Jacques Martin savouring one last go-around behind the Senators bench

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Jacques Martin is here for a good time, not a long time.

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While the Ottawa Senators’ interim head coach is enjoying his second stint with the club, that isn’t what he signed up for when he returned as a consultant in early-December and when the final buzzer sounds on this season he’ll leave the bench for the final time in his career.

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Steve Staios, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager, stated earlier this week that Martin will be part of the search for a new head coach in the off-season. The Senators have a list of candidates and Martin will assist with the interview process.

The only role the 71-year-old Martin would like to play next season is as a part-time consultant if the person hired to take over the head coaching job wants to have him.

“To help the organization, if I can come back as an advisor, I think that would be good, depending on who they hire” Martin told Postmedia Friday before facing the club’s 5-3 loss to the Arizona Coyotes. “Being part of the organization is something I’m interested in because I still want to spend some time in Florida and be involved with the team.

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“Whether it’s helping the coaches here, the farm team in Belleville or scouting some players, I think with my years of experience as a coach or GM, I can contribute to organization.”

The winningest coach in franchise history, Martin had no desire to return to the bench when he came here in the consulting role and when Staios asked Martin to replace D.J. Smith on Dec. 18 before a game in Arizona it took some convincing.

“This wasn’t what I expected but sometimes things change in life and you’ve got to adjust,” Martin said.

He wouldn’t have made this return without former captain Daniel Alfredsson by his side. Martin has been pleased with the way associate coach Jack Capuano, assistant Ben Sexton and goalie coach Justin Peters have been able to assist with trying to help this group have success.

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“Alfie was a key guy,” Martin said. “Plus, the people they kept. Jack does a great job, and he’s a great person and he’s got experience. Alfie brings a different dimension, Ben is a young guy who’s a hard worker and he’s coached some of these guys in the minors.

“There’s a great staff here. I really like the organization.”

Martin has enjoyed the time he’s been able to spend with the likes of Staios, owner Michael Andlauer, senior VP Dave Poulin and associate GM Ryan Bowness.

“They’ve got a plan in place to make this organization better,” Martin said.

The job has been a work in progress. There have been bumps along the way and the Senators were facing another hurdle Saturday as they took on the Philadelphia Flyers in the second game of this back-to-back series.

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The loss to the Coyotes was ugly. The Senators weren’t ready when the puck was dropped, couldn’t get a save from Anton Forsberg after he was thrust into the net and, to make matters worse, they didn’t play nearly good enough defensively in front of him.

Still, Martin is confident the Senators have the pieces in place with the likes of Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Josh Norris, Drake Batherson, Ridly Greig, Shane Pinto, Thomas Chabot and Jakob Chychrun.

“I enjoy teaching, I enjoy the group, and like I said before it’s an excellent group, a good organization and I”m just happy to be able to hopefully help the organization to go in the right direction and grow,” Martin said.

“I look at my role with those players that we want to build with, I have to give them a good foundation, as far as culture, work ethic, discipline and details that they need to have to be successful on a daily basis.”

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He left the Senators in 2004 after being let go by the late GM John Muckler, but Ottawa was never a place in the rearview mirror. This team and this city mean a lot to him. He grew up in nearby St. Pascal and he wants the Senators have success.

Martin was thrilled when he was able to bring the Stanley Cup to the area after two victories with the Pittsburgh Penguins and he’d love to achieve that goal with the Senators.

“I’m from here and I’ve got family here. I have brother here, two sisters and my daughters and a long time I always kept a home here in Ottawa that I always came back to every summer,” Martin said. “I want to help this organization have success.”

Once the season is over, Martin will return to his home in the Fort Lauderdale area and he spends his summers on a lake in Quebec. He’s confident that this group will find its way and he’s seen progress in the last couple of months.

“We’re trying to build and we’re just trying to get better from game-to-game,” Martin said.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

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