Ottawa Senators : Darkest Hour

[SevenOfSpades]

I can't remember ever being this sad as a fan. If Karlsson leaves, which as the days go on seems more and more likely, I'm gonna have a real tough time watching this team.

 

[LuckyPierre]

He killed the team with his attitude. As everyone always likes to say around here 'as EK goes, do do the Sens' Well this year he took a dump on the room and floated around without a care in the world, an so went our team.

Yeah, I think with Stone, Boro, Duchene as leaders we'll see a return to the hardworking team that we're used to and we'll be better in the standings than we were this year.

I have not been quiet about my disgust towards our captain's play this season, it just makes a whole lot more sense now, and no less disturbing for a pro.

If Melnyk sells and Karlsson stays, I guarantee that Karlsson will have the utmost respect from his peers in the room considering what he's been dragged through.

If Melnyk stays on, you're right. It'd be toxic to have Karlsson leading this team.

 

[BondraTime]

He killed the team with his attitude. As everyone always likes to say around here 'as EK goes, do do the Sens' Well this year he took a dump on the room and floated around without a care in the world, an so went our team.

Yeah, I think with Stone, Boro, Duchene as leaders we'll see a return to the hardworking team that we're used to and we'll be better in the standings than we were this year.

I have not been quiet about my disgust towards our captain's play this season, it just makes a whole lot more sense now, and no less disturbing for a pro.

Losing a top 5 D of all time in his prime is turned into a positive. I really wish I could do that.

 

[Ice-Tray]

If Melnyk sells and Karlsson stays, I guarantee that Karlsson will have the utmost respect from his peers in the room considering what he's been dragged through.

If Melnyk stays on, you're right. It'd be toxic to have Karlsson leading this team.

And what exactly has he been "dragged through".... Give me a friggin break. There's more drama in here than a high school girls washroom at lunch...

Can't wait for EK to be gone and for things to settle....

 

[Ice-Tray]

Losing a top 5 D of all time in his prime is turned into a positive. I really wish I could do that.

Haha, I agree, but there's always hope Deep pocketed owner one day, and a downtown arena. For me personally, a new team in Seattle so I get an extra game to see

 

[Wallet Inspector]

Have scientists found a way to jump to different timelines? I wanna go to the timeline where we won the Auston Matthews sweepstakes in 2016.

 

[Canadian Time]

I'll add that I am aware of several corporate entities ready to pull the plug on their long standing support of the team should Karlsson be jettisoned out of town. Again, significant cash flow impacts will follow his trade should it happen.

Of course cash flow will go down, people will be pissed. But it will be relatively short term and really won't affect the value of the franchise. Once the arena is downtown the value of the franchise will spike considerably regardless of who is on the team. That's when Melnyk will sell, if you want him to sell earlier you would have to include some of that spike. That won't change if Karlsson is on the team or not.

We should call this the Karlsson Gambit.

 

[LuckyPierre]

And what exactly has he been "dragged through".... Give me a friggin break. There's more drama in here than a high school girls washroom at lunch...

Can't wait for EK to be gone and for things to settle....

A complete lack of organizational support for a franchise player following the single most dominant individual performance this franchise has seen last year. Not to mention being undermined publicly multiple times by his boss in the media. For example:

-Melnyk singling him out by saying based on his nationality alone, he wouldn't allow him to go to the Olympics. It's insulting and disrespectful to the franchise heart and soul player.
-Being singled out by Melnyk as just another facet of the team's accounting structure prior to the outdoor game, alongside things like concessions. Again, a very belittling and completely avoidable thing to say about a captain and franchise player.
-My sources indicate that the NHL has had to step in to cover the payroll of the team on multiple occasions. Imagine working for a boss and not knowing if your paycheque is going to bounce. I sense that much of the city can empathize.
-The behind closed doors circumstances that are coming to light of simultaneously working for a confrontational owner who treats his staff extremely poorly.

Has Erik buckled under these pressures, many of them substantiated, some of them speculated? Yes. He has shown immaturity.

But last years Erik also showed he was a true leader, and a warrior. If by chance ownership changes hands and Erik stays on, I guarantee you that he will emerge as twice the leader with full support of his teammates.

