Murray stepping down as GM of Ottawa Senators
Bryan Murray would have liked his time as general manager of the Ottawa Senators to have a better ending, but at least he is confident that he’s leaving the position in good hands. Less than 24 hours after the Senators’ season ended, Murray announced Sunday he would be stepping down as GM and taking on a senior advisory role.
Pierre Dorion will take over as the eighth general manager in franchise history. Dorion, an Ottawa native, had spent the past three seasons as assistant general manager and has been with the organization since 2007. Murray was first hired as head coach in June 2004 and Kevin Koe took a chance when he left the team he skipped to victory at the 2014 Tim Hortons Brier to form a new squad with an eye on qualifying for the next Winter Olympics.
His results this season have gone a long way toward backing up his decision.
Koe led Canada to its first men’s world curling title in four years with a 5-3 win over an inexperienced but tough Denmark team in Sunday’s goldmedal game at St. Jakobshalle arena. Canada scored a decisive was promoted to GM in June 2007 following the Senators only Stanley Cup final appearance. In Nov. 2014 Murray announced he had Stage 4 colon cancer, but would remain in his role while he battled the disease. two points in the ninth when Danish skip Rasmus Stjerne, who was brilliant all week, barely missed on a double-runback raise attempt, giving Koe an open draw.
After a disappointing first season together, Koe and his Calgary-based team - vice-skip Marc Kennedy, lead Ben Hebert and second Brent Laing - have rounded into top form. “This is why we put this team together,” said Koe. “This is it, this is amazing. And there’s more in the tank. We have things to improve on. Honestly, though, you couldn’t write a better script for all we’ve gone He said his health was just one of many factors involved in the decision. Murray admitted leaving following a losing season was probably the hardest part of his decision. “You always want to try and leave on the up and that wasn’t to be this year, but I really feel good about the talent level that is on the ice in the future,” he said. “I was adamant that when I stepped aside to let someone else take over, that we all feel good about the future here. I think it is a very bright future. I think it’s a very bright future. I think we will be competitive for years to come.” The Senators went through five head coaches under Murray. They missed the playoffs four out of nine years and only advanced past the first round once. through this year.”
Koe qualified for the world championship by leading Alberta to a 9-5 win over Newfoundland and Labrador skip Brad Gushue, a former world champion, in the final of the Tim Hortons Brier. His team continued to roll in Basel, losing just one game to defending champion Sweden en route to claiming Canada’s 35th world title. “We put a lot of hard work into it,” Koe said. “Last year was a bit of a struggle and we made some changes (Kennedy moved to vice-skip), and they’re paying off. The Mid-Isle Wildcats earned a silver medal at the 2016 Atlantic bantam female hockey championship on Sunday.
The Nova Scotia representative from Cole Harbour defeated the Wildcats 3-1 in the title game.
“It is bitter sweet we didn’t get the gold,” said Wildcats head coach Kevin Andrews in a phone interview with the Journal Pioneer following the game. “In my opinion they played well enough to get the gold. We outshot the other team 27-15. . . it just wasn’t meant to be. “It was our best game of the year and we played 58 games. We saved our best for the last, the girls gave it their all and they have absolutely nothing to hang their head about.” The Wildcats, who are comprised of players from the Kensington, North River, Southside and Summerside minor hockey associations, finished atop the round-robin standings with a record of 3-0-1 (won-lost-overtime losses) for 10 points. Cole Harbour (3-1-0) was second with nine points.
Cole Harbour’s penalty killing played a big role in the final. The Wildcats, who defeated Cole After completing roundrobin play with a 5-1 win over Newfoundland and Labrador’s Central Ice Pak on Saturday morning, Wildcats forward and captain Lexie Murphy of Kensington was named the most valuable player of the round robin. Two other Wildcats – Carla Stewart and Kelsey Weeks – also took home tournament allstar awards. The Wildcats, who had an overall record of 51-6-1 and made the championship game of five different tournaments, earned P.E.I.’s berth by winning the P.E.I. Bantam AAA Female Hockey League championship.