Senators dismiss Clouston, Carvel, and Lauer
by Peter Raaymakers on Apr 9, 2011 8:26 PM EDT
in Ottawa Senators breaking news
Email
Print
Just hours after their season-ending loss to the Boston Bruins, the Ottawa Senators announced the dismissal of head coach Cory Clouston along with assistants Greg Carvel and Brad Lauer. Assistant coach Luke Richardson and goaltending coach Rick Wamsley will remain with the team.
The dismissal shouldn't come as a surprise to many. Clouston's contract was set to expire at the end of the season, and speculation throughout the season assumed that it was only a matter of time before the coach was let go--he lasted to the end of the season, but despite some moderate success in the final quarter of the year, was let go.
Some may wonder on the timing of the firing, but whether it was this evening or two weeks from now, the move would have resulted in the same thing. In his end-of-year press conference, Clouston himself expressed his hopes that his future with the organization would be resolved as quickly as possible. The fact that it was done so quickly gives him, Carvel, and Lauer the opportunity to start putting their names on the market as they seek employment for next season.
100 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
How appropriate that I'm listening to Brahms - A German Requiem
Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs
Whoever drew up our power play shouldn't put that shit on their resume
Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs
by Mark Parisi on Apr 9, 2011 8:40 PM EDT reply actions 7 recs
I am quietly hopefully the power play will be good next year
With Gonchar and Karlsson on the point, and Spezza as a forward, there is no reason it shouldn’t be.
An Ottawa Senators fan in Toronto, Ontario. I am cool like that.
Maybe Dave Cameron
will put Gonchar on the right wing?
My Jason Spezza Obsession is Perfectly Healthy!
Gonchar wasn't being used the correct way
CC always put him in his wrong position on the PP
My Jason Spezza Obsession is Perfectly Healthy!
Yes
right as in opposite of wrong not the actual decision. It came off wrong
My Jason Spezza Obsession is Perfectly Healthy!
I thought you meant you wanted him to play forward
An Ottawa Senators fan in Toronto, Ontario. I am cool like that.
I think he means right point and not right wing
Clouston had Gonchar on the left side, which was not where he was used to playing.
Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs
true thats exactly what I meant
but you got one thing wrong on that statement
My Jason Spezza Obsession is Perfectly Healthy!
By the way Mark
SensDew is a girl. :p
An Ottawa Senators fan in Toronto, Ontario. I am cool like that.
There is a bunch of girls around now! When I first joined I didn't there were much.
Well the only one I vividly remember is Alix.
by Los Blancos Chicca on Apr 11, 2011 11:02 AM EDT up reply actions
We have the talent to have a successful power play, there's no doubt about that
You’re not even including Alfie and Michalek in there, you know?
Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs
Hah yeah I forgot those 2!
Possibly Rundblad on the 2nd unit, and also Butler. We have 7 pretty good players for the power play.
An Ottawa Senators fan in Toronto, Ontario. I am cool like that.
Yep
And someone like Greening can be useful there too. Talent hasn’t been our problem, it’s execution.
Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs
Harsh
Couldn’t they wait until tomorrow? Hours after the game.
I don’t think this move can be rated as good or bad until we see who the replacement is and how he fares. Whoever it is better last a full season at the very least, Ottawa can’t keep going through coaches at this rate.
I hope this wasn’t just to make some visible changes for the fans. If we kept Murray and Clouston, a lot of fans would be outraged, but I would have appreciated them weathering the storm if that’s what they thought was right.
Dave Cameron?
I don't know if Clouston should or should not have been fired
But he at least lasted two full seasons on top of the twenty-odd games he coached after Hartsburg got canned.
This is true
I hope our next coach lasts at least as long and is (more importantly) more successful. It would be nice to build on that “stability.”
Here is Murray's reaction - "Change was needed"
An Ottawa Senators fan in Toronto, Ontario. I am cool like that.
I am not disappointed Murray is around. I kind of agree with Peter and Mark's analysis on the whole Murray thing.
3 years is a little long, but I guess this gives him the freedom to really design the machine he wants to design.
My opinion on Clouston’s dismissal will be dependant on who the incoming coach is. Clouston didn’t do a good job around here, but he was mediocre. I would be annoyed if someone comes in who isn’t proven in the NHL though.
by Los Blancos Chicca on Apr 11, 2011 11:05 AM EDT up reply actions
we are officially picking 5th overall
Flyers up 6-4 dont see Isles coming back
My Jason Spezza Obsession is Perfectly Healthy!
