After doing a sweeping media tour this morning, Senators general manager Pierre Dorion and the new head coach Guy Boucher arrived at the Canadian Tire Centre to hold court with the media for Boucher’s introductory press conference.
The 45-plus minute affair was incredibly long and to the benefit of the francophone journalists who cover this team, the Senators have a bilingual general manager and head coach for the first time since Pierre Gauthier and Jacques Martin led the team. Meaning that both men could communicate in both official languages for their sake (and really, it was for my sake too since I was too lazy to translate the French parts).
Like the interview from earlier this morning, I’ve marked the individual sections as PD (Pierre Dorion) or GB (Guy Boucher) to identify who was speaking.
To listen to the full press conference, use the embedded audio player at the bottom of this post.
As always, my thoughts are in bold.
PD: “Welcome. Today is a great day for the Ottawa Senators franchise. From the start, we have said that this hiring would be huge. There were a lot of impressive candidates. All of the people interviewed were quality coaches. I want to personally thank them all for their time to this process. These people made this a very difficult decision.
Why Guy Boucher?
He was the first candidate that I interviewed and I believe in making strong first impressions and his first impression was simply outstanding. Our first meeting happened for four and a half hours and it went by very quickly. Guy brings passions, drive, great communication skills, knowledge of the game, intelligence, he’s progressive and he’s innovative. What impressed me the most was his ability to translate in the interview process and I think this ability will translate to the players: how we need to play to have success. You can know all the ‘X’s and ‘O’s, but if the players don’t understand your message, how can you perform and win?”
I would have simply settled for a, “He’s not Randy Carlyle,” answer. It would have sufficed. Carry on, Pierre.
“I know Guy brings a great defensive structure. It’s something that I’ve talked about. His influences and mentorship come from Jacques Lemaire, who I have tremendous respect for and we know for the Ottawa Senators to win and to win in the playoffs, we need to play better defensive hockey. Also at the same time, Guy brings great offensive presence to our game. Everyone knows how (good) his power plays have been. His stars have always produced at the top of the league, in any league that he has been in whether it was in the Quebec (Major Junior Hockey) League, whether it was in the American (Hockey) League or whether it was in the NHL. I don’t want our team to get away from playing a good offensive brand of hockey, but I think Guy will find a way to bring a very strong balance that will help us achieve as many wins as possible.”
It’s like the perfect blend of a coach: a Lemaire defensive disciple who can still get his best players to produce at a level that sees them sit atop the NHL leaderboard. Of course, this is all a bunch of positive spin to cast Boucher in the best light imaginable, but fans might want to curb their expectations a bit until Dorion starts addressing the roster. There’s still a lot of work to do.
“The second meeting with Guy almost went for eight hours. I want to thank Randy Lee and both Daniel Alfredsson for coming to that meeting with me. I love Guy’s attention to detail. It went long, but for me, it just seemed like an hour. When I looked at my watch, it was (after 8:30 pm). I don’t think Guy wanted us to leave the interview until we gave him the job, so I like that persistence from him.
I want to thank a few people here. I want to thank Guy’s agent, Sebastien Vezina, for the negotiations. I think he was very professional. Probably the most important person I want to thank here is Randy Lee, our other assistant general manager, he was part of almost every interview. He went and met with candidates a second time. He came in the office Saturday and Sunday. I took him away from his mother yesterday, I apologize Mrs. Lee and he helped me really finalize this deal. I want to thank Bryan Murray for his mentorship. He wanted this to be my choice, but his guidance through this process has really helped me along. Most importantly, I want to thank Mr. Melnyk for his support through this process. Mr. Melnyk said, ‘Pierre, hire the best coach.’ We have done that. He said, ‘You can have any resources you want to hire the best coach,’ and we have done that. Mr. Melnyk was informed through the process and I thank him for the approval to hire my first choice as the coach of the Ottawa Senators.
As I joked on Twitter, Dorion loves to thank people in his press conferences. If he hasn’t thanked you at least once in one of them, chances are you’re not that important.
“The Ottawa Senators mean a lot to me. They mean a lot to the people in this room. One day I want to write a book, ‘Keys to Winning in the NHL’. Talent is one (key). Two, is very good goaltending and the third and one of the most key (elements) is great coaching. I now feel that we have those elements in place.
Not if I write that book first and include two chapters that talk about how important luck and money are too.
