Former Ottawa Senators executive sues Melnyk, team for $1.55M

[WadeRedden]

It's not the CMO's fault the Sens fumbled the Alfie contract, traded away or got rid of exciting and exotic players and turned it into a boring, "white bread", full of "grit" and "leadership" (again meaning "white bread") team only Don Cherry would love.

I've been going to fewer games in recent years, because other than EK and Stone there's not much that excites me. Da Costa, Ziba were guys I wanted to watch in person. Having a big contingent of Swedish, Czech, Slovak players with gobs of skill was exciting. The GSN line, Boro as forward, Phillips on the PP, Ceci on the 3vs3 only make me cringe and are not what I want to watch. No amount of marketing would change my mind.

Fix the team, get with the times and embrace analytics, welcome players from all sorts of backgrounds (hint: Russia also has hockey players!) and I'll get back to spending my money on you. And you can use whatever lame slogan or jersey you like.

lol dude, what are you even trying to imply here with this "white bread" comment? The NHL is like 98% white. If you don't like watching privileged white guys playing sports, there are plenty of other options available.

As far as Russians go, I think the Sens are missing opportunities for sure but convincing them to come over seems to be a bit of a headache (unless they're a blue-chipper). Most of the mid-late round picks play in the KHL until they're 23-24 and then make the jump over. The Sens can't be wasting precious draft picks on guys that refuse to sign.

 

[jason2020]

Yes, thank you.

I'm not debating O'leary's job performance but how unprofessional Melyck is. Lots of companies terminate a contract of an employee that is not performing up to a standard or producing results. Its how Melnyck in an unhinged way deals with his employees that this lawsuit is shining a light on a dark and ugly corner. You just have to listen to what Melnyck has to say and how he says it to make a very short leap of faith to say this lawsuit has somegrain of truth. It' up to the judge to determine how to apportion blame and accountability.

But IMHO if someone is bat**** crazy here it's not O'Leary.

Edit: I'm not advocating for him to sell the team. Just be a professional and run a team we can all be proud of.

These cases happens all the times there are some owners even big companys that people here think are great and I can tell you even they face cases like this even take the feds people say its a perfect work place with the current pm face is there are thousands of cases with worker issues.

 

[Vesa Awesaka]

Most fans don't care about the budget example if you went into the market and asked if the budget keeping you away less then 10% would say yes.

I remember hearing people complaining calling in on the radio. The topics weren't sold focused on the budget but people were aware and negative about it

 

[TeamRenzo]

Yes, thank you.

I'm not debating O'leary's job performance but how unprofessional Melyck is. Lots of companies terminate a contract of an employee that is not performing up to a standard or producing results. Its how Melnyck in an unhinged way deals with his employees that this lawsuit is shining a light on a dark and ugly corner. You just have to listen to what Melnyck has to say and how he says it to make a very short leap of faith to say this lawsuit has somegrain of truth. It' up to the judge to determine how to apportion blame and accountability.

But IMHO if someone is bat**** crazy here it's not O'Leary.

Edit: I'm not advocating for him to sell the team. Just be a professional and run a team we can all be proud of.

So, now people can launch lawsuits because their boss is an *******? Perhaps if O'Leary was doing his job his boss wouldn't have been such a *****.

Look, I hate seeing people be fired but the bottom line is his job is to put ***** in the seats for games; not selling out opening night is unacceptable.

Look at it from a numbers perspective and then think about it like it was your money. If the Sens are short 1,000 tickets from a sellout that equals anywhere from $50K to $100K...then multiply that by 41. That doesnt even factor in parking, and concession sales.

If you look at Melnyk's comments in a vacuum they see harsh however I am sure there were many conversations about performance that were more professional than what we are led to believe.

 

[jason2020]

I said before these cases are nothing new they happen all the time maybe more then they should.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

We're also missing a big piece to the puzzle. Sure, this guy had a salary of $300k a year, but what about the rest of the marketing budget? If someone told you to make a wonderful wedding banquet for 200 people, and they gave you a budget of $400 to work with, is it your fault you couldn't provide everyone with a 5-star meal?

Did O'Leary have a decent enough staff? Did he have the budget to hire good people? Was there money in the video department to provide some quality media? Was there money in the budget for good airtime for commercials on tv, radio and other media?

 

[jason2020]

We're also missing a big piece to the puzzle. Sure, this guy had a salary of $300k a year, but what about the rest of the marketing budget? If someone told you to make a wonder wedding banquet for 200 people, and they gave you a budget of $400 to work with, is it your fault you couldn't provide everyone with a 5-star meal?

