Ottawa Senators making change at goaltending coach, bringing in Zac Bierk

OTTAWA — The Ottawa Senators have named Zac Bierk as their goaltending coach after reassigning Pierre Groulx to a scouting and development role.

A native of Peterborough, Ont., Bierk has spent the last two-plus seasons as goaltending development coach with the Arizona Coyotes. He was primarily responsible for overseeing goaltending prospect development at the American Hockey League, major junior and collegiate levels.

The 44-year-old former goalie played in 47 NHL games over parts of six seasons with Tampa Bay, Minnesota and Arizona.

Groulx is in the midst of his second tenure with the Senators after rejoining the organization ahead of the 2016-17 season. He also has previous work experience with Florida and Montreal.

The Senators are last in the NHL in goals allowed per game, averaging 3.72.

Ottawa has used five goalies this season — Matt Murray, Joey Daccord, Marcus Hogberg, Filip Gustavsson and Anton Forsberg.

“Unfortunately, a number of our goaltending performances this season have been underwhelming,” Senators general manager Pierre Dorion said in a statement. “I think very highly of Pierre Groulx, he’s as dedicated and tireless a worker as anyone in the organization, but we recently reached a point where we thought a fresh outlook could help return some stability to our crease.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 6, 2021.

The Canadian Press