After having yet another playoff run with high expectations yield the same disappointing result, Anaheim Ducks general manager Bob Murray knows change is a necessity.
The first head to roll was head coach Bruce Boudreau, who was let go Friday after leading the Ducks to four consecutive Pacific division titles.
Boudreau was the latest victim of the organization's playoff disappointment, because after all, it's easier to replace a coach than a 23-man roster.
But the coach doesn't play the game, and Murray is looking at those who do to right the ship.
"It's the way we go out. It's the way it happens," Murray said Friday, referring to the Ducks' four straight Game 7 eliminations. "Let's face it ... I'd like to know where the heck they were in Games 1 and 2. The players are going to have to answer that in the next four or five days. Where were they? They showed up in Game 7, but where was that passion? That controlled emotion? Where the heck was that? They're going to have to be held accountable too."
"It's on all of us," Murray added. "I'm not pointing a gun. There are lots of people involved in this not going well. We're all held accountable."
The core of Anaheim's roster, which has long been forwards Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, among others, came into question during Murray's press conference, and he believes his star players need to be held responsible as well.
"There are definite concerns in that area," said Murray, at Anaheim's state of the franchise address . "The core has to be held responsible. They have to be better. Maybe I haven't been hard enough in the last few years, but they're going to hear different words this time."
Perry and Getzlaf had four and five points respectively in the Ducks opening round series versus the Nashville Predators.
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