*we are officially 5th last
We still could win the lottery!
…or get bumped down to sixth because of the lottery…
ole ole drunk song at the ACC
phaneuf is like kuba but with a C on his shoulder….dumb player.
BREAKING: Senators higher new special teams coach, reveal plan to implement squares-based strategy
Snakellefteå - Silver Seven - The Classic Blog
Squares have fewer sides than circles, this plan fucking sucks
Also, you’re clearly tired. Go to bed early.
Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs
Fine. Pentagons.
Snakellefteå - Silver Seven - The Classic Blog
by Ryan Classic on Apr 10, 2011 1:06 AM EDT up reply actions 3 recs
REC'D
Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs
by Mark Parisi on Apr 10, 2011 11:16 AM EDT up reply actions
The Senators officially finish 5th last
We have an:
- 8.1% chance at 1st pick
- 74.7% chance at 5th
- 17.2% at 6th pick
Could our luck suck enough to get 6th?
At least the new coach should have no pressure and a bunch of young guys.
An Ottawa Senators fan in Toronto, Ontario. I am cool like that.
It would be
But we have more than twice as much a chance to fall to 6th. :(
An Ottawa Senators fan in Toronto, Ontario. I am cool like that.
6th isn't the end of the world
The Sharks got Michalek 6th!
Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs
it looks like there's a lot of movement in the upper half-dozen or so in the draft
so it seems hardly the end of the world to be picking 5th. Maybe this is the year a lot of teams end up sorting their “ranking” out based on need since best pick available seems to be a bit of a guessing game.
Well I guess it's what we have to tell ourselves
But sure would have been nice to get one of the top 3 forwards.
An Ottawa Senators fan in Toronto, Ontario. I am cool like that.
Last time 5th last team won the lottery to get 1st overall...
2007, and the Hawks picked Patrick Kane. Sign of things to come? Is the apocalypse near?
And personally, I would have kept Clouston around for one more year. I do not, and repeat, DO NOT want Murray that hire yet another junior coach in Dave Cameron.
Single, not living happily until the day a Stanley Cup comes my way.
by Henrik_Larsson69 on Apr 9, 2011 9:54 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Hej!
Skelleftea lost! :(
But yeah, if we win the freaking lottery, how awesome would that be!
An Ottawa Senators fan in Toronto, Ontario. I am cool like that.
It would be freakin' awesome.
Yeah, Skelleftea lost. They’re down 2-1., which sucks. But I still have hope. Although Ottawa fell in a barren hole this season, I still entrust my hope into Skells…and Man U!
Really, I would be happy with any of RNH, Lando, Larsson, or Couturier. Me thinks that Florida wants Couturier, Edmonton likes Larsson, Colorado likes Landeskog, and Islanders take a D. That’s my dream hope that Hopkins falls to us.
Single, not living happily until the day a Stanley Cup comes my way.
by Henrik_Larsson69 on Apr 9, 2011 9:59 PM EDT up reply actions
There's a chance that one of those guys could fall to us
But I think RNH will be the first forward selected, myself.
Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs
He has the highest ceiling
Its a good thing we have the Panthers and Isles in front of us, two teams with horrible Draft records. Cats twice traded the first overall pick, and would have gotten Fleury and Nash. Imagine that…
Single, not living happily until the day a Stanley Cup comes my way.
by Henrik_Larsson69 on Apr 9, 2011 10:13 PM EDT up reply actions
Not to rehash the nuggets last week
But that was under a different GM and doesn’t really suggest anything about this year’s draft.
Oh Captain, my Captain!
I lose
I so wanted Clouston to stay but apparently he must have done something to piss them off
by Hockey Playoff Run SensFan on Apr 9, 2011 10:14 PM EDT reply actions
i think there was a definite thought to scoring more PP goals this year
special teams have got to work to win the NHL these days. only half of ours were.
So you change an assistant
Usually that’s all that’s needed. Maybe Clouston was adamant about his staff, who knows. I am disappointed, it’s not that he was the best coach around I just liked his accountability system. Given a young team that would keep them working hard to stay in the line-up.
by Hockey Playoff Run SensFan on Apr 9, 2011 10:22 PM EDT up reply actions
I think the PP was Carvel's thing. I don't know why they kept him around through
all the coaches; our power play hasn’t been good in…. well I can’t remember when you’d say it was good. It wasn’t always this bad, but it hasn’t been good in a long time.
