TSN: Bettman discusses LeBreton Flats, flatly denies Senators relocation question

[solidprospect]

Except that we're going through what every other franchise goes through, something that gets ignored by everyone or they just don't care.

You're in denial.

Teams that rebuild cut costs, all of them.

 

[LuckyPierre]

Yea that quote and this one too

“Eugene is doing what is expected of him as an owner in terms of meeting the team’s obligations.”

Sure didn’t seem like a glowing endorsement.
Also said they didn’t get asked to step in but would not hesitate to step in if needed or asked. Not sure if he was referencing to the arena downtown or in general but interesting to hear nonetheless.

Meeting the teams obligations, to me, indicates meeting payroll and cap floor.

Aka the bare minimum. Eugene is doing what is expected of him, in order to satisfy the bare minimum criteria.

 

[supsens]

Well, he helped Ottawa with the Bryden situation as well. The NHL policy on moving a franchise nowadays is pretty straight forward IMO. It's a final resolution to any franchise problem when all other options have been exhausted.

I doubt they are moving but it isn’t straight forward when the fans get in a pissing match with the NHL and go out of their way to to lay down the law and start demanding new owners and a new arena from the NHL, add to that the fact there is no way the city ever contributes to a new arena and you may see a move.
I don’t blame people for not wanting public money going to anyone but the NHL model is built off semi free arenas. It is a business and the idea of every city going forward demanding things from the NHL is not a path they would like to take.
You can disagree but is the Ottawa market worth investing 500 million when there are other places that would hand over control of the local arena no questions asked?
Do they want Calgary pointing to Ottawa if the NHL built them a rink and saying “see you guys have the money you don’t need our money”

Now don’t freak out no one is saying they will move, I am just saying it is far from straight forward.

As far as forced sales the only way I see that going down is if Bettman lays out some ground rules and EM freaks out and pulls a
“You can’t tell me who to hire or how to run my team”
Then they might, but as for now I think they are holding out for a large sale price anyway

 

[PeterSidorkiewicz]

Except that we're going through what every other franchise goes through, something that gets ignored by everyone or they just don't care.

You're in denial.

Teams that rebuild cut costs, all of them.

Do teams that rebuild also cut costs off the ice and in he front office as well?

 

[branch]

Except that we're going through what every other franchise goes through, something that gets ignored by everyone or they just don't care.

You're in denial.

Teams that rebuild cut costs, all of them.

