YouGotAStuGoing
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Dear Eugene,
I understand what I'm about to say might come as a shock to you. I'm sure you still see yourself as a hero in this town, and to a degree, many of us still see you as such. You rescued this team when it was destitute, when rumors of relocation were growing from quiet whispers to honest public debate. You came in with your own personal fortune to keep NHL hockey in Ottawa, and many of us will be forever grateful for that wonderful gesture.
It has been a pretty good run, hasn't it? We had some great teams in the mid 2000's, the Cup run in '07. We got to witness some great players in their prime together: Alfredsson, Chara, Redden, Hossa, Havlat... heck, even though we won't admit it now, we even loved Heatley before we had that little falling out. We had some laughs, some cries, and we've gone through a lot together.
Please, Eugene. It's time to sell the team.
I remember when you first got here, we went from being a team that couldn't meet payroll to a team that not only could meet their financial obligations to players, but started actually spending money in free agency. Sure, some of those moves were busts, but we were spending money on players, which was a huge relief for many of us long-suffering fans who were scared we'd lose our team. We were a cap team when the first lockout ended. Times were good.
Problem is, money is starting to become an issue. I don't want to get into your personal life, as I know you've gone through some rough times recently, but I think it's common knowledge at this point that you can't commit financially to this team in the same capacity that you once were able to. Let's just leave it at that. There are rumors about how much money you've lost on this team, and I won't put a number on it because it's difficult to really get an accurate read on the proper numbers due to the books being closed, and I think it can be argued that the $94 million in losses that was reported this past August doesn't represent the whole picture. There is money to be made on the arena, as well as CapitalTickets, which should be included in the entire portfolio.
All that being said, the major theme that is developing here is that you can't afford to run this team properly. Whether that is true or not, whether you are being honest with us about this, or whether this whole line of argument is a ploy to get a casino, or financial aid from various levels of government, it's a moot point. You have played your cards here, and whether they are honest or part of a bigger game, they're out there: The Ottawa Senators Hockey Club cannot spend any more money.
When the cap was lower, money wasn't much of a problem. Those were good days. Now however, with the cap over $20 million higher than it was after the first lockout, we are seeing the realities of owning a National Hockey League team... and I have to tell you, it's not going to get any better or easier. The salary cap is projected to raise a lot over the course of this CBA, and that floor is going to get higher along with it. If you are having problems now competing with a budget that is $8-10 million less than the cap ceiling, what is going to happen when you're forced to ice a team at $15 million less than top teams can spend? $20 million? Don't fool yourself, that's where this is going.
You talk about bringing a cup to Ottawa. As a hockey fan, you must realize how unlikely this sounds considering the financial resources you plan on making available. Many teams can successfully build through the draft, but rarely can they win a Cup without spending money to supplement their home-grown talent. Heck, we were probably the best-drafting team for the better part of a decade, and we still couldn't get over the hump when many of our players were entering their prime because we didn't have the resources to add the right pieces to finish the job.
We are a bottom 5-6 team in salary this year, and even despite the new regional television deal, you still have not made any statements about how this will affect player budgets going forwards... in fact, you've come out and argued the opposite. The Bell Media deal represents the largest financial deal the organization has ever signed, and still the fans can't use it as a rallying point that things are going to get better for the on-ice product. Every instance of a positive news item that comes out about this team is shortly accompanied by a statement about how we shouldn't get our hopes up. Whether this is a display of honesty about the team's finances or part of a larger game is moot: the message has become a millstone around the necks of fans, and we're tired of it.
I'm not even going to discuss your presence in the media. As the owner of this team, you have the right to say whatever crazy predictions or comments you'd like. That's your prerogative. But know this: the constant back-and-forth that is being played out with fans, the "we are going to win a cup" followed by the constant "reality checks" about our financial commitment to he on-ice product, is growing tiresome.
If this is all a game to coerce others (municipal/ provincial governments) to put public money in this team, or part of a larger plan to get yourself a casino (or other revenue-generating enterprise that ties in to the Hockey Club / Arena, you are slowly approaching the point where you are going to do more damage to the long-term financial stability of this organization than the returns might gain you. You are slowly poisoning the well of the goodwill of this team.
The time has come to make a decision about your future as the owner of this club. Make no mistake, we want you here if you are as committed to winning as you sometimes claim to be. The problem here is that you seem to only be paying lip service to the fans of this team. Are we going for a Cup? Or are we going to be the New York Islanders of the next decade? It can't be both. You say things like you will leave this team to your children, that it will be a Melnyk family legacy.... but I ask you this: is this the legacy you want to leave here? That you presided over the slow death of this organization? If you truly are having the financial difficulties you claim to be having, then please Eugene.... sell this team. I have no doubt that there are enough corporate interests within this country that would love to add the Ottawa Senators to their portfolio for the sole purpose of cross-branding and advertising.
The budget has already seen the then-longest-serving captain in the league, and hero of the city, leave abruptly, over the difference of roughly a million dollars. It might be one thing if we were up against the cap and could not fit that extra million in without going over, but we started the season as a bottom-5 team in cap expenditures. The money would have been there for almost any other team in the league. There have been rumors that we can't add players that could have helped us get into the playoffs at the very least, due entirely to the internal budget. Rumors that other decisions were made for budget reasons taking precedence over hockey ops reasons.
What I am saying here is that this fanbase will not put up with ownership constantly holding a dagger to our throats. This fanbase has proven that it will tune out an owner who constantly makes excuses as to why the on-ice product is suffering. This city will fall in love and rally behind a team that gives 100% on the ice and fall short, a trait that it will extend to ownership (as you have already expereinced at the beginning of your tensure as owner here) but it has little patience for an ownership group that will hold it hostage as a means to another end. Sure, you will always have the die-hard fans to count on, I fully admit that there are those of us who are going to be Sens fans until we die or until the team disappears, but this city is fickle. There is a LARGE percentage of our fanbase that are casual fans. We have a large "gameday" culture of buying at the last minute, and often, those "last minute/ gameday" ticket buyers are buying based on recent history. There are those of us who will always buy tickets/ merchandise, but a much larger percentage who will take their dollars elsewhere if they feel as though they are being used/ taken for granted. Us die-hards understand how crippling it will be when the casual fan becomes disinterested; we have gone through this once before, and we almost lost the team.
If you cannot commit to ensuring that this club remains reasonably competitive both on the ice as well as in the boardroom, then maybe it is time to start looking into identifying and starting a dialogue with parties who will. I understand that we will never be able to compete financially with the Torontos and the New Yorks of the league, but as it is, we are not able to compete with the Anaheims, the Winnipegs, or the Carolinas, either. We are not asking you to go bankrupt by making this a top-5 spending team, but we are telling you that we will not suffer a reprise of the "Rod Bryden years" lightly. We are sick of the mixed messages, the seemingly bi-polar nature of our PR department as it regards to our future, and the constant vague threats about the viability of the team.
You are in, or you are out. Make a decision, and stick to it.
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