PD: “Bryan Murray and I have talked about what’s the toughest job in Ottawa. Sometimes I tease him that it’s being the Prime Minister of Canada or the Mayor of Ottawa, but I think Guy is now getting into the role of the toughest job in Ottawa. At the same time, it’s best job in Ottawa. Ladies and gentlemen, I’m ecstatic to introduce your next Ottawa Senators coach, Guy Boucher.”
Other jobs that were considered for the ‘Toughest Jobs in Ottawa’ list: 1) shooting bears in the Carp dump; 2) keeping microphones away from Eugene Melnyk’s mouth; 3) bartenders on the Red Mile; 4) the interior decorator at 24 Sussex; 5) convincing the Senators to ditch their current home and away jerseys; 6) Mike Duffy’s accountant; and 7) the janitor who cleans the bathroom at the Tunney’s Pasture bus station; 8) putting the contery on your back; 9) being the freelance analytics hire during the Bryan Murray era; and 10) playing left defence when you find out you’re not Erik Karlsson’s partner.
GB: “Thanks Pierre, I appreciate it. First and foremost, I want to thank Mr. Melnyk for giving me this terrific opportunity. Also Pierre, of course, who’s shown great faith in me personally and in the possibility of our partnership. I’m also looking forward to working with a group of experienced individuals such as Mr. Murray, Mr. Lee and Mr. Alfredsson as well as the rest of the staff.
So I’m very enthusiastic and extremely excited to be surrounded by quality individuals, but also people that are dedicated to winning. It’s clear for me when we see how passionate the owner is. It is contagious. When I see what Pierre’s done over the years, I feel that the quality of the players that he’s brought in and his eye for talent has been absolutely terrific. It’s solid ground to build on. Also for the players and the team, I believe there is great upside and potential to tap into and something that is very exciting for me for the next (few) weeks is to obviously start meeting the players and start to get to know them because I think that’s the beginning of everything. There will be obvious potential for growth and potential for success and it is a great challenge that I’m being given, but put simply, I just can’t wait to start. I’m more hungry than ever, so let’s start right now. Fire away.”
If you’re named the new coach of the Ottawa Senators and your closing statement is, “Fire away,” with the way things have been going here lately, you’re one brave man.
On whether the coaching vacancies in Calgary and Anaheim accelerate the process at all…
PD: “Not at all. To me, what was key was getting the right coach for the Ottawa Senators. Obviously other openings became available. I told you guys by draft time, I’d like to have a coach in place, but as the process moved along, I just knew Guy was the right person for this position. You don’t let others dictate what you want to do, you dictate what you want to do and to me, there was an obvious connection here and we just felt that Guy was the right guy.”
Better to be proactive than reactive, but you have to wonder how much Boucher was in demand, if at all. He’s been out of the NHL game for some time, but he’s always been someone who the analytics types looked upon favorably because of his progressive ideas and innovation. The results weren’t necessarily there in the last two seasons of his tenure in Tampa, but it’s not ike he was blessed with the most talented of rosters. In fact, with a poor defence and a team that relied heavily upon its on-ice shooting percentage, the Senators actually share some similarities with them.
On coaching Mike Hoffman back in the QMJHL and his relationship that others have had with him…
GB: “Well, I can’t talk about the relationship that Mike had with other people and I certainly wouldn’t pretend to know how it was. All I can say is that when we got Mike in junior, I think he had gone through a few teams before he got to us and I thought it was a terrific challenge when we got him because I saw right away that there was passion, there was skill – probably in some ways misdirected and in like all young players, there’s a lot of things to work on and Mike was willing to do so. So we did spend a long time together – a lot of moments alone with the video and times where he gets a pat on the back, but times where he probably found it tough with me. We were a contending team and he was certainly a big part of it, but what I liked about Mike is he responded. He really responded to everything that I tried with him and so that’s why I’m really looking forward to working with him again. We’ve won a championship together, so we’re definitely looking forward to winning another one. He’s one of the players, I think, on this team that is a game-breaker. So game-breakers, you don’t have a lot of those guys on any team, but certainly when you have asset like that, you want to cherish it, you want to work with them and accompany them on their road to more success and improving and evolving.”
