Back in his office after an end-of-season trip to his home in Florida, Senators general manager Bryan Murray is charting his course for an upcoming hunting expedition.

The game, of course, is a new coach.

To replace himself behind the Ottawa bench, Murray has made no secret of his desire to speak with Mike Babcock, whom he gave the coaching job to when he was calling the shots in Anaheim. But while Babcock's contract with Detroit expires at the end of June, it's difficult to imagine the Red Wings not making him a lucrative, long-term deal, especially with the way he has them playing in the playoffs.

If not Babcock, Murray is expected to lean toward a Babcock-type, someone who demands accountability from his players. Despite earlier rumblings to the contrary, he is also likely to stay away from established but older candidates such as Pat Quinn and Pat Burns.

Bob Hartley is believed to be on Murray's list, possibly near the top. Hartley, who won the Stanley Cup in Colorado and was fired early last season in Atlanta, is from the Ottawa area and has expressed interest in the job.

On-the-rise candidates such as Peter DeBoer of the Ontario Hockey League's Kitchener Rangers and Randy Cunneyworth, a former Senators captain who has established himself with the AHL's Rochester Amerks, are longshots to garner serious consideration for the Ottawa post. It's believed Murray will be hunting for someone with experience coaching at the NHL level.

SEASON HIGHLIGHT
The Senators had a nice stretch from Dec. 5-18 during which they won six in a row, including three games against Carolina, Pittsburgh and Atlanta by a combined 17-4 score. But really, they would never be as high as they were on the night of Nov. 6. In front of their home crowd, they extended their record to 13-1 -- the fastest start by a team in league history -- with a 5-1 pounding of the rival Toronto Maple Leafs. They did it with their No. 1 center, Jason Spezza, missing his fourth game in a row with a groin injury. They showed their depth, with five different players doing the scoring. And they chased goalie Vesa Toskala, the Leafs' marquee free agent signing, before the midway mark of the second period. Indeed, life was good in Senators-land.

TURNING POINT
In retrospect, the Senators' Stanley Cup final was Jan. 12. On that night, they played the Detroit Red Wings at Scotiabank Place in a battle of the two conference leaders. Led by two goals from captain Daniel Alfredsson, they won 3-2, improving their record to 29-10-4 and silencing the doubters who refused to acknowledge them as the best team in hockey. But the very next night, they hit the wall and never did fully recover. The 3-1 loss to the New York Islanders wasn't a surprise, given the natural letdown of facing an inferior opponent less than 24 hours after the Detroit game. But they went on to win just three of their next 11 games and play out the second half of the season at a sluggish 14-21-4.

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