Player betrays Sens and reveals embarrassing info about playing in Ottawa
This is worse than anyone imagined…
HockeyFeed
Interim head coach Jacques Martin was brought in, after D.J. Smith was let go from his duties, to make the Ottawa Senators better.
On Thursday former defenseman for the club Michael Del Zotto shared some information from his time with the club that makes the situation in Ottawa appear way worse than what fans initially imagined.
On Daily Face-Off Live, Del Zotto revealed how bad the culture is in the Senators’ organization and exposes some serious issues with the team, especially during the time he played there in the 2021-22 season.
“I couldn’t believe that that was an NHL organization when I was there. Just from top to bottom, how the players were treated, how the staff was treated.”
When Del Zotto signed as a free agent with the Senators in the summer of 2021, he had already played for the New York Rangers, who selected him in the first round, 20th overall in the 2008 Draft, the Philadelphia Flyers, Vancouver Canucks, Anaheim Ducks, St. Louis Blues and Columbus Blue Jackets. When he would look at how he was treated by former teams, most specifically the Rangers, whom he says gave him “first class treatment”, he found that the attention to players, their nutrition and treatment was subpar.
Del Zotto believes the problems persist and could explain why Ottawa keeps struggling despite ownership and coaching changes, along with top additions on the roster.
“That organization to me is interesting because they have a good team, you look at their roster, up front they have some of the most exciting talent as far as forwards. They have a decent back-end, yes they’ve dealt with some injuries. They keep bringing in goalies year in and year out who are proven goalies, and it’s the same old song and dance each season.
“So something had to happen there, obviously the first being the GM to go, now the coach. They’re going to have to start over again.”
There is a glimmer of hope in what Del Zotto has to say about his former club in that he strongly believes they have great talent on board, they only need to change the culture and focus on winning.
“But they have a lot of great pieces, so I’m not sure exactly why they can’t take the next step. I know before with the old regime in there, there was no accountability and they were developing the young guys and giving them every opportunity, but at some point, you can’t allow them just to get away with whatever they want and losing becomes acceptable, and that’s all you ever know.”
Let’s see if that ruffles some feathers in Ottawa and changes can occur to get a new culture in town and a victorious team on the ice.
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