Capital Punishment - Ottawa Senators Franchise (Eastside Hockey Manager)

[GoldenJet]

Partnership Group approaches Sens owner with offer | 01/22/2019

It has been announced that a group has approached longtime Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk with a league-approved offer to purchase the hockey franchise. The group, led by real estate mogul Charles Hastings, is prepared to pursue a new arena and have been vocal about keeping the Senators in Ottawa, Ontario.

If there is one person in the Ottawa community that has been feeling the stress that comes with an NHL team rocketing down towards the basement of the league, it's team owner Eugene Melnyk.

Melnyk may have saved the Senators from declaring bankruptcy in 2003 when he purchased the team, but he has been marred in controversy ever since, whether it is his long line of loans he has taken to finance the team (including a 135-million line refinanced credit taken out in the summer of 2018) or when he fraudulently told investors that subpar Biovail (the pharmaceutical company behind his wealth) profits were a result of a fatal truck accident in Illinois that had delayed shipments.

The last straw may have been the failed venture to acquire a new site to build the arena. In 2015, the National Capital Commission (NCC) put out a request for proposals to redevelop the LeBreton Flats area in downtown Ottawa, a longtime vacant former industrial area. In 2016 the NCC settled on the proposal presented by Senators owner Eugene Melnyk and the RendezVous LeBreton Group partnership with Trinity Developments. The proposal included housing units, park space, a recreation facility, a library and a new arena for the Ottawa Senators.

The plan to build a new arena downtown came apart in late 2018 after it was revealed that the Senators were suing Trinity for $700 million in damages. Trinity was developing a site adjacent to the LeBreton Flats site and the Senators felt this was inappropriate competition. Trinity responded with a $1 billion lawsuit, accusing the Senators of being unwilling to contribute any money to the project. The NCC announced the cancellation of the partnership's bid to develop the site but gave the sides an extension when the two parties agreed to mediation.

The new group, notably led by Hastings, has reportedly opened discussions back open with the LeBreton group to potentially build an arena in time for the 2021-22 season, setting the Senators up to have a new home that is located within the city rather than on the outskirts.

On February 27, 2019, it was announced that mediation between the parties had failed to come to an agreement and that the NCC would explore other options for the site's redevelopment.

It seems as though it has been an eternity since the Ottawa Senators were simply one goal away from reaching the Stanley Cup Finals before Chris Kunitz and the Pittsburgh Penguins broke the hearts of thousands of Canadians on the way to clinching their championship.

Since then, the Senators have slowly unraveled at the seams - beginning with the loss of defenseman Marc Methot in the expansion draft. Players began to regress and the Sens attempted to avoid slipping out of contention by acquiring forward Matt Duchene from the Colorado Avalanche. It didn't take, as the team continued to fall down in the standings, deciding to deal Derick Brassard and Dion Phaneuf at the trade deadline.

Despite drafting Brady Tkachuk fourth overall in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, the team decided to sell high, trading the likes of Mike Hoffman, Mark Stone, and Ryan Dzingel. The final big piece being team cornerstone and captain Erik Karlsson. The team finished the 2018-19 season in last place, making it the first time since 1995-96 that the team missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons.

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[Nickflyers]

Aaaannnddd........go on :P