Travis Green has decided the Ottawa Senators’ penalty-killing units need a new voice.
The National Hockey League club’s head coach told reporters that assistant coach Mike Yeo was taking over from Nolan Baumgartner as the “lead voice” on the struggling short-handed units.
Green announced the decision before the Senators host the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night at the Canadian Tire Centre, with Ottawa ranked No. 31 among the NHL’s 32 teams in penalty killing at 71.7 per cent.
The Senators gave up two power-play goals in a 5-3 collapse to the Nashville Predators on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena. Green stated after the game that he didn’t want to discuss the penalty kill.
“There has been a lot of talk about our kill,” Green said. “I will say that Mike Yeo is going to be the voice of our penalty kill now. Baumer will still collaborate with it. That’s not a knock against Baumer. He’s an excellent coach, and he’s done a great job with our defencemen.
“The penalty kill hasn’t gone the way we’ve wanted. That’s not just on him. Ultimately, the players have to get the job done, and a new voice might give a spark and a different look, get a different voice. It’s not going to be wholesale changes, either.”
Something had to happen. People had been calling for a change to the Senators’ approach since the penalty kill started struggling early in the season. Don’t forget that the goaltender is the club’s most important penalty killer and the Senators have had a tough time getting saves this season.
“There’s been a lot of talk about our PK, and rightfully so. We haven’t gotten the job done,” Green said. “But it could quite easily be in a different position than it is. There have been some goals that we haven’t liked. That goes back on the players when there’s a blown coverage and the guy doesn’t make the right play.
“We’ve got some young penalty killers that are a work in progress, but we’ve got to right the ship.”
With only 32 games left in the regular season and the club seven points out of playoff position in the NHL’s Eastern Conference, something had to give. Why now?
“There’s been a lot of learning with our group. I have seen improvement in our penalty kill,” Green said. “We haven’t got the results, but I’ve liked a lot of the what we’ve seen, and I know there’s also been a lot of talk, and players get asked about it, we felt like maybe a different voice will just be a different sounding board, and Mike’s done it a long time as well, but our coaching staff collaborates on everything.
“This isn’t just a one-man show in any of our areas.”
Ultimately, Green is responsible for everything that happens on the ice, and the time had come to do something because the current trend has gone on for far too long.
“Everyone knows how it works,” Green said. “There’s coaches that run the team, power play, run the special teams, run the penalty kill. Everyone has their own little department, and I put a lot of trust and faith in our coaches. I believe in them. But it’s not just on the coaches.
“One coach doesn’t all of a sudden make a penalty kill great. There were teams last year that were at the top of the league that are at the bottom of the league now, and that’s the way the special teams work. But, ultimately, I oversee everything.”
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