May 05, 2008 - 03:37 PM

By Brian McNair

OSHAWA -- The Oshawa Generals appear to be in the midst of cleaning house.

And, in light of the fact most of his scouting staff resigned following Saturday's Ontario Hockey League draft, the future of general manager Brad Selwood is likely the next order of business to be considered.

Selwood, who has two years left on his contract with the team, was on excellent terms with the scouting staff, which has been headed up by Rob Honighan for the past four years.

Co-owner Rocco Tullio says Honighan -- along with goalie coach Michael Lawrence -- was told Friday his contract would not be renewed for next season.

But Honighan and Selwood refer to the departure as a resignation, which was followed by four other resignations from the scouting staff Saturday.

"They're the best staff in the Ontario Hockey League," Selwood said Monday, deferring other comments to the scouts themselves. "Professionals right to the end."

When asked about his own future with the club, Selwood was uncertain.

"I don't know what the owners have in store for me to be honest," he said. "They keep telling me I'm the GM for now. That's the answer I get."

Selwood has been the team's GM since John Davies bought the team four years ago. He led the team from last place in his first year to a trip to the OHL semifinals this season, bowing out in five games to the Belleville Bulls.

He was also head coach for most of the past two seasons, but gave way to assistant Chris DePiero after a 7-2 loss to the Windsor Spitfires on Feb. 10 this year.

There have been a number of significant changes since Tullio purchased half the team from Davies at the start of the season, including the dismissal of president Trish Campbell and the late-season coaching change.

Honighan was brutally frank when asked his opinion.

"Basically in six short months, Mr. Tullio has become an expert in all areas of the hockey team," Honighan said. "He wants to be the president, he wants to be the head coach, he wants to be the director of scouting, so I've decided I'm going to step aside and give him the opportunity to play Superman. Mark my words, Rocco Tullio will be the next general manager of the Oshawa Generals."

Gil Hughes, an Oshawa resident who has been with the Generals organization for more than 25 years, was among the other scouts who called it a day, citing loyalty to Honighan and Selwood. He, too, was critical of the direction the team seems to be headed.

"I've been in hockey for many years, probably a thousand, but I just question whether the owners actually have a real pulse of what goes on with a hockey team with some of the decisions they make," Hughes said. "It's just totally unbelievable."

Tullio, however, maintains it's all part of the business and says he simply wants to set the team up for future success. He was critical of the number of prospects the team has landed through the draft over the past few years.

"We will not accept mediocrity," he said. "We're a proven franchise with some of the greatest players ever to play the game of hockey and we're going to do whatever we have to do to restore the perception out there and the facts out there that we are going to be a competitive team year in and year out.

"We'll do whatever it takes to put us in a position to be challenging for another OHL Cup," he added. "The people who are no longer with us just didn't fit in with our philosophies and our game plan moving forward."

As for Selwood's future, Tullio chose not to comment and said there would be a meeting with staff on Tuesday.