I have to write about this....

Sorry to have 2 hockey-related blogs in 2 days but this is something I have to write about.

Today the Ottawa Senators fired their head coach, John Paddock.

You can hear the collective cheer from the city of Ottawa if you listen closely.

I'll be honest - I NEVER liked Paddock as a head coach.

He got the job because Bryan Murray, the head coach last season, got promoted to General Manager. Rather then go out and hire a replacement, Murray promoted the next in line. Now I will admit Paddock paid his dues and earned his promotion. He'd been coaching for sometime and had been in the Senators organization for 6 years. He had amazing success as head coach of the Senators AHL team in Binghamton. However, the troubling thing was he had a very bad record as an NHL head coach...and hadn't been a head coach in the big league in like 17 years. Yea...it's a MUCH different game these days.

Bryan Murray led the team to the Stanley Cup last year after he turned them around when they were in a major slump. Paddock had that opportunity all season and couldn't take advantage of it. He lost control of his team and they stopped playing for him.

He mishandled the situation with Ray Emery. That was strike one. He instituted a "Win and You're In" policy for his goaltenders - that backfired - Strike two. This past weekend players told the media they no longer respected him and that became evident after back-to-back shutout losses to Toronto and Boston, two of the NHL's basement dwellers - Strike Three.

Let's face it. Paddock wasn't a favorite of the media either. He never smiled. He always seemed grumpy. He never really seemed to give a damn at any press events. He just seemed to be a jerk. At least Leafs coach Paul Maurice can lighten the mood and make an attempt at humor every now and then. Paddock seemed like a guy who'd rather sit in a dentist's chair for 6 hours then make a joke.

Some Sens fans were upset that Ottawa failed to make any blockbuster moves during yesterday's trade deadline. Firing Paddock WAS the move. It was the ultimate low-risk, high-reward move the Sens needed to make. Things will get better, no question....because under Paddock they couldn't get much worse.