision, he's the GM. (The fact that Dorion asked the owner this speaks to his complete inability to do the job.) Dorion chose to keep DJ.

So he's the one that sank the season.

 

[BondraTime]

There was no benefit to this season in firing Dorion at the point they chose to. Everyone has been signed, extended. All they did was hamtring the team from firing the coach back before Sweden.

Oh, they showed great accountability. Wowwee, great, at the expense of what? Lame duck GM/POHO who couldnt' act on a season slipping away? So they do this interim angle.

You are missing the point. If Dorion was here, he would have fired DJ a month to six weeks ago. That is what matters most

The only reason Smith was even still there to start the year is because Dorion recommended that Smith remain as the head coach to the board.

GARRIOCH: GM Pierre Dorion confirms D.J. Smith will lead Ottawa Senators into next season

The Ottawa Senators will have new faces in the lineup next season, but there will be no changes behind the bench.

ottawasun.com

 

[jbeck5]

In the offseason? Absolutely.

In season? No. Teams generally don't want to let a divisional rival poach an Asst. GM during a season. Verbeek did with Anaheim a few years ago with Detroit tanking and Stevie Y and his relationship, it would likely be much different for a team like Tampa who are playoff bound.

Ottawa did get shit on for not letting Capuano interview in the offseason. That doesn't make much sense, but shows teams value their contracted employees.

I sure hope the Sens wouldn't allow Bowness to leave next week if offered a GM role, it puts them way back. In the offseason, if offered that role, absolutely, they have time to assess and replace him.

I never heard the "unwritten rule" having a timeline stipulation. Always thought that if you aren't willing to give them a promotion but another team is, that the classy thing is to let that person that you respect and care for achieve their dream. I always heard this makes your organization look more respectful and would eventually lead to more people thinking highly of your organization and wanting to be part of it.

I never heard it must be done during the summer months. Just thought it was a respect to the individual type of thing.

I've heard plenty of rumours of suggestions to bringing in guys who already have jobs this year to replace DJ, such as Roy..no way his junior team wouldn't let him go if he's got a promotion to the NHL even if it leaves them scrambling.

Always thought it was a respect thing rather than the organization being left with a new hole to fill.

 

[inthewings]

There was no benefit to this season in firing Dorion at the point they chose to. Everyone has been signed, extended. All they did was hamtring the team from firing the coach back before Sweden.

Oh, they showed great accountability. Wowwee, great, at the expense of what? Lame duck GM/POHO who couldnt' act on a season slipping away? So they do this interim angle.

You are missing the point. If Dorion was here, he would have fired DJ a month to six weeks ago. That is what matters most

I don't understand why anyone would have wanted to Dorion to make a single additional decision for this franchise. He was fired years late, not six months early.

 

[BondraTime]

I never heard the "unwritten rule" having a timeline stipulation. Always thought that if you aren't willing to give them a promotion but another team is, that the classy thing is to let that person that you respect and care for achieve their dream. I always heard this makes your organization look more respectful and would eventually lead to more people thinking highly of your organization and wanting to be part of it.

I never heard it must be done during the summer months. Just thought it was a respect to the individual type of thing.

Of course you will want to keep higher level employees once the season starts, that's just common sense. If we lost Bowness in June, we replace him with a wide candidate pool compared to finding someone in December.

That's why you see so many hirings in the offseason compared to during the season. It allows both the acquiring team, and the team losing their employee, to make educated changes,

Have heard from pretty much every talking head; Friedman, LeBrun, etc. that if the Sens want to get a guy like Darche, it will likely have to wait until the offseason

 

[jbeck5]

Of course you will want to keep higher level employees once the season starts, that's just common sense.

That's why you see so many hirings in the offseason compared to during the season. It allows both the acquiring team, and the team losing their employee, to make educated changes,

Have heard from pretty much every talking head, Friedman, LeBrun, etc. that if the Sens want to get a guy like Darche, it will likely have to wait until the offseason

I get all that. I was just always under the impression that it looks bad if you won't let a guy leave under contract for a clear promotion.

I understand why job changes are generally done in the off season though.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Yep. The first 2 immediate things they could have done was fire both Dorion and DJ before the season starter. Shake shit up right away and give the team time to get adjusted before the season starts.

Its as if these guys did their due diligence on the team for the past 6 years and thought to themselves that maybe the duo can turn things around.

There was no chance they were firing a coach, a week before camp starts.

 

[coladin]

Dorion could not have continued in his role. He was a toxic presence in the building.

At least DJ was liked. Dorion was not.

Staios is the GM, he doesn't need to find a GM to hire a coach. He might choose to, but he doesn't have to. And at no point has he said that that has to be the order of events.

Every hockey professional would disagree with you. The GM hires the coach. Do you want Staios to get a new GM who immediately fires and brings in his own group regardless of how good Staios hire does? Wow that is a stable and accountable look

 

[SanderSen]

There was no chance they were firing a coach, a week before camp starts.

Agree. If the sale process would have been in just a slow manner, instead of the extended time it took I am sure things would have been different to start the year. New ownership was stuck between a rock and hard place with the timing.

 

[coladin]

The only reason Smith was even still there to start the year is because Dorion recommended that Smith remain as the head coach to the board.

GARRIOCH: GM Pierre Dorion confirms D.J. Smith will lead Ottawa Senators into next season

The Ottawa Senators will have new faces in the lineup next season, but there will be no changes behind the bench.

ottawasun.com

I think it was the right call. But the leash was going to be short. And Dorion never got the chance to yank that leash and fire him when the season required it. He had one signing left to do, and the rest of the season has been set up, planned. Dorion being fired should have happened at the end of the season because Staios had no backup plan, and was very slow to move on running the hockey team

 

[Alf Silfversson]

Every hockey professional would disagree with you. The GM hires the coach. Do you want Staios to get a new GM who immediately fires and brings in his own group regardless of how good Staios hire does? Wow that is a stable and accountable look

So your solution was to let Dorion be in charge or personnel changes behind the bench? When he should have fired Smith over a year ago (at the latest)? What even is this?

If we're firing Dorion at the end of the season for a new GM then how is it different than Staios doing the same thing as interim GM? Except that one is a proven moron, cheat and terrible GM. The other is Steve Staios.

If your argument is that Dorion would have fired Smith earlier, how do you know that he would have? He stuck with Smith for multiple seasons where he should not have. And who would he have tagged to replace Smith for the rest of the year? DJ Smith 2.0? He clearly didn't know how to handle the hiring/firing of coaching staff.

Dorion was incompetent. The sooner he was gone the sooner the team could take a sensible direction.