The Ottawa Senators havent played a game in almost three months. It will probably be another six or seven months before they play again.
You would think, with this downtime, the organization could spend some time rebuilding a public image that has taken a few (several? endless?) hits over the last couple years.
Well if you thought that, then haven’t really been paying attention.
Yesterday, another embarrassing moment for a franchise that has had more than their fair share.
In a stunning statement, the Sens Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Ottawa Senators, announced they were going in another direction. As in, not with the Ottawa Senators.
Here’s the statement from the Foundation.
Moments later, Ian Mendes provided some additional details, primarily from the perspective of the Foundation.
As is so often the case, the comms side of the Senators was a little slow to react but when they did, they filled in some of the gaps in a story that wasn’t making a whole lot of sense.
Wanting to expand the mandate of the organization is fine. And causes like organ donation and domestic abuse are obviously worthy of the Foundation’s attention and support.
At the same time, there were legitimate concerns about the Foundation itself and certainly ways they could improve the work they do. This has become even more important in the current reality. The Foundation relies heavily on events and 50/50 sales for their operations and those just aren’t possible in the foreseeable future. Even with a functioning partnership between the team and foundation, there were going to be some challenging days ahead.
But under no circumstances should that lead to a complete separation. From your own foundation.
It doesn’t make sense for a functioning organization to let it get to that point and it certainly doesn’t seem like enough reason for the Foundation to decide it would make more sense to go it alone.
People I have spoken to have suggested Eugene Melnyk wanted a more public-facing role in the Foundation and wanted to a more active say in their decision-making and operations, including an increased focus on causes important to him. Well within his rights as the Owner of the hockey team I suppose but clearly a terrible idea.
This is something that has been brewing for awhile now and it’s something the Senators should have fixed before it got to this point.
There are bridges you just don’t burn.
Daniel Alfredsson was one and they torched it. Twice. Cyril Leeder was another and he was tossed aside after leading a life-saving organ donation campaign on Melnyk’s behalf. And now the Sens Foundation, which represented so much about what was still good about this organization, has met a similar fate. I swear, if they mess with Spartacat, I AM DONE.
My biggest concern in all this isn’t the obvious damage to the Senators brand because honestly, I’m not sure they really have one at this point.
My concern is for the good people at the Sens Foundation. They’ve been a friend to this site over the years and I know people there that have poured their heart and soul into this community. And now they are left wondering what comes next. At the same time, it’s hard not to worry about all the crucial programs and services in our community that rely on the support of the Sens Foundation.
Sincerely hope the new organization can make a run of it on their own and the Senators find a way to keep supporting those programs with their new philanthropic arm.
For now, we add to Cicero’s masterpiece. Sigh.
