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“I blame myself for it. I should have been maybe more proactive or found a way to … but that’s the way it is sometimes. It’s personal stuff you think they’re not going to expose, but later on you realize maybe you should have done something about it.”

Burrows, who had the final year of his contract bought out by the Senators, has signed on to become an assistant coach with the Montreal Canadiens AHL affiliate in Laval. As much as he wanted to keep playing, the 37-year old had nothing but good things to say about the two men who essentially decided he was done – Senators GM Pierre Dorion and coach Guy Boucher.

“At the end of the day, I wish those guys all the best,” Burrows said of the Senators. “Pierre was good to me. The organization, the fan base was good to me and my family. I sure hope they’re going to get back to the playoffs, sooner than later.”

Burrows had his best years playing for Marc Crawford and Alain Vigneault in Vancouver, but said Boucher “prepares and works as hard as any coach as I’ve ever seen.”

Boucher is entering the final year of his contract with the Senators and needs to turn the team around if he is going to get another deal.

“Obviously things didn’t work out the way we wanted to last year,” Burrows told the radio station. “Lot of negative energy. Lot of situations that occurred during the season that we didn’t really respond to them well. But I do believe in Guy. I do believe he’s a really approachable coach. He works hard, he’s got good systems. I wish him all the best. Hopefully the team can turn it around. There’s a lot of good guys in that locker room that cares a lot about the city, the fans, the organization, and they want to do well.”