As someone who likes Mike Hoffman’s game, it’s reassuring to hear the coach speak so favourably about the things that Hoffman can do. Although with the way Boucher was carrying on, I think the only person who appreciated Boucher’s “game-breaker” comments more was Mike Hoffman’s agent.
On what he learned coaching over in Switzerland…
GB: “There’s many things. Obviously it’s a different game in some ways, but in other ways, it’s the same. Hockey is all about managing people and if you look at North Americans in general, we’re used to each other and we’re used to how we see things and we’ve seen minor hockey and we’ve seen how we play the game. But once you go there, and that was the main reason, I did it for family and I also did it for my career in terms of trying to get new tools. What I found over there is that the players come from a totally different background and I can understand and appreciate now how difficult it is to go from one country to another and (experience) a different culture and try to adjust to a different size of rink, different types of practices and different ways to approach the game. I think that’s the one thing, when you look at the NHL, I think roughly about 40-percent of top-two liners and top-four defencemen that are Europeans if you include obviously the Russians. So you’re going to have to deal with people that come from overseas and that’s part of the mandate of any coach in the NHL is to be able to get those guys to play at their best. So if you understand their background and you’re able to connect with them better, it certainly gives you a much better chance to evolve faster and I think that’s the number one thing that I can get from being down there. Obviously there’s also the transition game is different, the neutral zone, I think now the neutral zone in the last five years has really become a lot more jammed than it was. It doesn’t matter what systems you use, I think that neutral zone is really tough to get through, but I think that’s something that has existed for a long time in Europe. I think the fact that we took the red line out here slowly got us on that path and I found down there they had some terrific ways to deal with that neutral zone and so that’s something that I’m looking to add on to my toolbox.”
It’s interesting to hear Boucher’s comments about the difficulties players encounter coming to North America since it it’s rarely talked about here. Sure, on a number of occasions, management talks about the importance of players adjusting to the North American game and rink size, but when it comes to the human element of such a transition, it’s swept under the rug. It’s a different sport, but if you want to watch a great sports movie that deals with this subject matter, check out the baseball movie ‘Sugar’.
On whether he has his assistant coaches in his mind and what he envisions his staff looking like…
PD: “For me, I mentioned this when we relieved Dave Cameron of his duties, I thought it was very important… all of the head coaches know that have been in the NHL right now or in the past always felt that it was important for the head coach to have the autonomy to name his own staff. So I’m leaving it up to Guy and he might have something to say.”
Oooh, the suspense would be killing me if the news didn’t leak earlier this morning that Marc Crawford had been hired as an associate coach. The internet spoils everything.
GB: “Yeah, like Pierre said, in the interviews that was one of the questions that I had and Pierre said, ‘No. You choose whoever you want.’ Obviously, we all want quality people, but I had total freedom. So yes, I do have an idea on who I want. We’ve moved forward already with one person. I’ll be honest, we hurried up because it was somebody I had in mind for the last two years that if I came back to or when I came back to the NHL, I would do things a certain way. To go back to your question, that’s one of the things that I figured out over time, I would want my staff a certain way and in a certain role. I promised myself the next time that I would have an ex-NHL coach at my side. In what role? That depended on what strengths he had because that’s what I always focus on: people’s strengths to put them in the right chair. And so, the person that I really wanted before anybody else is Marc Crawford and we’ve come to terms a few hours ago and I’m very, very happy because the minute I got the job, I called Marc. I know he was a candidate, so he might have been disappointed at that time, but we had talked about that before. We knew it was a possibility in the future that we could work together, so I’m extremely happy to have him onboard.”
Kudos to the Senators on adding a Stanley Cup winning coach as an associate coach to assist Guy Boucher. The players are quickly running out of excuses, if their failure to respect and listen to the coaching staff continues to be a problem, the onus and blame will finally be placed on them.
