In the last couple days, it had become increasingly clear that Clarke MacArthur’s status was anything but certain. Today, the Senators announced the news we were all fearing.
#Sens GM Pierre Dorion tells the media this morning that Clarke MacArthur did not pass his team medical test during training camp.
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) September 14, 2017
Dorion clarified that at this point, no immediate decision has been made on MacArthur’s future but more information is expected on that front in the next few days. Dorion was pretty careful with his words in talking about what comes next but long-term injured reserve (LTIR) has to be a consideration.
Listening to Dorion over the last week or so, it was pretty clear that the team knew this was a possibility. And when he made the announcement today, there was none of that trademark emotion you usually get from Dorion on this sort of thing. He knew it was coming.
When you add in the rumours of Clarke’s house going up for sale a couple weeks ago, it sort of looks like this was something that both sides were prepared for to some extent.
If this is indeed the end of the line for Clarke MacArthur, at least he got to go out on a high note.
He was a huge piece of the team’s playoff run last year, returning to the line up when everyone assumed it was impossible. The two goals he scored in that Boston series will go down as some of the most memorable in team history.