Nope
Lauer and CC were in charge of the PP, Carvel was the PK guy, and for the life of me I don’t know why they fired him. Our PK was one of the only bright spots on the season.
Carvel only had so many lives
He lasted through the firings of both Paddock and Hartsburg.
An Ottawa Senators fan blogging at www.silversevensens.com
by Peter Raaymakers on Apr 10, 2011 3:00 PM EDT up reply actions
I understand that
But look at it this way: If a team under-performs, do you trade the entire team, or do you just replace the parts that are ineffective? I see the coaching staff the same way. Carvel has been effective for years, so why replace him? Instead, fire CC and Lauer, who were ineffective, and bring in replacements for them. I would have even been ok if CC had been kept and a strong PP/offensive guy had been brought in to replace Lauer.
They should have kept whoever's been running the PK. It's been amazing
for the last six or eight weeks.
I’ve heard that Murray told Clouston repeatedly to lighten up a bit. There have been lots of reports of him not getting along with players, so it may be true.
I don’t want a “player’s coach” like Paddock that doesn’t really exert any authority, but on the other hand, the coach can’t be too draconian or it will blow up in his face. Getting the most out of the players without pissing them off too much is definitely a fine line to walk. I think that Clouston may have had more success with the Bingo call-ups than the vets because he could be a jerk and the younger guys haven’t been around long enough to know any better.
Agreed
It will give the fans some satisfaction in knowing that someone is to blame for the failure of this cap team this season and last. It also absolves Murray and Melnyk of their bad dicisions
by Hockey Playoff Run SensFan on Apr 9, 2011 10:44 PM EDT up reply actions
As a fan I can, It's some of our money he's toying with
by Hockey Playoff Run SensFan on Apr 9, 2011 11:25 PM EDT up reply actions
Except that if I remember correctly...
… if Melnyk hadn’t come along with all of his money to bail out the organization when he did, the Senators might be playing in Kansas City today.
Which would suck. I like the Senators right where they are, thank you very much.
(Geographically, not standings-wise, of course)
If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing. - Anatole France
I don't buy that
This is not Phoenix. He bought into a potential. Previous ownership was competing against teams that spent into the 50-70 million dollar range and he just did not have it to spend. Someone else would have bought this team for the price he got it for and the arena thrown in at half what was owed. Let’s not forget he was forgiven the bridge dept as well.
by Hockey Playoff Run SensFan on Apr 10, 2011 8:01 PM EDT up reply actions
Umm... not necessarily
There’s a reason why Melnyk got the team and arena for such a huge bargain: No one else wanted to buy it. If there were no buyers interested in keeping the team in Ottawa, the next choice would be finding anyone else to buy them—even if that person was looking to move the team.
The Senators were not a hot commodity when he bought them, at least not in the Ottawa market.
An Ottawa Senators fan blogging at www.silversevensens.com
by Peter Raaymakers on Apr 10, 2011 8:15 PM EDT up reply actions
I also feel that he took the fall here
But at the end of the day, I’m at least glad the organization isn’t comfortable with how the season went. Even though I liked Clouston as a man and as a coach, I would have been much more upset if the team’s reaction was “Nah, fluke” and they continued down the same misguided path of the last two years.
This season exposed a dire need to rebuild, something I myself missed. After last year I was still believing that we were tweaks away from being a contender. We’re not exactly at rock bottom now, but a different direction needed to be pursued. It sucks that Clouston was a casualty of that, but if next season is year zero of Senate Reform, a fresh start almost makes sense.
Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs
by Mark Parisi on Apr 10, 2011 11:24 AM EDT up reply actions
Well I'm glad they realized that they need to rebuild too
I just don’t really buy into the whole scapegoat part. I honestly think Clouston would be a good coach for the next season or two with this team, and I firmly believe that they could have extended him without continuing down the path of the last few seasons.
Oh Captain, my Captain!
Murray must be one steely-eyed dude
This is the second power struggle he’s won.
It's rare that a coach will win a "power struggle" against a GM
But I don’t really see much of a power struggle here.
An Ottawa Senators fan blogging at www.silversevensens.com
by Peter Raaymakers on Apr 10, 2011 11:10 AM EDT up reply actions
Uh, do you have any proof of a power struggle?
Or that Murray thought there was one?
Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs
I believe he is referring to Murray surviving after 2007 while Muckler was canned
Murray has been around for 6 years now as coach or GM while one GM and three coaches have been let go.
