The first casualty of the 2014-15 NHL season officially took place today when the Ottawa Senators announced via their Twitter feed that head coach Paul MacLean had been relieved of coaching duties just 27 games into the regular season.
Speaking at a news conference today, General Manager Bryan Murray said that assistant coach Dave Cameron would take over as head coach.
With the firing, the Senators make MacLean the scapegoat for the team’s sub par 11-11-5 record—placing them 10th in the Eastern Conference. The team went 114-90-35 under MacLean’s watch, making the playoffs in each of his first two seasons as head coach.
However, the team stumbled last year after the loss of longtime leader and captain Daniel Alfredsson to free agency, failing to make the playoffs, and their performance so far this season isn’t looking promising for a playoff run.
Regardless, the exact reasons behind MacLean’s dismissal were not clear, although there were reports of a strained relationship between some players and MacLean last spring.
Cameron will become the Senators’ fifth coach in the past eight seasons.