Did O'Leary have a decent enough staff? Did he have the budget to hire good people? Was there money in the video department to provide some quality media? Was there money in the budget for good airtime for commercials on tv, radio and other media?

We can look at it for every side and come up with something.

 

[jbeck5]

I think the fact that the budget became so public has also brought a negative atmosphere to the club. I wouldn't be surprised if ticket sales were down partly because the budget.

I know my dad stopped buying half a dozen tickets a year because of this.

My dad likes a very competitive team that tries to win all the time. When he sees 20-30 useful players sign in the summer and we sat with 10 million cap space with Chris neil/Chris Phillips still on the roster he knew the team wasn't trying it's hardest to win anymore. He's said this countless times:

"if melnyk isn't spending his hard earned money to make this team the best it can, I'm not spending my hard earned money driving across the city to see them lose 4-1 in an uninspiring effort"

^ I think that mentality spread throughout the city. If this billionaire isn't spending the most he can, why should I spend the most i can to support the team?

 

[jbeck5]

Most fans don't care about the budget example if you went into the market and asked if the budget keeping you away less then 10% would say yes.

I disagree. Ive heard many sens fans complain I about the lack of spending and lack of good players.

I have a wide circle of huge hockey fan friends of every team imaginable. Melnyks cheapness was a constant discussion point.

 

[jason2020]

I know my dad stopped buying half a dozen tickets a year because of this.

My dad likes a very competitive team that tries to win all the time. When he sees 20-30 useful players sign in the summer and we sat with 10 million cap space with Chris neil/Chris Phillips still on the roster he knew the team wasn't trying it's hardest to win anymore. He's said this countless times:

"if melnyk isn't spending his hard earned money to make this team the best it can, I'm not spending my hard earned money driving across the city to see them lose 4-1 in an uninspiring effort"

^ I think that mentality spread throughout the city. If this billionaire isn't spending the most he can, why should I spend the most i can to support the team?

People need to look at the cap sure they could go on a spending spree but it could mean they let EK/Stone and Turris all walk as they would have no cap room.

 

[jason2020]

I disagree. Ive heard many sens fans complain I about the lack of spending and lack of good players.

I have a wide circle of huge hockey fan friends of every team imaginable. Melnyks cheapness was a constant discussion point.

Most fans who say that don't know how close to the cap they really are one example I was talking to someone last week who made the claim they had $20 million in cap space.

 

[jbeck5]

So if Ottawa went 0-82 but had a mix of players from all over this world to you that's more exciting.

What? How did you interpret that? It was clear he wants more skill in the lineup. He doesn't want grinders because they're Canadian. He wants skill that will win a lot of games.

 

[jason2020]

What? How did you interpret that? It was clear he wants more skill in the lineup. He doesn't want grinders because they're Canadian. He wants skill that will win a lot of games.

Those players are more grinders now not elite stars they once were.

 

[danielpalfredsson]

What? How did you interpret that? It was clear he wants more skill in the lineup. He doesn't want grinders because they're Canadian. He wants skill that will win a lot of games.

If the Sens focused on skilled type players or a more offensive based system, they likely wouldn't win as much as they are winning now.

They hired the perfect coach for their situation. They are a budget team who as a result will never have the most skilled team. With what the Sens have on paper, the way to compete with the more skilled teams like Pittsburgh who have the benefit of Crosby+Malkin down the middle is to run a very defensive systems oriented type team. It is an equalizer.

The idea that we don't draft or seek out "skilled" guys is unfounded. Who'd we take with our highest picks in the last two drafts? Logan Brown...Thomas Chabot....relative to their position, those are both "skill" guys.

We had a more exciting team on the ice prior to this season, and clearly it didn't benefit the team at the box office because winning is what draws. People will pay big money to see a less exciting team that is a perpetual playoff team more than they will pay big money to see a run and gun team that loses more often than they win.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

People need to look at the cap sure they could go on a spending spree but it could mean they let EK/Stone and Turris all walk as they would have no cap room.

Name one team in the NHL that has let a superstar in his prime walk away for nothing because of a lack of cap space.

 

[jason2020]

Name one team in the NHL that has let a superstar in his prime walk away for nothing because of a lack of cap space.

But that's my point some older fans want Ottawa spend like crazy leaving no room for guys like EK one example a couple said we should have signed Lucic over Hoffamn.

