After posting back-to-back shut-out losses, Sens fire head coach John Paddock. General Manager Bryan Murray fills in.

Well, you something had to give. And in this case it was NHL head coach John Paddock. Considering the Ottawa Senators got off to such a great start (15-2), they’ve been slip sliding away ever since, winning just 21 or their last 47 games. The last two were particularly brutal — a 5-0 loss against Toronto and a 4-0 loss against Boston. Also turfed was assistant coach Ron Low. Double ouch.

“It’s always a surprise when a coach gets let go,” center Jason Spezza told reporters. “We’ve been struggling, but as a team I don’t think we thought it would come to the coach getting fired.”

“It just shows the high standard we have in our dressing room, the city of Ottawa, and that our owner has. It shows how competitive a team they think we have.”

General Manager Bryan Murray will resume coaching duties until a new head coach has been hired. Even with Paddock gone, the Sens are 6/1 odds to win the 2008 Stanley Cup.