On Crawford always being a head coach and whether that could pose problems…
GB: “No, it’s the opposite. I’ve always done that and people ask me, ‘What type of people do you want to be surrounded with?’ and my answer is always the same, ‘The strongest people possible.’ Everything rises and falls on leadership and so, I want to find the people that have the best and the strongest leadership so that the leadership grows – it’s exponential. If you need followers, you’re not growing. You’re going to stagnate. If you need leaders, that’s going to obviously grow and you’re going to make faster ramifications with the rest of your people. I think Marc has got a terrific resume where he’s won a Stanley Cup and I think the players are going to respect that. I wanted somebody that I could give a lot tasks to and not have to worry, ‘Can he teach?’ I know that some guys are smart people, good hockey people, but it’s about communicating, connecting, teaching and that takes time to learn and it takes experience. And Marc’s got it all, so for me, I wanted guys that could take a lot of pressure and succeed under pressure, so I think that Marc fits all those criterion and I know personally, we fit very well. We’ve had very similar experiences in the past – we both worked with the same kind of people in the American (Hockey) League and people that knew us both told us that we’d work great together. So I had that in my mind for a long time. To be honest with you, I think we’re quite lucky to have him on staff right now. Some people… I ask why titles, you know, assistant coach, associate coach… for me, it has nothing to do about ego. It’s about getting it right. I think you get what you earn in life and I think Marc earned such a title and I wanted to make sure that he got what he earned. I think it’s a respectful way to welcome him and I think the players are going to respect that also.”
Crawford’s a solid addition to the coaching staff, so it will be interesting to not only see where it goes from here, but how much the Senators invest in their hockey operations department. If the Senators start spending more on their coaches (I mean, without constantly firing and replacing them), maybe there’s a strong chance the organization will also ramp up its spending on analytics – moving past one part-time freelance hire to a full-time employee who’s in charge of directing their own staff. One can dream, but hopefully it comes to fruition.
PD: “Just to clarify, Marc will be his associate coach. Part of Marc’s duties are also, I asked with Guy’s permission because it’s his staff, if Marc could be a liaison between the coaching staff in Ottawa and the coaching staff in Binghamton. With his experience, we just felt that it was a duty that could be added to him. I know he’s going to help Randy (Lee) with his development camp. He’s also going to help with the database of our pro scouting for when we give information (about) players on other teams. So we’re very happy to have Marc onboard as an associate coach.”
What’s also interesting about Crawford is how he has strong connections to Belleville and how the City of Belleville is being rumoured as a prospective destination for Ottawa’s AHL affiliate.
On how much he learned from his past experiences and what he can bring now that can help him be more successful…
GB: “Well, do you have two or three hours? I’ve learned quite a little bit over the last little while. The fact that you live the NHL, just living it regardless of if you have success or not is key because it’s a grind. It’s a grind. Until you live it, you can’t understand what it is and so I think that’s taken care of. I know what to expect. I came barging into the NHL as a young 38-year old and you kind of go your own way and decide to adjust later. Whereas I think now coming in a second time, the perspective is different. I think the planning will be different. Managing players though, that won’t be any different. I think that’s something that has been one of my strengths – connecting with players, managing the intangibles, relationships, chemistry, leadership and all that — I think that’s something that I’ll keep doing the same. In the NHL, there a lot of things that you can’t control. When you start your first gig, it’s hard to accept, but I think over time, you realize that there’s things that you’re not going to control. Don’t spend any time on that and don’t spend any energy on that, and that will give me a lot more energy to be spent somewhere else where it’s going to matter more. The other thing to is this generation (of players), you need to do more than just communicate. Everybody is on their iPads, TV, texting, Facebook and you name it. So, I think the players now expect you not to just to tell them what to do, they expect to know why and they expect you to follow them and accompany them in the process. I think with a guy like Marc (Crawford) and other assistants with a good ratio of player to coach that gives you the freedom to do the job. It’s just a like a teacher. One teacher for 15 students is not the same as one teacher for 40 students. I think that’s one thing we discussed with Pierre – we want to have a good ratio of coaches to players so that we can touch on more players faster per week and that’s something that I know is essential in the NHL now. If you look at the NHL, I think it’s slowly going the same direction as football. You’ve got experts in different fields and you’ve got a lot of people working around the players and it gives you the freedom to be an expert in what you do in your field and so everybody benefits from that. So I think coming in now, choosing that staff is important and making sure that energy is spent in the right places so that we progress faster.”
I really like what Boucher is selling here with the ratio of coaches to players and the teacher relationship is an interesting dynamic, but since many consider game-day skates to be one of the most overrated entities in hockey, I just wonder how much meaningful time the coaching staff will have to really work on things with their players. Thanks to the CBA which puts restrictions on how often players can practice, the condensed schedule, travel and the volume of games teams play, it’s incredibly difficult for teams to have meaningful practice time to correct behaviour and put in time on whatever facets need improvement. It all so sounds so great, but can it be realistic, especially since we know how important the budget is for Eugene Melnyk?