An Ottawa Senators fan in Toronto, Ontario. I am cool like that.
by Adnan on Apr 10, 2011 4:10 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I thought it was well known that Murray was responsible for pushing Muckler out in 2007?
Anyways, there have been three coaches axed over the last couple years. Each time, Murray has seen no repercussions. It was clear that someone was going to go after this season too; and Murray has escaped the executioner’s block once again.
by TheGuineaPig on Apr 10, 2011 5:39 PM EDT up reply actions
I don't really buy that there was a power struggle.
The only reference I’ve heard to it was in that Star blog that also said our biggest concerns going forward include trading Giggles and Alfie.
Oh Captain, my Captain!
Ha, they were fired at the Esso avitat at the Ottawa airport
“Clouston and assistant coaches Greg Carvel and Brad Lauer were given their walking papers by GM Bryan Murray in a meeting at the Esso Avitat at the MacDonald Cartier Airport, just moments after the club landed in Ottawa.”
Oh Murray…you so classy.
An Ottawa Senators fan in Toronto, Ontario. I am cool like that.
Worst. Travel day. Ever.
Snakellefteå - Silver Seven - The Classic Blog
by Ryan Classic on Apr 10, 2011 2:05 AM EDT up reply actions
Oh for Christ's sake
At least let them get back to the Palladium/home. That’s ridiculous.
Oh Captain, my Captain!
Reflections
As much as I feel for Clouston the man, Clouston the coach did not get it done. We can all speculate how this team as it was would have done with Anderson-like goaltending all year, but the fact is that the goaltending was good in the beginning of the year and we still did not win enough. In the end we were counting on Alfredsson, Fisher, Regin and Foligno to all score around 25 goals and that did not happen so we consistently did not generate enough offence to win.
As far as the ffth pick goes, it will force us to trade up or pick a forward. I think the Oilers will pick RNH, so forget about him. Count on the Islanders to probably pick someone stupid, so you never know.
The easiest way to move up in the draft would be to deal with Florida who got third, as Tallon loves trading down for extra picks.
In the end, IMO Landy is the pick of the forwards, and Huberdeau has as much chance of becoming a top six forward as RNH or Coutourier. The trick is to use the second rounders to move up and to pick a winner with Nashville’s pick.
I disagree with almost everything you said there.
You can’t hold Clouston responsible for the goaltending. If anyone is on the hook for that, it’s Walmsley – who, notably, wasn’t fired. The issue with our goaltending is that Leclaire gets hurt whenever someone yawns in his general direction, and Elliott is a backup.
As for generating offence, there were a lot of guys who didn’t live up to their potential. From my perspective, Clouston did everything he could to get them going. He shuffled the lines into every possible configuration, ran them into the ground in practice, and gave them rest days. None of it helped. As much as he’s obviously played a role, the fact is that you can’t overlook the players’ role in it.
Dealing with Florida is unlikely. Their past history of making stupid trades down was under a past GM, and given Tallon’s comments about how important the draft is and how they’ll be looking to add new players, I won’t be holding my breath for a deal with him. Ditto on the Islanders being stupid on draft day.
Oh Captain, my Captain!
He’s a hundred percent correct to say that Clouston didn’t get the job done.
From my perspective, Clouston did everything he could to get them going.
And yet, still failure. I wouldn’t question Clouston’s dedication but the fact is the team was abysmal. It’s the coaches job to put the players in a position to suceed – they didn’t. Surely you’re not suggesting this is pure coincidence.
Cannot play with 'em, cannot win with 'em, cannot coach with 'em. Cant do it.
I'm not
And if you read my comment, I said:
As much as he’s obviously played a role, the fact is that you can’t overlook the players’ role in it.
Oh Captain, my Captain!
Ah true enough, my bad
Cannot play with 'em, cannot win with 'em, cannot coach with 'em. Cant do it.
Yeah, I mean obviously Clouston is partly responsible
I just don’t think he’s responsible enough that his head had to roll for this season.
Oh Captain, my Captain!
You can't blame Clouston for Kovalev
It’s my belief that Kovalev had a lot to do with this teams failure this year and Clouston took the fall for not coddling Melnyk’s pet. Clouston is an old fashion type coach who was never given the go ahead to push Kovalev. Remember how he was demoted to the fourth line and then suddenly he’s back to the top lines, having shown nothing to merit that promotion, Kovalev’s whining about it was pathetic and probably sealed Melnyk’s decision at the end of the season.
by Hockey Playoff Run SensFan on Apr 10, 2011 8:11 PM EDT up reply actions
I agree, but Clouston certainly didn't help
By the end, Kovy was clearly pissed off because his ego was bruised. Clouston was certainly not one to massage his players’ egos, and that doesn’t mesh with l’artiste.