 

[mcnorth]

This guy stunk at his job. Melnyk is a pain in the ass. The Sens organization is not well run, is cheap on and off the ice, and the fans are not happy and are talking with their dollars (including me and my family - who cancelled a trip to Ottawa a few years ago when they bungled the Alfie resigning - those things impact your customers). The Sens are not owed a fanbase. Ottawa is not owed an NHL franchise.

 

[Holdurbreathe]

We're also missing a big piece to the puzzle. Sure, this guy had a salary of $300k a year, but what about the rest of the marketing budget? If someone told you to make a wonderful wedding banquet for 200 people, and they gave you a budget of $400 to work with, is it your fault you couldn't provide everyone with a 5-star meal?

Did O'Leary have a decent enough staff? Did he have the budget to hire good people? Was there money in the video department to provide some quality media? Was there money in the budget for good airtime for commercials on tv, radio and other media?

You are right, we are missing a huge part of this puzzle, like all of the other side of this equation.

So why do you follow up with more questions nobody on this board has the answers to?

O'Leary files suit and of course his filing tells his story, one sided as it likely is.

Melnyk's lawyer has clearly stated they intend to challenge and at some point in time a judge will rule on the whether or not O'Leary is entitled to some compensation, or no compensation.

Until that happens all the preconceive notions in this thread are achieving nothing other than to show personal biases, mostly against Melnyk.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

But that's my point some older fans want Ottawa spend like crazy leaving no room for guys like EK one example a couple said we should have signed Lucic over Hoffamn.

Well, quite a few other teams spend like crazy, but still manage to keep their franchise players. Look at Chicago. You don't need to keep a monster amount of cap space constantly in reserve because you will need it 486894 years down the road.

 

[FlyingJ]

We're also missing a big piece to the puzzle. Sure, this guy had a salary of $300k a year, but what about the rest of the marketing budget? If someone told you to make a wonderful wedding banquet for 200 people, and they gave you a budget of $400 to work with, is it your fault you couldn't provide everyone with a 5-star meal?

Did O'Leary have a decent enough staff? Did he have the budget to hire good people? Was there money in the video department to provide some quality media? Was there money in the budget for good airtime for commercials on tv, radio and other media?

Apparently O'Leary's suit mentions that he did not have the budget to attract or retain quality staff, which would go a long way to explaining why the Sens' marketing has been pretty bad for a while.

It's also worth noting there are supposedly other suits coming from other executives, and that the lawyers O'Leary hired are among the best in the city.

 

[mcnorth]

Apparently O'Leary's suit mentions that he did not have the budget to attract or retain quality staff, which would go a long way to explaining why the Sens' marketing has been pretty bad for a while.

It's also worth noting there are supposedly other suits coming from other executives, Ave that the lawyers O'Leary hired are among the best in the city.

I wonder if Melnyk pays for the best lawyers - or does he go cheap there, too?

 

[DrEasy]

My last comment on this here, since it may be off-topic for this thread.

I have no problem with you thinking the current players on the team are boring, but focusing on location of birth, is really weird.

Not to mention we have one of the most dynamic defenseman to ever play the game on the team, who happens to be European, therefore meeting your geographical requirement.

Also, 85% of the time Zibanejad looked disinterested, and he played a boring style anyway. Weird example.

See, it's not ME focusing on the location of birth, it's this management. It seems to me that we go out of our way to turn this team into a North-American, "gritty", full of "leadership in the clubhouse". I gave a few examples to illustrate my purpose.

As for Karlsson, IIRC the scout (who is interestingly gone now) had to work hard to convince Murray to draft him where he did. He definitely does not fit the profile of this team.

I didn't think Ziba played a boring style. Sure, he didn't dangle his way to a goal, but he had a mean one-timer, and as he was filling out he had the chance to turn into a Bobby Holik type badass. I don't necessarily want every player to be stick-handling. Again, having complementary skills on the team would be nice.

I get annoyed of the desire for grit/character over seemingly everything else too, but I couldn't care less where a player is from.
You've just compared Havlat, Hossa, Alfie and Chara to a couple of old bottom 6 players and Brassard. Of course you preferred the first group, that's a group of all-stars. Burrows, Kelly and Brassard aren't the equivalent players on this team. That would be Karlsson, Turris, Hoffman and Stone. You've criticized Cherry for wanting his team a certain way, but you're doing the same thing. You want a bunch of Europeans, they're exciting to you. A guy like Da Costa was worth the price of admission for you. You've presented the Turris trade in a negative light which is insane, that was a great hockey trade; who cares if it was a Swedish prospect going the other way?

