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There’s a cute little thread-header on the hockey chat-board site HFboards that reads: “Days since Sens incident.”
At the very least, the folks on the site sport a very good sense of humour . . . and a sense of reality.
It was started back in June 2018 and now has 18 delectable web pages detailing and debating the history of fumbles by ownership, management, coaches and the players, in less than a calendar year.
(By the way, my favourite post on here is: ‘Can we change the title from days to hours?’)
The rest of the site threads were quick to pick up on the momentum and pretty well every one of them has Ottawa fans weighing in on the latest mega-cataclysm.
In quick wrap-up fashion (and just in case you were Internet-free the last week while on a beach in Cuba), here’s the latest.
Eugene Melnyk, I think you’ve heard of him, went balls-to-the-walls on a couple of radio interviews. None of these were on the Ottawa sports station that broadcasts Ottawa Senators’ hockey. That’s another story, but let’s just say the relationship between the team’s broadcaster and the Senators is slightly edgy and fractious.
Melnyk went to town on TSN 1200’s brother station 580 CFRA. The other rancor emanated from a Toronto station – the Ottawa owner’s seemingly favourite go-to.
Melnyk took aim and fired at Ottawa mayor Jim Watson regarding the whole lagging and frustrating downtown arena deal – "He is so lucky that I keep my mouth shut," Melnyk said on CFRA. "I'd be very careful if I was him walking around mouthing off, because it's very counterproductive.
"I'm trying to do everything for this city, and with him opening up like that, all he does is the NHL offices look at it and say 'Hey, do we really want to bring more events to this city?"'
Melnyk also fired a salvo at the Toronto Maple Leafs: “. . . look they’re stuck. OK, I better not say what I was going to say, but they’re going to have a very hard time winning a Stanley Cup without defence. Because they are hitting the cap. They can’t bring anybody new in. They’re stuck. And that’s where you have to be extremely careful . . . mistakes were made. Somebody forgot about defence.”
Ottawa fans like to poke the Leafs. Right, I get it.
But the owner?
Really, throwing shade at the league’s 5th-place team when you’ve been living in last place, 31st overall, for a long time is just asinine.
Embarrassing. Truly embarrassing.
So the blood-letting carries on in the nation’s capital.
With no end in sight, it’s no wonder the local fan base is tuning – or has tuned – right out.
How many days since the last Senators’ incident?
Keep me posted.
News, notes and notions: Craig Anderson’s win Saturday was his first since Dec. 17th. That string is a franchise record. It’s one I’m pretty sure he doesn’t relish . . . Here’s a little starch in your underwear Ottawa. As bad as your team’s been all season, the future is a lot brighter than their nearest competition for the basement, the LA Kings. The Kings are old and slow, and that Ilya Kovalchuk signing has simply not worked out . . . The Kings have a decent slate of prospects but not as much or as ready as Ottawa’s . . . LA has eight skaters over the age of 30. Drew Doughty turns the magic 3-0 early next season . . . According to CBC, Ottawa is in the process of a hunt for a team president. Think along the lines of Bryan Murray in his last few years with the hockey club.
Senators week ahead:
Tuesday, March 26: Buffalo at Ottawa (7:30 pm)
Thursday, March 28: Florida at Ottawa (7:30 pm)
Saturday, March 30: Toronto at Ottawa (7 pm)