All teams go through the following? Hmm...
• Most talented player in franchise history, Erik Karlsson, put on trade block
• Assistant GM Randy Lee accused of sexually harassing 19-year old bus driver
• Melnyk hires the Larry Flynt lawyer to represent Randy Lee
• New COO has to be hired before Randy Lee is suspended
• Randy Lee steps down • After months, new assistant GM is finally hired
• Mike Hoffman’s girlfriend stalks and harasses Erik Karlsson and his wife online
• Fan favourite Turris is shipped off
• Team traded potential 1st-overall pick in 2019 for one year of Matt Duchene
• Started "rebuild" two months later
• Fans started revolt against owner, erecting billboards
• Daniel Alfredsson leaves again, this time from the front office
• Alfredsson later says to reporter he hopes a new owner comes soon
• Melnyk fires CEO, named himself new CEO
• Erik Karlsson’s son is stillborn
• Craig Anderson and Mike Condon have career-awful seasons
• Anderson reportedly asks for trade, is still on team
• Condon has an even worse start to the next season, is never heard from again
• Not enough money for ushers in the third deck
• Postmedia refuses to take down video, Ken Warren kicked off team charter
• Something called furry night actually referring to pets happens
• Team forgets to hire promo photographer for LGBTQ night until a week before event
• Team adopts dog, immediately go on losing streak
• Team refuses to refund season tickets after Karlsson trade
• Season tickets down by 4,000
• Opening night heavy balls are dropped on fans
• Uber video showing players roasting assistant coach and defence
• Cody Ceci accidentally sets friend's girlfriend on fire
• Melnyk and Borowiecki have Twin Peaks-level interview
• When asked what fans can look forward to, Dorion pauses for over 5 seconds
• "We're a team"
• O logo replaced at centre ice by 3D centurion
• Jonathan Pitre passes away
• Clarke MacArthur forced to retire from concussions
• Dion Phaneuf traded to LA, his retained salary is now 2nd-highest paid D
• Onesies with the team logo on it have been recalled for being a choking hazard
• Karlsson turns down offer that, allegedly, had no no trade protection
• Karlsson traded for Six Assets •
Karlsson states he believes if he'd signed offer he'd have been traded anyway
• Karlsson does not thank owner on way out
• First town hall meeting allowed reporters but banned recording gear and laptops
• Town hall meeting where owner said Alfredsson wanted to leave
• Promise made to not trade Erik Karlsson at draft and make a contract offer
• Fan has heart attack in the stands
• JG Pageau gets injured on the first day of training camp
• MacArthur's career was ended by a concussion sustained in training camp by a minor league teammate (Patrick Sieloff) who was later re-signed to an extension
• Dorion during his radio interview: "Fans are married to players. Marry new players. Get a new girlfriend."
• Sharks made room for Karlsson by dumping Mikael Boedker on Ottawa in a previous trade
• Community ambassadors do media circuit talking about importance of community outreach less than 48 hours after no team (only Sens Foundation) presence at Capital Pride
• Post-trade deadline radio call-in show lasts 12 hours
• After trading top six scorers from last season, Dorion tells team "no excuses"
• Doug MacLean and Brian Burke roast Dorion and Melnyk on Sportsnet
• Arbitrator brought in, deal falls completely apart
• Pierre Dorion refers to Mark Stone trade as his proudest moment as GM •
Dorion does not think there's a disconnect between team and fans
• Dorion inexplicably doxxes himself at Navan Arena
• Pro-Melnyk Twitter bots use stock photos of women's faces
• Aimee Deziel, Chief Marketing Officer, says there are as many anti-Melnyk bots as pro-Melnyk bots
• Lebreton Flats Facts dot com
• Melnyk sues former Lebreton co-developer for $750M, is countersued for $1B
• Coach Guy Boucher fired under 24 hours after Dorion says decision will be made in spring
• Dorion jokes around during Boucher firing press conference
• Every single press release includes "rebuild" in some form
• Downtown arena deal starts and stops multiple times
• Stone agrees to deal with Vegas in 30 minutes
• Stone says he likes Vegas' owners's commitment to winning
• Melnyk caught on video saying Stone trade has been planned for some time
• Six players remain from 2017 playoff roster
• Matt Duchene traded to Columbus for Multiple Assets
• Ryan Dzingel traded a day later to Columbus for Multiple Assets
• Mark Stone traded to Vegas days later for Three Assets
• Duchene and Stone both say they received fair offers from Senators, decided not to sign
• Melnyk tells a group of sponsors - in Toronto - the team will spend near the cap in 2021
• "Five years of unparalleled success"
• Keith Tkachuk publicly states he wants Mark Stone signed to keep helping his son


Sounds like someone is indeed in denial, and I don't think it is @Caeldan

 

[solidprospect]

Do teams that rebuild also cut costs off the ice and in he front office as well?

From what I've heard we added to both of those since last season.

 

[GrantLemons]

I doubt they are moving but it isn’t straight forward when the fans get in a pissing match with the NHL and go out of their way to to lay down the law and start demanding new owners and a new arena from the NHL, add to that the fact there is no way the city ever contributes to a new arena and you may see a move.
I don’t blame people for not wanting public money going to anyone but the NHL model is built off semi free arenas. It is a business and the idea of every city going forward demanding things from the NHL is not a path they would like to take.
You can disagree but is the Ottawa market worth investing 500 million when there are other places that would hand over control of the local arena no questions asked?
Do they want Calgary pointing to Ottawa if the NHL built them a rink and saying “see you guys have the money you don’t need our money”

Now don’t freak out no one is saying they will move, I am just saying it is far from straight forward.

As far as forced sales the only way I see that going down is if Bettman lays out some ground rules and EM freaks out and pulls a
“You can’t tell me who to hire or how to run my team”
Then they might, but as for now I think they are holding out for a large sale price

The only thing fans in this city are demanding is competent ownership and management, and as long as Eugene is sitting as CEO, and Pierre f***ing Dorion is king of hockey ops, our demands are 100% justified.

 

[Senscore]

From what I've heard we added to both of those since last season.

Like duct taping a spatula to the arm of someone who's had his hand cut off.

 

[BonkTastic]

Wasnt he denying the Thrashers were moving to Winnipeg like a couple of days before the deal was announced?

He skillfully danced around it - said things like "no sale of any NHL team has been finalized" and that he wouldn't comment on "speculation".

