The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

Well, I have to admit, I was pretty indifferent to the announcement of Craig Hartsburg as new coach of the Sens. My vote was for Pat Burns, but his name was hardly mentioned and it was apparent the Senators were going in a different direction. I am glad it's done though, the draft is next week and free agency will begin about 10 days after that. It's important for management and coaching to map out a plan to get the team ready for the 2008-09 season and be on the same page. Certainly Hartsburg has a vision for how he'd like to direct the team, and how he expects to get the results on the ice.

The cliche is that the players ultimately have to decide their fate as they're the ones that have to play the game. However, Sens fans have learned that bad coaching doesn't exactly help things. The team was pretty much in chaos once goalie Ray Emery returned and, although we'll never know exactly what transpired, it's fair to say John Paddock lost the locker room and would eventually cost him his job.

So I didn't know much about Hartsburg, other than he coached the Canada World Junior team to back-to-back gold medals the last two years. He's coached in Anaheim and Chicago, both at a time when neither team were any good so it's difficult to judge him based solely on his won-loss record, and just finished fours years with the OHL Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. He does seem to understand the pressure that comes with coaching in a Canadian city. His press conference made mention of all the right things, saying he looks forward to the challenge and that he expects accountability from his players.

Guess all that's left to do is see what happens. On to the draft!