OTTAWA ? Bryan Murray has found his man. At least he hopes he has.
An NHL front-office source confirmed that Murray, the Ottawa Senators general manager, will hire former Detroit assistant Paul MacLean, 53, to be the ninth head coach of the team.
MacLean will also be the fourth coach Murray has hired in his tenure as general manager, after John Paddock, Craig Hartsburg, and Cory Clouston.
Murray will be hoping he gets it right this time. It?s probably the last one that owner Eugene Melnyk is going to give him.
But in MacLean, it looks like Murray has found a man with all the qualities to turn this sagging franchise around.
MacLean spent the past six seasons as an assistant to Mike Babcock in Detroit. Murray hired both of them in Anaheim ? Babcock as head coach of the Ducks, MacLean as one of his assistants. And it?s no secret that Murray is close to Babcock and respects his judgment.
Babcock gave Murray the thumbs-up on MacLean; it would be the only recommendation he?d need.
MacLean has been considered a front-runner for the coaching job for several days.
The Citizen has reported that Murray interviewed ?five or six? potential candidates, including Montreal Canadiens assistant Kirk Muller, MacLean and Binghamton Senators coach Kurt Kleinendorst.
A decision on the new coach was expected this week.
MacLean spent 10 seasons in the NHL as a player with Winnipeg, Detroit and St. Louis. He also has extensive experience as a head coach in the International Hockey League.
Murray said in a recent interview that there are some vital qualities he wants in his new coach.
?A winner,? he said. ?A guy that communicates, that can build a good team, but also at the same time, develop young players.?
The Senators? general manager also said it?s important the new bench boss is ?comfortable dealing with people?, including the media. Those weren?t the strong suits of former coach Cory Clouston.
? Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
Source: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/Detroit+assistant+MacLean+Senators+coach/4938689/story.html
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