On how much of a difference coaching can make in turning this team around…
PD: “To me, a good coach makes a bad team into a fair team, a fair team into a good team, a good team into a real good team, and a really great coach makes a really good team into an excellent team. To me, I come from a scouting background, but over my years in the NHL, I realize that a good coach can really have a big impact. To me, with Guy, I really feel that we have that in him for our organization.”
Coaches can have considerable impacts, but I seriously hope the Senators aren’t dead set on returning the bulk of this roster next season. There are still considerable concerns (as outlined in my 2015-16 Ottawa Senators eulogy) that need to be addressed.
On Erik Karlsson and the debate that he needs to change his game…
GB: “I go back to the word, ‘change’. I don’t like it because to me, it means a 180-degree turnaround which with anybody, I would totally disagree. The players that are here at this level, they got here because they have certain strengths. Whether it’s Mr. Karlsson or any other player, you’ve got to recognize the great things that they do first. Very often we make that mistake of focusing on the weaknesses and that’s all we talk about and then what happens over time? The weaknesses take over the strengths. We have here an unbelievable offensive defenceman. He’s the best in the league and I think you’ve got to cherish that, you’ve got to respect that and you’ve got to drive your team with his strengths. We don’t want to change that, absolutely not. Does he have to evolve in certain areas of the game? Absolutely, but that’s every player (who has to evolve too). So I think every player specifically on this team has to want to evolve and improve and I’m sure Erik is no different. He’s a star and the reason why they’re stars and I’ve been lucky over the years. Like I’m only 45, but that’s one thing that I’ve been blessed with: I’ve coached about 19 stars because of Team Canada – I’ve been there nine times – and I’ve had (P.K. Subban) in the American (Hockey) League and I’ve had (Sidney) Crosby in junior. For me, those people are different because those people want to be different because they want to do more and they have a certain approach to the game. If you take that away, you take their swagger away. What I’m going to ask him is to be outstanding offensively. I’m going to ask him that and whatever we need to improve defensively, we’ll go one step at a time. And I do now appreciate the great talent that he’s had and especially, I love his speed. To me, the thing he has more than anybody is the possibility of speed of hands, speed of mind and speed of feet and I think that’s something every player on our team has to look up to. And that won’t change. Absolutely not. That’s something we’re going to cherish and that’s something that’s going to be at the forefront of our team. Other guys who are amazing defensively will be the standards of our defensive game. I think every player comes here with an expertise and every player will be asked to have a role with their expertise.”
Amen.
Instead of burying Karlsson under a weight of criticism, it would be nice if everyone focused their energies on identifying ways to improve the performance of the individuals or the individuals themselves who comprise his supporting cast. The team needs to be better and everyone needs to stop this lazy narrative that criticizes the star player who’s expected to carry his teammates and overcome the fact that the team simply isn’t talented enough.
On the Senators power play and whether he sees a lot of ingredients for it to be successful…
GB: “Yeah, the one thing that I don’t want to do today is put down what was done before. I think it is easy to look back and start criticizing and I don’t want to be too specific about things today. I think, first of all, I know the people that were here before. They’re great people and they’ve worked really hard to improve the team in certain areas and now it’s my job to build on the things that were strong and try to improve the rest. When I look the power play, you’re right, there are great assets here. I have worked with Mike Hoffman in junior, I had him do similar things that I did with (Steven) Stamkos in Tampa and the same when I had (John) Tavares when I had three times with Hockey Canada. Those guys are shooters, so definitely I do have a plan with Mike, but I have a plan with the other players also. Erik’s the best straddler on the blue line that you can find, so we’re definitely going to use that in our tools. I like an accelerated power play – that’s the way that I’ve been teaching it for 20 years. It’s been 20 years now that I’ve been doing power play. Power play is more than anything else, details. The minute details matter for power play for me. So I need to talk to the players. I need to be on the ice with them. I need to recognize what I want. Which guys are great for what I want? So it’s hard for me to look at last year’s power play and go, ‘Okay, I would do this and I would do that.’ I have an idea, definitely. I know what I want to do, but to be out here and say that I would do something different, I think it’s wrong on my part to do that. I have a plan. I’ve always had success with it and I’m planning on having success again. It’s going to be very enjoyable to have tools like that. In general for me, I want to accelerate the play of the power play, not slow it down and that’s given me success over time.”