Oh Captain, my Captain!
Not sure about that
I think the Oil are more likely to take Larsson. They have a lot of skill up front going forward, but their back end is pretty shallow. I think it may shake out like this:
1 – Oilers – Larsson
2 – Avalanche – Landeskog
3 – Panthers – Nugent-Hopkins
4 – Islanders – Coutourier
5 – Senators – ?
The top 4 are pretty close, allowing teams to draft based on need. The Oilers need Defence, the Avs need wingers, the Panthers need centres, and the isles get who’s left. I think our best bet is to package our pick with someone like Caporusso or Wick and send them to the Isles to draft Coutourier. I don’t really see the Oilers, Av’s or Panthers trading down.
GO KIRK MULLER!
He can be a head coach in this league, I think getting the chance to grow with a young team would be great for him. He wouldn’t be expected to step in and win a cup first season. He’d have the time to develop his system, which I think can be a good one.
Finishing 5th last
had me kind of relieved, because it meant I didn’t have to hear about how Ottawa HAS to draft Landeskog because he’s going to be the next Alfredsson/Richards/Iginla.
But of course, I was wrong. Now I have to listen to the even more obnoxious and absurd trading up in the draft rumours. Can’t win.
Here’s hoping we win the lottery so people shut up soon. If not, this is going to go on for a while….
You don't really have to listen to anything,
so I’m not sure why you’re complaining about it.
I guess you’ll just have to forgive our eternal optimism
Optimism vs pre-determination?
Don’t get me wrong, Landeskog looks great, but so do the other top 4 players. I’m just getting tired of seeing people grasping at straws trying to figure out ways for Ottawa to pick Landeskog or whoever else will be just out the team’s reach. I wouldn’t call that optimism, I’d call that an exercise in futility. Delusional even.
Optimism is being excited about all the picks the Senators have this year, 2 first round picks! One will be no lower than 6th overall.
And you’re right, I don’t have to listen to anything, but that would mean I’d have to stop following all Senators news until after the draft. I just can’t do that. I can’t stop myself from reading the comments on this blog because I enjoy them too much. It’s just getting to be a bit much when people are immediately planning out strategies to jump from 5th to 3rd in the draft when the order HASN’T EVEN BEEN DETERMINED YET.
by HaBla on Apr 10, 2011 6:02 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
I'm with you
Although I skim over the debate mostly because the only one I’ve seen anything of is Couturier and that was back in January in the WJC.
Oh Captain, my Captain!
I'll leave it up to the experts
There isn’t any Ovechkin/Crosby/Stamkos/Tavares clear number 1 player this year. It seems pretty level, I’ll just trust the guys who do this for a living to figure out what’s best. If they feel like trading up like they did to get Karlsson, great. If they feel like staying pat and using the the picks they have, excellent. Murray drafted Getzlaf and Perry in the same first round with even later picks.
OMFG NUGENT-HOPKINS I LOVE YOUUUUUUUUU
Kidding!
I seriously only know Couturier and that’s because the only time I really see draft eligible players is in WJC and I generally only pay attention to Canada (and Sens prospects who are playing for other teams).
Oh Captain, my Captain!
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Latest Puck Daddy - NHL from Yahoo! Sports
- Rangers, Devils back at MSG for pivotal Game 5; NHL 13 screenshots (Playoff Puck Previews)
- CBC announces ‘While the Men Watch Hockey Night,’ sets off backlash over sexism
- Eulogy: Remembering the 2011-12 Phoenix Coyotes
- Alain Vigneault signs extension with Vancouver Canucks because he’s excellent
- Dubinsky returns for Game 5; No hearing for Brown; Spacek rips Habs (Puck Headlines)
Latest stories and headlines from NHL.com
- St. John's IceCaps optimistic for future despite being knocked out of playoffs
- Jackets sign Dorsett to three-year deal
- Columbus Blue Jackets sign NHL penalty minutes leader Derek Dorsett to a 3-year contract
- Twins Matt, Ryan Rupert are double agitators for Knights at Memorial Cup
- Blue Jackets sign RW Dorsett to 3-year deal