Here's a direct quote like days before the sale was finalized:

"I can tell you that with certainty that there is no deal for this team to move," he said. "Am I predicting that there will never be or that there won't be at some point in time? No, I'm not saying there is or there isn't."

Basically he said that there was no deal (yet).

He's good at these sorts of things.

 

[DaveMatthew]

From what I've heard we added to both of those since last season.

Really? We replaced an Assistant GM who got arrested for being a creep with a new Assistant GM who specializes in contracts/legal and not hockey ops. What else did we add?

 

[BondraTime]

From what I've heard we added to both of those since last season.

Where?

Do you mean in the marketing and PR department, nothing to do with the on ice product?

Or scouting, were we added 3 scouts (2 of which have never scouted a day in their life) to replace the 2 that were either fired or bailed on the team?

Or the Asst. GM we hired to replace the one that was arrested (didn't they say another Asst.. GM would be hired soon before the season started?)

Seems to me we are status quo from last year, at best.

 

[solidprospect]

Where?

Do you mean in the marketing and PR department, nothing to do with the on ice product?

Or scouting, were we added 3 scouts (2 of which have never scouted a day in their life) to replace the 2 that were either fired or bailed on the team?

Or the Asst. GM we hired to replace the one that was arrested (didn't they say another Asst.. GM would be hired soon before the season started?)

Yeah as well as a few people into analytics. Chris Kelly and other former players, some of them scouting and helping with player development, as well as various off ice charities.

 

[BonkTastic]

From what I've heard we added to both of those since last season.

We mostly just filled holes created by vacancies.

We didn't add anyone in the aggregate. Simply replaced the guys who left.

 

[BatherSeason]

From what I've heard we added to both of those since last season.

Who told you this, Melnyk himself?

 

[Gil Gunderson]

Except that we're going through what every other franchise goes through, something that gets ignored by everyone or they just don't care.

You're in denial.

Teams that rebuild cut costs, all of them.

Losing players like Karlsson, Stone, and Duchene in their primes in the span of 6 months is not normal.

 

[solidprospect]

Who told you this, Melnyk himself?

The internet.

 

[Upgrayedd]

All teams go through the following? Hmm...
• Most talented player in franchise history, Erik Karlsson, put on trade block
• Assistant GM Randy Lee accused of sexually harassing 19-year old bus driver
• Melnyk hires the Larry Flynt lawyer to represent Randy Lee
• New COO has to be hired before Randy Lee is suspended
• Randy Lee steps down • After months, new assistant GM is finally hired
• Mike Hoffman’s girlfriend stalks and harasses Erik Karlsson and his wife online
• Fan favourite Turris is shipped off
• Team traded potential 1st-overall pick in 2019 for one year of Matt Duchene
• Started "rebuild" two months later
• Fans started revolt against owner, erecting billboards
• Daniel Alfredsson leaves again, this time from the front office
• Alfredsson later says to reporter he hopes a new owner comes soon
• Melnyk fires CEO, named himself new CEO
• Erik Karlsson’s son is stillborn
• Craig Anderson and Mike Condon have career-awful seasons
• Anderson reportedly asks for trade, is still on team
• Condon has an even worse start to the next season, is never heard from again
• Not enough money for ushers in the third deck
• Postmedia refuses to take down video, Ken Warren kicked off team charter
• Something called furry night actually referring to pets happens
• Team forgets to hire promo photographer for LGBTQ night until a week before event
• Team adopts dog, immediately go on losing streak
• Team refuses to refund season tickets after Karlsson trade
• Season tickets down by 4,000
• Opening night heavy balls are dropped on fans
• Uber video showing players roasting assistant coach and defence
• Cody Ceci accidentally sets friend's girlfriend on fire
• Melnyk and Borowiecki have Twin Peaks-level interview
• When asked what fans can look forward to, Dorion pauses for over 5 seconds
• "We're a team"
• O logo replaced at centre ice by 3D centurion
• Jonathan Pitre passes away
• Clarke MacArthur forced to retire from concussions
• Dion Phaneuf traded to LA, his retained salary is now 2nd-highest paid D
• Onesies with the team logo on it have been recalled for being a choking hazard
• Karlsson turns down offer that, allegedly, had no no trade protection
• Karlsson traded for Six Assets •
Karlsson states he believes if he'd signed offer he'd have been traded anyway
• Karlsson does not thank owner on way out
• First town hall meeting allowed reporters but banned recording gear and laptops
• Town hall meeting where owner said Alfredsson wanted to leave
• Promise made to not trade Erik Karlsson at draft and make a contract offer
• Fan has heart attack in the stands
• JG Pageau gets injured on the first day of training camp
• MacArthur's career was ended by a concussion sustained in training camp by a minor league teammate (Patrick Sieloff) who was later re-signed to an extension
• Dorion during his radio interview: "Fans are married to players. Marry new players. Get a new girlfriend."
• Sharks made room for Karlsson by dumping Mikael Boedker on Ottawa in a previous trade
• Community ambassadors do media circuit talking about importance of community outreach less than 48 hours after no team (only Sens Foundation) presence at Capital Pride
• Post-trade deadline radio call-in show lasts 12 hours
• After trading top six scorers from last season, Dorion tells team "no excuses"
• Doug MacLean and Brian Burke roast Dorion and Melnyk on Sportsnet
• Arbitrator brought in, deal falls completely apart
• Pierre Dorion refers to Mark Stone trade as his proudest moment as GM •
Dorion does not think there's a disconnect between team and fans
• Dorion inexplicably doxxes himself at Navan Arena
• Pro-Melnyk Twitter bots use stock photos of women's faces
• Aimee Deziel, Chief Marketing Officer, says there are as many anti-Melnyk bots as pro-Melnyk bots
• Lebreton Flats Facts dot com
• Melnyk sues former Lebreton co-developer for $750M, is countersued for $1B
• Coach Guy Boucher fired under 24 hours after Dorion says decision will be made in spring
• Dorion jokes around during Boucher firing press conference
• Every single press release includes "rebuild" in some form
• Downtown arena deal starts and stops multiple times
• Stone agrees to deal with Vegas in 30 minutes
• Stone says he likes Vegas' owners's commitment to winning
• Melnyk caught on video saying Stone trade has been planned for some time
• Six players remain from 2017 playoff roster
• Matt Duchene traded to Columbus for Multiple Assets
• Ryan Dzingel traded a day later to Columbus for Multiple Assets
• Mark Stone traded to Vegas days later for Three Assets
• Duchene and Stone both say they received fair offers from Senators, decided not to sign
• Melnyk tells a group of sponsors - in Toronto - the team will spend near the cap in 2021
• "Five years of unparalleled success"
• Keith Tkachuk publicly states he wants Mark Stone signed to keep helping his son