One of the things that I really respected from Boucher was the way that he dutifully was unwilling to throw the previous regime under the bus. Hopefully the way Boucher conducts himself rubs off on the other members of the organization who tend to create a stir with their comments.
The other thing that is becoming transparently clear is that Boucher is pretty interested in the offensive side of the game. Granted, it’s never really fun to discuss strategy and defensive structure, but Boucher really prides himself on his power play and by the number of stars whose success he has contributed to.
It all sounds great, especially him being jazzed to coach guys like Hoffman and Karlsson, but given the similarities between the Senators now and Lightning team that he coached then, it’s also kind of hard to ignore the fact that Tampa’s teams progressively got worse defensively over the stretch that Boucher coached. Not only did their possession proxies tumble, but the volume of shots that they allowed grew on an annual basis as well. Chalk it up to injuries, personnel or what have you, it would have been nice to hear Boucher talk more of about defence and reassure fans about his interest in fixing what has ailed Ottawa these past few seasons, because the Senators certainly need to address the issues within their own end.
On his expectations for this team…
GB: “Well, we always want to have a fast, growing team – that’s clear. We’re going to start in camp very fast. I hate to waste time. I think people who work with me will tell you (that). I think this team is ready now to play well right away. How far can we go at the beginning in every aspect of the game? I mean, that’s something we’ll have to evaluate once we start with what I’m asking. One thing is for sure, we’re going to put a lot of emphasis on the defensive structure. I know that individually, there’s a lot of work to be done with some individuals. There’s some young players in there. We have to respect the fact that there is a process. I mean, you can’t expect that… you want a flower to grow. If you pull on it, it won’t grow. It will die. Sometimes it takes a bit more time to put some water on it and wait for it to grow, but that’s what we’ll need with some of the players. And some other players, I should expect right now for guys to adapt fast and perform. So I think we’ve got a great mix of guys that can grow fast in my opinion. In terms of points and in terms of goals scored and all that, that’s the result of that process. I think we can accelerate the process because I think there’s already great things and strong things in place in that team. So I won’t pretend to come in and be the saviour and I’ll do everything different. No, I have to respect the fact that a lot of good things have been done here, great players that have been brought up and players that have had success in the last few years, so we just want to keep those guys having success and help the ones that are ready to grow. I think it’s very encouraging here because when you look at the ages, when you look at the leadership, I think this team is right there ready to take another step.”
For a team that has had a number of players rushed to the parent level, it’s interesting for Boucher to note that lots of work needs to be done with some individuals and that he doesn’t want stunted development. Late season call-ups like Ryan Dzingel and Nick Paul flashed moments, but I’d be hesitant to pencil either player into the lineup right now.
I can understand the kind of spin and optimism that naturally stems from these types of press conferences, but in taking a realistic look at Ottawa’s situation, but after hiring Boucher, Pierre Dorion has his work cut out for him.
The blue line is still troubling. For all the praise that was bestowed on Dion Phaneuf, the blue line still needs considerable work. Returnees like Marc Methot and Mark Borowiecki weren’t very good last season. The second pairing was “fixed” with the acquisition of Phaneuf, but their underlying numbers still weren’t very good and Cody Ceci’s offensive flair down the stretch doesn’t appear to be sustainable. He’s a candidate for regression. Chris Wideman, despite his age, looked the part of a rookie who was content to survive at the NHL level rather than play to his strengths that got him here.
Up front, Ottawa’s bottom-six forwards lack talent. Alex Chiasson, Curtis Lazar and Chris Neil struggle to play with the puck and transition it up-ice, offering little in the way of offence.
In the top six, Clarke MacArthur’s uncertain health is something that the Senators will have to guard against. Rather than grab an alternative though, it’s safe to assume that Zack Smith will get the first opportunity to fill that void. The only problem is that Smith’s going to have an impossible time replicating the luck and success that he enjoyed down the stretch. His ridiculous shooting percentage makes him a candidate for regression barring some massive spike in the volume of shots that he puts on goal.
Mix in the fact that the team is already pressed up against its imposed budget, and Dorion’s going to have to operate with Bobby Ryan and Dion Phaneuf’s contracts dangling over his head and it’s going to be tough for him to operate. Dorion has his work cut out for him.
