Paul MacLean was but a rookie head coach for the Ottawa Senators in 2011-12 when came on the scene that offseason after Cory Clouston was fired and took a downtrodden squad to the playoffs.
One season later, MacLean was named Coach of the Year.
Less than two seasons after that, MacLean was fired.
It was during the 2012 playoffs when I spoke to a few players about why MacLean was able to engineer such a quick turnaround, how he transformed a 74-point team in 2010-11 into a 92-point team in 2011-12 despite little roster turnover.
The general consensus can be summarized in these quotes from Jason Spezza and Nick Foligno.
"Just his general understanding from being a player, because he's played the game," Spezza said. "He knows the ups and downs that go with it and knows we can get frustrated at times and we know he can get frustrated. It sounds corny, but we've been all on the same page and together all year and I think that's what's made it successful for us."
Clouston, whose playing career ended at the University of Alberta in 1993, never played the game at the professional le ...
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Article written by Dave Lozo
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