Sounds like someone is indeed in denial, and I don't think it is @Caeldan

Hell of an Ebb here, perhaps the best/worst ebb of all time as far as sports is concerned?

 

[solidprospect]

Losing players like Karlsson, Stone, and Duchene in their primes in the span of 6 months is not normal.

Neither is not being able to win with all of them here.

 

[DaveMatthew]

This is about as much as you'll get from Bettman. Typically, he gives much more support to ownership and tries to put pressure on other stakeholders (government, partners). Look at the tone of his comments in the Calgary arena situation, where he praises ownership, and compare them to this. Two quotes that stand out:

"Eugene is doing what is expected of him as an owner in terms of meeting the team’s obligations."
"We're always willing to jump in and help when asked. We haven't been asked."

Neither of those is an endorsement. And the second comment tells you as much about Melnyk as you need to know. His major project is going up in flames and he doesn't reach out to the guy who's helped build new buildings in numerous other markets. Sounds reasonable.

 

[The Lewler]

lol I never saw that the Chief Marketing Officer said there are as many or more anti-Melnyk bots than Pro-Melnyk bots.

So she admitted there were pro-Melnyk bots ? LOL

 

[DaveMatthew]

Neither is not being able to win with all of them here.

I believe that photo was taken seconds after a huge goal was scored in the playoffs, to help the team win the game...

 

[Micklebot]

Neither is not being able to win with all of them here.

A normal franchise would have tried changing coaches first and trading star players off in mass second, but here were are dancing to our own tune.

That said, what does any of this have to do with what Bettman said?

Team relocation is and always will be the last option so Bettmans comments aren't at all surprising

 

[solidprospect]

I believe that photo was taken seconds after a huge goal was scored in the playoffs, to help the team win the game...

Then the team gave up on the city and each other. We didn't win anything, the room was broken after the penguins final.

 

[DaveMatthew]

Then the team gave up on the city and each other.

They gave up on Melnyk, Dorion and Boucher.

 

[solidprospect]

They gave up on Melnyk, Dorion and Boucher.

We didn't lose against pittsburgh because of them. They had their run as a team and gave up on us as well.