Ottawa Senators Relieve Belleville HC Troy Mann In A Late Night Shocker

The Belleville Senators defeated the Rochester Americans 5-3 on home ice Thursday evening. But their victory celebration was cut short when the parent club sent out a release announcing head coach Troy Mann was being relieved of his duties.

Per the release; “The Ottawa Senators announced today that they have made changes to the coaching staff of the ir American Hockey League affiliate, the Belleville Senators. Following Thursday’s game, Troy Mann was relieved of his duties as the team’s head coach. Assistant coach David Bell will take over as Belleville’s interim head coach for the remainder of the 2022-23 season.”

The BSens are currently four points out of a playoff spot, sitting sixth in the AHL’s North Division, posting a 17-22-3-1 record. However, the seventh-place Cleveland Monsters trail Belleville by only one point, holding three games in hand.

While Mann’s brother, Trent is one of two assistant Ottawa Senators’ assistant general managers, Ryan Bowness is responsible for running the Senators’ American League affiliate.

Bowness said, “A change like this is a difficult decision, but we are aligned internally and feel this is necessary for the short and long-term growth of the players in our organization as well as the cohesion in systematic play between Ottawa and Belleville. I want to thank Troy and his family for their contributions to the Belleville community.”

In his fifth season as Belleville’s head coach, Mann leaves with a 150-117-15-7 record, having reached the playoffs on one occasion, an opening round loss.

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However, when the 2019-20 campaign was cut short due to Covid, Mann’s team was atop North Division with a lineup which included future Ottawa Senators Drake Batherson, Alex Formenton, Josh Norris among others. That squad was well on their way to making a run for the Calder Cup.

Playing out of the Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata in 2021 due to Covid restrictions, Belleville finished 18-16-0-1 in the so-called Canadian Division of which abstained from the playoffs.

Mann was previously at the helm of AHL Hershey Bears serving four of his eight years as head coach, plus another five in the East Coast League, three as head coach.

Belleville assistant David Bell will serve as head coach likely for the remainder of this season. Bell is in his fourth season with the club, and has previous head coaching experience with the Ontario League Niagara Ice Dogs and Quad City in the Central League.

Former AHL player, Ben Sexton remains as an assistant as does goalie coach Justin Peters.

Senators’ GM Pierre Dorion noted, “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.”