Something tells me former Ottawa Senators coach Dave Cameron and Sens owner Eugene Melnyk aren’t going to become best friends anytime soon.
Speaking with Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, Cameron said Melnyk’s comments ripping the team three weeks ago, which included questioning Cameron’s coaching decisions, were “hurtful” and made it feel like “he was fired for three weeks.”
I wouldn’t have wanted to be Cameron when Melnyk made those comments. The Sens owner put his team on blast when the Senators were still technically in the playoff race. The remarks were ugly, misguided and inappropriately timed.
Cameron, who guided the Senators to a 38-35-9 record, sounded pretty upset talking to Garrioch, saying he had no regrets about his tenure with the Senators.
“I’m not here to go into assessing performances and stuff like that because we’d be here for a week,” said Cameron. “I appreciated the opportunity. I came in every day with a great staff. I made thousands of decisions. I was right on some of them. You’re not going to be right on them all. I have no regrets.”
Cameron is being the better man here, taking the high road here and not throwing his former boss under the bus. When honestly, he has every right to do so. Whether he was doing a good job coaching or not, Melnyk’s comments were uncalled for and shouldn’t have been made publicly. Cameron felt like a dead man walking for a good reason. He might not be the coach of the Senators, but at least Cameron doesn’t have to deal with Melnyk anymore.
