Emotional Cameron says Melnyk’s comments hurt Former Ottawa Senators head coach Dave Cameron says he felt like he was fired after team owner Eugene Melnyk publicly criticized Cameron's goaltending decision with nine games left on the schedule, writes TSN's Ian Mendes.

New general manager Pierre Dorion informed Dave Cameron on Tuesday morning that he would no longer be the head coach of the Ottawa Senators.

In reality, Cameron already knew he was out of a job last month.

Speaking to reporters on March 22, owner Eugene Melnyk openly questioned some of the decisions made by Cameron, putting the head coach’s future on thin ice.

Speaking to the media on Thursday for the first time since he was officially relieved of his duties, Cameron admitted he was bothered by the public comments made by Melnyk while the team still had nine regular-season games left on the schedule.

“That was hurtful. I don’t think there was any need for it. It felt like I was fired for three weeks. Every day,” an emotional Cameron told reporters.

He later added, “What got lost in the comments is that you can evaluate me all you want on my coaching and fire me. I understand all that. There’s no need of being hurtful. We’re human beings at the end of the day.”

In his media session last month, Melnyk was critical of the fact Cameron elected to use rookie netminder Matt O’Connor for the team’s home opener against the Montreal Canadiens back in October. “It was inconsistency and some stupidity. I go back to the [home opener] and you put in the second goalie. Like, what was that about on opening night?” Melnyk asked on March 22nd. “And the guy gets clobbered. That's not fair to him; it's not fair to the fans.”

Cameron gave his first detailed explanation of why he started O’Connor in the home opener, when he made an appearance on TSN 1200 radio in Ottawa on Thursday morning.

“I was scrutinized a bit for my goaltending decision in the third game, but at the end of the day it was three games in four days. One of my NHL goalies was hurt and it didn’t make sense to play a 34-year-old goalie three out of four games and he’s got a history of injuries,” explained Cameron.

“No disrespect to Toronto, but I felt playing [Anderson] in Toronto would give me a good chance to win that and it worked out. And Matt O’Connor wasn’t bad against Montreal. We scored one goal, so our goalie would have had to pitch a shutout to do it. And in the next game in Columbus, we weren’t very good and Andy stood on his head and stole us a win. So that’s one decision I was scrutinized for, but the decision process and the thought process I wouldn’t change at all.”

Melnyk and Cameron have a long-standing personal friendship that extends beyond the normal relationship often seen between a team owner and a head coach. They have a history dating back to Melnyk’s ownership of the St. Michael’s Majors in the Ontario Hockey League when Cameron was the head coach there in 2000. Cameron even heeded Melnyk’s request to leave his next job as head coach of the Senators farm team in the American Hockey League a few years later, to return to his old OHL post in 2007 to help guide the struggling St. Michael’s team once again.

But the relationship between Cameron and Melnyk appears to be a little bit strained, after how things played out in Ottawa this season. Speaking to TSN 1200 on Tuesday evening, Melnyk admitted he was “procrastinating” on making a phone call to Cameron because it would be a difficult conversation to have.

“Over 15 years, we’ve developed a great relationship,” Melnyk said. “I’ve met his wife. We’ve been out to P.E.I. to his place and we’ve been together through thick and thin.”

As of midday Thursday, Cameron says Melnyk has not reached out to him.

“I’m not going to discuss my relationship with Eugene Melnyk,” Cameron stated. “All I’m going to say is that his comments hurt.”

During his brief media session on Thursday, Cameron declined to get into specifics of what went wrong with the 2015-16 Senators.

“It doesn’t matter, because the reality is I got fired because somebody thinks I couldn’t do the job. End of conversation,” said Cameron. “I’m not going to get into a debate over right or wrong or this or that. That doesn’t do anybody any good. I’m appreciative of the opportunity. I enjoyed it and I have no regrets.”

Cameron and his coaching staff were not allowed to participate in the exit meetings with the players on Monday at Canadian Tire Centre, but he is adamant that he had support from those inside the dressing room.

“I honestly believe I had the backing of my team. I got some calls and I’ve talked to my players. I honestly believe I had their backing,” Cameron added. “I just wish them well. I hope what they do as a team is they take this backwards, sideways step we took this season and learn from it. A lot of teams have to get a little reality given to them before they reach their peak. I hope they go on and be very successful and give Ottawa the team it deserves.”

The 57-year-old Cameron said he does not have any firm plans at this point, beyond being a part of Team Canada’s coaching staff at the upcoming world championships in Russia in a few weeks – an opportunity he called “a silver lining.”

Cameron was asked if he had an explanation of why Ottawa has become a coach’s graveyard in recent years. The next head coach for the Senators will be the seventh bench boss in less than 10 years.

“I have opinions, but again, this is not the forum for me to come out and give my opinion because it doesn’t matter what Dave Cameron thinks.”