 

[Byron Bitz]

This isnt the darkest time in Sens history, remember 1995 when Yashin wanted to renegotiate his contract and held out, then Bryan Bernard refused to sign after Ottawa drafted him first overall.

 

[AchtzehnBaby]

My theory is this.

Melnyk is using Karl as a human shield.

The chatter surrounding a possible sale of the Senators franchise indicates that yes, discussions are ongoing between Melnyk and potential buyers.

Melnyk has yet to receive the offer he's asking for to cash out. In order to show that he's firm on a sale price, he's using the threat of trading Karlsson to impact negotiations.

Karlsson will not be traded at the deadline. Instead, Melnyk has instructed Dorion to listen to offers and make it look like he is willing to deal Karl imminently. The potential deal will wait until the offseason.

In the meantime, Melnyk is hinging on the potential buyer seeing the loss of Karlsson as too damaging to the viability of the franchise between now and the opening of the new arena. Melnyk is engaging in game theory to force the hand of the buyer into increasing the sale price, as well as to fast track the sale in the time frame that suits Melnyk.

My guess is that Karlsson will reconsider staying put in the event that a new ownership group comes online in time.

I think Melnyk is in too deep with debt to give a damn about Karlsson, the fanbase, or anything less than his cash out price, and he's pulling the ultimate corporate finance bully move to get what he wants.

Yes. That is accurate. So many potential buyers for this team. NHL in Ottawa is a cash cow. He is busy going through the list of potential buyers and whittling it down to the top 5 as you wrote this story.

 

[discostu]

I haven't posted on this board much in recent years. I'm sure there's some old timers around that may remember me.
I've been a Sens fan since they announced they were going to bid for a franchise. They've been a huge part of my life. I moved from Ottawa about a decade ago, but have never once ever felt I stopped being a fan. I've done what I can to watch when I'm able to. But, not in months, and, based on what is expected to happen tomorrow, not sure when I'll watch again.

I think I'll be stepping back from my fandom. Hopefully an ownership change happens and the franchise can be a functional organization. But, it seems pointless to support an organization that is so actively mismanaged.

I was able to handle being to laughing stock expansion team. I could handle the Leaf losses. Even at those points, this franchise was trying to put a product on the ice to impress its fans.
I have other interests outside of hockey where my time and money will now go. Wherever Karlsson lands, I'll probably be rooting for in the short term.

I feel bad for my friends in Ottawa. It's easier to tune out this sideshow when you're not in town. Ottawa deserves better. It's a hockey town through and through, and a halfway competent owner would be making a ton of money.

 

[JungleBeat]

How long before character assassination posts and news articles appear? It didn’t take long once PK Subban was traded from Montreal.

Be prepared to hear rants about how Karlsson didn’t have good character and didn’t fit the culture in Ottawa. Those hot takes will come, only a matter of time.

 

[Sensfanatic]

My issue is not so much trading Karlsson but more the overall plan for the future of the team.

I suspect Melnyk is trying to drastically reduce player salary and survive the next few years until he sees Lebreton revenue.

If the fan base revolts, then he will make a case for relocation.

I’m not sure he realizes how ugly this process will get. He has a profoundly narcissistic approach to managing a hockey team.

 

[Sensung]

My theory is this.

Melnyk is using Karl as a human shield.

The chatter surrounding a possible sale of the Senators franchise indicates that yes, discussions are ongoing between Melnyk and potential buyers.

Melnyk has yet to receive the offer he's asking for to cash out. In order to show that he's firm on a sale price, he's using the threat of trading Karlsson to impact negotiations.

Karlsson will not be traded at the deadline. Instead, Melnyk has instructed Dorion to listen to offers and make it look like he is willing to deal Karl imminently. The potential deal will wait until the offseason.

In the meantime, Melnyk is hinging on the potential buyer seeing the loss of Karlsson as too damaging to the viability of the franchise between now and the opening of the new arena. Melnyk is engaging in game theory to force the hand of the buyer into increasing the sale price, as well as to fast track the sale in the time frame that suits Melnyk.

My guess is that Karlsson will reconsider staying put in the event that a new ownership group comes online in time.

I think Melnyk is in too deep with debt to give a damn about Karlsson, the fanbase, or anything less than his cash out price, and he's pulling the ultimate corporate finance bully move to get what he wants.

PLEASE be true.

