Bruce Garrioch - Ottawa Sun

The times are a chagin' in Ottawa. 

GM Mularkey has returned from his season long leave of absence and word has it that he is chomping at the bit to get this season going.  "What a surreal last 20 months it has been for everyone.  I felt I simply needed to step-back and regroup, which the league graciously accepted.......then Covid 19 hit.  Talk about steppping back and regrouping, careful what you wish for eh?  Now enough about me."

Indeed, out is long tenured head coach Ken Hitchcock.  "Hitch is, and always will be part of the Sen's family.  He was well respected, in our dressing room and throughout the CMHL.  Ken had told me that he wanted to spend more time with his family and when we found out that Gerard Gallant was available, well, I talked to Ken, then got on the horn with Gerry.", Mularkey said.

While the Senators realize that a coach does not win games, they are leaning, heavily on Gallant to provide a different style of play to the club this season.  It is this reporter's opinion that Ottawa played a passive game in last years.  I caught up with Coach Gallant and he said, "No disrespect to Kenny, but I think that the Sen's have some unleashed offensive talent, throughout the organization, we plan on letting them play.  We need to score more, quite simply.  I'm hoping to see more jump from this club."

The other big news, is that Alex Burrows has accepted the head coaching duties with the Courtenay Crusaders, in the ICHF.  Given his time with the NHL's Vancouver Canucks, he is more than happy to bring his family to Vancouver Island. 

As usual, GM Mularkey is upbeat with what his team brings into this season.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

After three games, the Ottawa Senators have finalized their lineup. Most teams usually wait until the final day to make their last cuts, but their new General Manager, Gerg, hopes to get his team clicking before entering the season. 

Over the course of 30 days, yours truly is going to take a look at each team in the league, examine their off-season moves, assess the biggest issue facing the team, highlight a player or two to watch for, and finally give an outlook on the season. 

Next up, the Ottawa Senators.

Hours after being hired as the new Ottawa GM, Sawchuk has made a few deals. One was a minor one with veteran Steve Staois joining the team while the other one was quite bigger seeing Pavol Demitra come into town....

With Mr. Larouche & Mr. Raynald on the road scouting some western teams. The Senators did not have a proper chance to introduce their new addition.

Miikka Kiprusoff who had the chance to win the Conn Smythe and the CMHL cup is back in familiar grounds. With the resent struggles of the New Jersey Devils, GM Leech felt it was time to make some changes to his club. Larouche was in the same boat.

The Ottawa Senators made a major step towards becoming an elite team in the CMHL. Although the team preached, they would go with youngsters after the first round exit in the playoffs to the Philadelphia Flyers. With the pre-season behind the club, Larouche was left wondering with the other club executives what needed to be done to address the weakness on the club. Larouche and Murray sat down together and were able to reach an agreement. They made the decision that they needed to acquire a legitimate superstar who could step in to the Capital city and provide not only scoring but also some much needed leadership.

It did not take long for the Ottawa Senators and Ray Emery to come to a contract agreement. Larouche looked fresh just coming back from holidays.