from Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun,

“Winning five of 21 games is not exactly where we wanted to be,” Dorion told reporters before facing the Colorado Avalanche Saturday at the Canadian Tire Centre. “It’s not what we foresaw, especially after the way we finished last year.

“The biggest thing is we’ve got to get this team back to its winning ways. We have made a few drastic decisions but we feel this team is going to get back to playing the hockey it’s capable of playing.”

Dorion knows the finger is pointed in his direction for the club sitting in 32nd overall and he understands why.

“I’m not going to lie to anyone here. I’ve had a few sleepless nights. I haven’t enjoyed this stretch by our team but it’s not for a lack of effort,” Dorion said. “The players are playing hard, but sometimes players don’t play up to their potential, and they know it to.

“The buck stops with me and I’m not afraid to say that. We didn’t anticipate this and we’re going to battle through it. Last year, we had a tough stretch, battled through it and finished strong.There’s still 60 games left, the work ethic is there, the will to win is there and we’re going to continue.”

Before camp got under way, Dorion declared the “the rebuild is over” and “it’s time to start winning.”

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