 

[Sensung]

He killed the team with his attitude. As everyone always likes to say around here 'as EK goes, do do the Sens' Well this year he took a dump on the room and floated around without a care in the world, an so went our team.

Yeah, I think with Stone, Boro, Duchene as leaders we'll see a return to the hardworking team that we're used to and we'll be better in the standings than we were this year.

I have not been quiet about my disgust towards our captain's play this season, it just makes a whole lot more sense now, and no less disturbing for a pro.

So in the struggle between the very likable Erik Karlsson and the waste of skin Eugene Melnyk, you think that his teammates support the owner?

This after watching his herculean effort last spring leading this group at tremendous cost to his health.

Interesting theory.

 

[LuckyPierre]

Yes. That is accurate. So many potential buyers for this team. NHL in Ottawa is a cash cow. He is busy going through the list of potential buyers and whittling it down to the top 5 as you wrote this story.

By the time he sells, he'll have made hundreds of millions. Even under his mismanagement, it's a cash cow.

 

[Sensung]

Yes. That is accurate. So many potential buyers for this team. NHL in Ottawa is a cash cow. He is busy going through the list of potential buyers and whittling it down to the top 5 as you wrote this story.

Clueless.

Reevely: Second-place bidder still keen on LeBreton Flats if Sens' bid falters, but patience is waning

 

[Shruggs Peterson]

My issue is not so much trading Karlsson but more the overall plan for the future of the team.

I suspect Melnyk is trying to drastically reduce player salary and survive the next few years until he sees Lebreton revenue.

If the fan base revolts, then he will make a case for relocation.

I’m not sure he realizes how ugly this process will get. He has a profoundly narcissistic approach to managing a hockey team.

I would wager the chances are higher that the NHL would pry the team away from Melnyk before they accepted any bid for relocation. Pure hostile takeover fashion is something Eugene has grown accustomed to.

 

[dumbdick]

this is the sens hf forum's darkest hour. bunch of entitled fools. it was bad enough when you were chasing players out of town. now you're after the whole franchise?

 

[Canadian Time]

this is the sens hf forum's darkest hour. bunch of entitled fools. it was bad enough when you were chasing players out of town. now you're after the whole franchise?

They are a simple bunch aren't they. I used to get more upset about this group only because for awhile the local media actually believed this was a representative sample of the fanbase. There's a bunch that write this stuff here and would flood the media guys with the same stuff, and of course the bloggers did the same. The media for the most part has wisened up, they know it's a couple handfuls of shit disturbers that think it's fun. Call them out when you can but just post your own views, people can now spot the conspiracy fools easier now.

 

[swiftwin]

They are a simple bunch aren't they. I used to get more upset about this group only because for awhile the local media actually believed this was a representative sample of the fanbase. There's a bunch that write this stuff here and would flood the media guys with the same stuff, and of course the bloggers did the same. The media for the most part has wisened up, they know it's a couple handfuls of **** disturbers that think it's fun. Call them out when you can but just post your own views, people can now spot the conspiracy fools easier now.

This place is a echo chamber where people keep parroting the same stupidity. There's a huge gap between what's perceived as reality in here, and actual reality.

 

[JD1]

Not saying that others beyond players/coaches can't be good at the job, just that Dorion, at this point in time, doesn't command respect from the players or likely others around the league. He may earn that over time, he may not.

well he was up for the GM of the year award last year. that is voted on by 40 people including all 30 GMs so I guess it's fair to say he does have their respect. I've no idea how the next couple of years will play out but I don't buy the board narrative that he is a bumbling idiot. I didn' like some of his deals, others I did.

 

[Benttheknee]

lol the drama of this board is quite amusing to be honest
...

Now I think some people should really take a break from this, and come back a bit more relaxed. The insults left and right are hilariously ridiculous

True. My break is over when I see an owner that is building the team with hockey assets. Right now he is selling hockey assets for cash.

 

[JD1]

Losing a top 5 D of all time in his prime is turned into a positive. I really wish I could do that.

top 5 all time? ya he might get there eventually but he's not there now and he has to regain form to ever be considered top 5

 

[BondraTime]

top 5 all time? ya he might get there eventually but he's not there now and he has to regain form to ever be considered top 5

Agreed, bit of hyperbole on my part