Surprising late-night firing in Ottawa!

Late on Thursday evening, the Ottawa Senators announced coaching changes to their American Hockey League affiliate, the Belleville Senators, firing longtime head coach Troy Mann.

The surprised firing took place not long after he coached the team to a 5-3 victory over the Rochester Americans.
There are two major reasons why Mann’s firing gets people talking and has stunned many.

First of all, the announcement was made past 11ET at night, right after the team’s victory in an unexpected setting for the magnitude of the decision.

On top of that, Belleville only has one game on Saturday, before enjoying an extended AHL All-Star break of their own, which makes the timing of this even more confusing.

But most of all, the shock comes down to the fact that head coach is the brother of Senators’ assistant GM Trent Mann.

Senators general manager Pierre Dorion wrote in a statement: “While a change at the head coach position during the season is not an ideal scenario, we felt it was necessary to deliver improved team performance. We are confident that David and his staff will make the most of this opportunity.”

Without giving the specific reasons behind this surprise decision, it was announced that the team’s assistant coach, David Bell, will serve as interim head coach until the end of the season.

On Friday morning, TSN's Claire Hanna reported that she was "told the straw that broke the camels back was when Mann gave some of the Ottawa Senators pre-scouting material to another NHL team."

If this is true, this could make it very hard for Mann to land any other head coaching job.

The Belleville Sens are currently 17-22-4 in 43 games so far in 2022-23.

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