OTTAWA, Ontario — The Ottawa Senators fired coach D.J. Smith, replacing him on an interim basis with Jacques Martin.
It’s the latest shakeup for the NHL team in Canada’s capital city after new owner Michael Andlauer fired general manager Pierre Dorion earlier this season and made president Steve Staios interim GM.
Staios fired Smith 12 days after hiring Martin as senior adviser, after he said that was no indication of Smith’s job being in jeopardy. The Senators have since lost five of six games to fall into last place in the Eastern Conference.
Martin returns after coaching the Senators for nine seasons from 1995-96 through 2003-04.
Assistant Davis Payne was also fired and replaced by longtime Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson, who will be behind the bench starting at Arizona.