On whether he thinks this is a playoff team…
GB: “It has to be or else I wouldn’t be here. If I didn’t think it was a playoff team, it would go against everything I believe in. We’re in the business of doing the impossible. So my philosophy is clear: every year, you don’t know. You just don’t know. You might be the one and that depends on what you do during the year. You start slow again and you end up playing great at the end of the year and some teams start real fast and you think they got it and then it fades away. What we want is to be steady. We want to get better every day and we want to start the first day of training camp and we want to grow. I have confidence in this team.”
The Senators better be a playoff team or “(Melnyk will) be at (him) at game 75.”
On going for breakfast with Stamkos before he took over in Tampa and whether he’ll do something similar with Karlsson here in Ottawa…
GB: “The way I work is obviously to start with the leaders and the players that gravitate around that core, but I do that with every player and it goes back to what I said. To me, it’s about connecting and finding out what I need to activate. Not what I think is their motivation. With (Stamkos) that was the beginning of the process with him to find out who he is, what kind of parents (he had), what he likes, what he doesn’t like, coaches he’s had in the past and things that are difficult for him because that’s where it starts. Hockey is just a projection of what the person is. I did that with everybody. Lecavalier, I met his parents. To me, whatever I can do to go figure out something that’s going to help a player get an edge and find a way to improve, I do it and that’s how we start. So yes, my answer to this question is definitely. I’m going to start this week unless no players are available and they’re all in Cancun. But yeah, so I’m planning to start real soon. I already have a relationship with Dion (Phaneuf), we worked together at the World Championships together with the men’s (team). (Marc) Methot, the same thing and obviously Hoffman, so I will sit down with those guys, but everybody else, yes, as soon as Mr. Karlsson is back from his vacation, we’ll choose an appropriate moment and then we’ll start the process at that moment. I’m very excited to start it to be honest with you. Apart from the fact that I have to find a house soon because my family is coming from Switzerland and there’s nowhere to go, the rest is all about hockey and how we’re going to find a staff, meet the players and have a specific plan once the year starts.”
Golfing at Augusta, vacationing in Cancun, Erik Karlsson has got it rough right now.
PD: “Yeah, just something that I want to add to everyone here. At the end of the interview process, I asked Randy (Lee), ‘Who’s your number one choice? I’ll write it down on a piece of paper and you write it down on a piece of paper.’ He wrote down ‘Guy Boucher’ and I put down on a piece of paper, ‘Guy Boucher’. Sometimes people speculate and I’d rather… everyone that knows me here knows that I’m straightforward and honest. I sent an email to Mr. Melnyk saying that Guy Boucher was my number one choice. That was, if I’m not mistaken, Saturday at about 11 o’clock. Mr. Melnyk said, ‘Hire the best person available.’ That was what we felt we have done here. When it gone down to the finalists, I did talk contract parameters with a few people. One person was bit far away, so he was a bit difficult to reach. I want to make it clear that if let’s say some of the best coaches or the highest paid coaches in the league were available in a Mike Babcock or a Joel Quenneville, we could have hired him. Maybe I would have hired Guy ahead of them because he’s a hell of a coach, but I want to make it clear to everyone that this was my candidate. No doubt in my mind from the first time that I met him, I felt that this would be the guy to lead the Ottawa Senators. I printed that email and in 20 years when we’ve won a few Cups and we’re having a few beers somewhere, I’ll show it to all of you.”
I certainly understand why Dorion interjected considering he obviously wants to get his side of the story out there after it was reported that the Senators offered Bruce Boudreau the job first.
I just wish that if he was going to do it, he do it during in the early stages of the press conference. Doing it forcefully at the end after Boucher was killing it and renewing some faith in the organization’s decision-making let the air out of the balloon a little bit.
It just came off poorly and made it seem like the Senators are way too concerned with optics and what’s being said or written about them.
In negotiations or discussions with coaches, it’s not surprising to hear that the Senators exchanged figures with all of their finalists. That’s just business and it doesn’t mean that they preferred one candidate over the other. You can definitely hear the emotion in Pierre’s voice when he talked about Boucher being his number one guy from the get go, so it’s hard not to take him at his word. It sounded genuine, and maybe I’m nitpicking here, but I just wish he picked his spot a little bit better and let the positive momentum ride.