See, I'm furthest from someone who wants diversity for diversity's sake. What I'm disputing is that we seem to be limiting our search for talent on purpose toward a certain profile of player: North American, "gritty", etc. Stuff that Don Cherry, Aragorn, and others of their generation like in a hockey player. In doing so we're missing out on plenty of talent.

I listed the Turris trade because I didn't want to cherry-pick. Not every trade for a North American was a bad one. It's just interesting to me that almost every trade, good or bad, ends up offloading a non-North American and brings in one. We end up with a team that I find, right or wrong, boring and one-dimensional, and at odds with all the current trends in hockey.

lol dude, what are you even trying to imply here with this "white bread" comment? The NHL is like 98% white. If you don't like watching privileged white guys playing sports, there are plenty of other options available.

As far as Russians go, I think the Sens are missing opportunities for sure but convincing them to come over seems to be a bit of a headache (unless they're a blue-chipper). Most of the mid-late round picks play in the KHL until they're 23-24 and then make the jump over. The Sens can't be wasting precious draft picks on guys that refuse to sign.

Europeans are white too, I guess my choice of "white bread" was bad. I thought my intent by that choice of adjective was clear.

I'm not even accusing the management to be racist or anything. It could simply be (and now we're back on topic), that this team doesn't have the resources to go scout players outside the Ottawa region (exaggerating a little, but you get my drift), and to get them on board with coming here before they're drafted (Tarasenko). Hence our collective relief when a guy like Hogberg or Jaros finally accepts to come over. Hence the management's efforts to draft local guys, or even to trade up to draft a guy with ties to the region. (still, doesn't explain letting a guy like Da Costa go for nothing )

Back when Melnyk used to give the team more resources, it seems that we were more willing to look outside.

 

[jason2020]

Well, quite a few other teams spend like crazy, but still manage to keep their franchise players. Look at Chicago. You don't need to keep a monster amount of cap space constantly in reserve because you will need it 486894 years down the road.

Look at it this way if some got there way Ottawa would have around $800,000 in cap space with many bad contracts.

 

[LatteLarrys]

So, now people can launch lawsuits because their boss is an *******? Perhaps if O'Leary was doing his job his boss wouldn't have been such a *****.

I mean, it sounds like he's alleging that he has been unjustly terminated for cause in December (in which case he is entitled to pay in lieu of notice), especially given the alleged conflicting performance reviews. There could even be a constructive dismissal claim. And yeah, a pattern or egregious instance of abusive behavior (e.g. sending embarrassing, abusive e-mails) could amount to a breach of faith and fair dealing in the manner of dismissal.

However, this information is all based a news article summary of his side. We haven't seen either side's statement of facts. Still, I think people are trying to draw conclusions about the legitimacy of his allegations without having a grasp of the issues, let alone all the possible facts.

 

[hawthy]

Obviously from the outside, there's very little conclusively we can comment on. There's just too much smoke around him (Melnyk) at this point and it's going to negatively impact the organization more and more I fear.

What I will say, or rather, predict, is that ownership-wise, we may look back on the Melnyk era as dark times in the organization's history. I appreciate that he bought and stabilized the franchise in Ottawa post-Bryden, but for years now it's been nothing but cheapness, being a loud-mouth, meddling, alienating (both fans and very likely players around the league and within the organization) and being more of a distraction than anything.

I don't disagree with the concept of canning a high-paid employee who isn't delivering, but maybe Melnyk should swallow his pride and look at himself in the mirror as the root cause of what ails the Sens. I'll always support the Sens for my love of the team regardless of who owns them, but Melnyk is a giant turn-off and when this kind of inter-office stuff starts up now, it's turning into a special kind of poison.

I used to officiate a lot of Cyril Leeder's son's minor hockey games way back when and from knowing the guy in that context, Melnyk really f***ed up turfing him. He is a great man. I hope OSEG brings him into their fold. Obviously, the politics of his firing is starting to reveal itself more with this coming to light. The last thing I'll say about Melnyk's tenure as owner is this: the REDBLACKS (whether they won a Grey Cup last season or not) have shown more of a commitment to winning in 3-seasons than Melnyk has during his entire time as owner of the Sens. We aren't in a good spot for retaining or attracting talent anywhere as long as he's in charge, both because of his attitude and his pocketbook.