Senators assistant Mark Reeds dies of cancer

The Ottawa Senators will open the playoffs this week with heavy hearts after assistant coach Mark Reeds died of cancer.

Reeds, 55, had been with the team since June 2011.

"We had been in contact with Mark on a regular basis and worked with him and realized what a good young man he was," general manager Bryan Murray said at a news conference Tuesday at the Senators arena. "He certainly passed too early."

The Senators will play the Montreal Canadiens, starting Wednesday at Bell Centre. They overcame a 14-point deficit just to make the playoffs.

Murray said the team would have conversations with the players.

"I'm not sure how (players) will handle it," he said. "I'm hoping that they will handle it as Mark said in his last visit with them, 'Let's win it all.' So we're going to use that, hopefully, in a positive manner."

Murray described Reeds as a quiet and very detailed coach.

"He was a guy with great input," Murray said. "He didn't care if he was front and center. He never wanted to be front and center, it appeared to me. He always wanted to be the guy who helped the head coach and was well-respected by the players because of the way he interacted with them on a daily basis."

Before joining the Senators, Reed was coach of the Owen Sound Attack in the Ontario Hockey League. He also coached the United Hockey League's Kalamazoo Wings and Missouri River Otters and the ECHL's Peoria Rivermen. He won titles with the Attack in 2011 and the Wings in 2006.

Reeds also played eight NHL seasons with the St. Louis Blues and Hartford Whalers in the 1980s. The forward had 45 goals and 114 assists in 365 games.

"(Reeds) was truly a wonderful father, husband, player, coach and friend,"Senators owner Eugene Melnyk said in a statement on the team's website. "Mark's charismatic fighting spirit was present right until the end. We are all better for having had the opportunity to work so closely with Mark, whose passion for life, hockey and his family will leave an indelible mark on our organization."

The Senators organization also has been dealing with Murray's battle with Stage IV colon cancer. He has gone public about his disease in hopes of encouraging people to get a colonoscopy.

Murray said Reeds was diagnosed a little before him.

"He didn't appear to have a situation where death would come this quickly," Murray said. "He was very positive when he first found out that there was a solution to his problem, but unfortunately, it didn't work that way.

"I guess we all realize that every day is very precious to each one of us, so we should value it accordingly."

Reeds is survived by his wife, Mary and two children, Kyle and Kelsey.

"As a player, a coach and a mentor for so many players – from teenagers in junior hockey to the best players in the world at the National Hockey League level – Mark Reeds was the embodiment of commitment to our game," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. "Mark devoted 35 years to 10 different stops in six different leagues and the NHL shares the sorrow of all who were touched by his selflessness and dedication."