The winningest coach in Ottawa Senators history will be joined behind the bench by Hall of Famer Daniel Alfredsson.
No one can accuse the Ottawa Senators of having a quick trigger finger.
With the club off to yet another poor start to a season at 11-15-0, the Senators showed uncommon patience with their coaching staff this season (and last), but after a 6-3 loss in Vegas Sunday night, they finally made a move.
The Sens have announced the firing of head coach D.J. Smith. They also parted company with assistant coach Davis Payne. The remaining members of the coaching staff, including Jack Capuano, have been retained.
Jacques Martin, the winningest coach in team history, will now serve as the team's interim head coach. Martin was hired last month as a special consultant to the coaching staff, but many regarded the role as the clear plan B – an interim head coach in waiting.
The Senators also announced that Hall of Famer Daniel Alfredsson is joining Martin's staff on the bench as an assistant coach. Alfredsson took that role for two games in their recent trip to Sweden.
When the Senators recently hired Martin, the Senators had started to play well and Martin admitted at the time he was encouraged by what he'd been seeing. But he also volunteered a strong hint at what he may have felt has been an issue for this team in the past.
"It's not about wins and losses to me," Martin said. "It's about the commitment away from the puck. I think a lot of young players, when they come into the league, their focus is all on offence, and they need time to realize that, to win on a consistent basis, to win a championship, you need to play the game 200 feet."
Martin once described a young Jason Spezza as "A boy playing a man's game." That didn't sit well with Spezza at the time. And Martin will likely put some noses out of joint again two decades later. Several core players in Ottawa aren't boys anymore, but they aren't playing a man's game yet, either.
Meanwhile, even Smith's closest friends couldn't accuse the Senators of being unfair or impatient with him.
Smith was hired for the 2019-20 season, just as the Senators started rebuilding. The shield of a rebuild was good for two years, maybe three. But this is year five, and very little has changed. The Senators are in last place in their division, plagued by many of the same problems, and Smith was on track to steer the club to yet another year without playoffs.
Smith is the fourth NHL head coach to be fired this season, and the Senators hope they get the same coach bump that Minnesota, Edmonton, and St. Louis got.
So, for the first time in almost 20 years, Martin will be behind the Ottawa Senators bench when the team visits the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday.
Jacques Martin's Regular Season Coaching Record in Ottawa
1995-96 Ottawa Senators 10-24-4 .316
1996-97 Ottawa Senators 31-36-15 .470
1997-98 Ottawa Senators 34-33-15 .506
1998-99 Ottawa Senators 44-23-15 628
1999-00 Ottawa Senators 41-28-13 .579
2000-01 Ottawa Senators 48-21-13 .665
2001-02 Ottawa Senators 38-26-16 .575
2002-03 Ottawa Senators 52-21-9 .689
2003-04 Ottawa Senators 43-23-16 .622