It sounds like Green's reputation for being a taskmaster was a big selling point to the Ottawa Senators management group.
The Ottawa Senators appear to have hired a new head coach who believes in tough love—a coach who will tell players what he thinks and hold them accountable, like it or not.
With the Senators confirming today they've hired Travis Green as their next head coach, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman spoke today on the Jeff Marek show about how Green has several virtues they were looking for, including one that checks a unique box.
"(Green) can be a bit of a prick at times," Friedman said. "Sometimes a coach has to be, and I think that's exactly what Ottawa was looking for."
That would come as no shock to a lot of Senators fans. They vividly remember how Green sometimes carried on as a player with the Toronto Maple Leafs during the Battle of Ontario matchups of the early 2000s.
This marks a significant shift from the Senators' four-plus seasons under head coach DJ Smith, whose "one of the boys" demeanour made him well-liked in the room but not very successful. Young players seemed to make the same mistakes repeatedly, season after season, without much consequence.
With Green, those days may be over.
"(Green) had Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson early in their careers, and he was very tough on them at times," Friedman said. "And I think that on that level, some of that appeals to the Senators. And Green can be really tough. He is not a soft guy.
"And I think that also really appeals to the Senators."
Whether Green is the coach to carry them to the promised land remains to be seen. The drill sergeant approach often wears out its welcome before too long. But right now, a prickly coach might be exactly what the doctor ordered.