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Jacques Martin could not survive another playoff loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Ottawa Senators on Thursday fired Martin, who had been the NHL's longest-tenured active coach with one team, serving 8 1/2 seasons behind the Senators bench.
No replacement has been named.
The firing comes two days after Ottawa lost in Game Seven to the Toronto Maple
Leafs in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. It marked the fourth time in
five years that the Senators lost the "Battle of Ontario" in a postseason
series.
"In order to take the next step, toward winning a Stanley Cup, we must select a new face, a new voice with a fresh approach and with new ideas," Senators general manager John Muckler said at an afternoon news conference.
The 70-year-old Muckler has no interest in returning behind the bench. He is best known for coaching the Edmonton Oilers to their fifth Stanley Cup title in 1990 after serving as an assistant under Glen Sather on the previous four Cup winners.
The Senators made the playoffs in each of Martin's eight full seasons, but could never reach the Stanley Cup Finals.
"The sad part for me is not to be part of this great organization because I know they are going to win a Cup," Martin said. "I wish them the best and I'll regroup."
The Senators reached the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in franchise history in 2002-03 after winning the Presidents' Trophy, but lost in seven games to the New Jersey Devils.
That led to lofty expectations this season, but Ottawa finished fifth overall in the Eastern Conference with a 43-29-10 record and was eliminated again by the Maple Leafs in the playoffs.
"I just feel we need somebody to come in and take us over the top of the mountain," Muckler said. "The new coach has to fix our dressing room. We have to find more leadership coming out of that dressing room."
Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson tried to inject confidence in his teammates by guaranteeing they would win the series against the Maple Leafs after Ottawa fell behind, three games to two. The Senators won Game Six in overtime, 2-1, but lost in Game Seven at Toronto, 4-1.
Senators owner Eugene Melnyk had predicted that his team would "easily" win the decisive game. When the Senators didn't, it was expected that Martin would pay the price.
"It's like the oldest cliche in the world in our industry, you can't fire 29 people," Muckler said. "Is it right? Sometimes it's not, but I know one thing that's right. We needed a change."
The Senators also fired assistant coach Don Jackson and goaltending coach Phil Myre. It didn't help Myre that Patrick Lalime allowed three first-period goals in the Game Seven loss at Toronto and was pulled in favor of backup Martin Prusek.
Assistant Perry Pearn was spared from the housecleaning, but Muckler said he would not be considered for the coaching job and is not guaranteed of remaining on the staff once a new coach is in place.
Martin, 51, won
the Jack Adams Award as Coach of the Year in 1998-99 and was a finalist for
the honor three other times. He compiled an overall record of 340-254-96, but
was just 31-38 in the playoffs.