I am thoroughly enjoying these NHL playoffs.
Obviously it would be better if the Senators were in there but it’s been nice to just sit back and enjoy the game again. That Los Angeles/San Jose series is some of the best hockey I’ve ever watched. And while it serves as a painful reminder of just how far Ottawa has to go before they are among the elite teams, it’s impossible not to appreciate the talent on display.
While the break from the Senators has been oddly refreshing, there’s still plenty going on with this team. The off-season is slowing down a little bit after a quick start but the rumour mill surrounding the Senators always seems to be churning.
For the most part, I try to avoid posting rumours. Until I have some solid backing to the stories I hear, I try to avoid sharing them here. But the odd time (and with a clear disclaimer that these are rumours and not facts), it’s nice to give the readers a window into the sort of things I come across on a day to day basis.
So let’s take a walk, shall we? A collection of the rumours, speculation and unconfirmed stories out there right now…
-Late in the season, there was talk that maybe some players in the locker room weren’t overly thrilled with the play of Mike Hoffman and that maybe this wasn’t the first time this has come up. We’ve now seen Hoffman end up in the dog house of two separate Coaches and seen the organization hesitate when discussing a long term deal. It doesn’t seem entirely ridiculous that maybe some of his teammates may be less than thrilled with him at times although there has never been any indication of that publicly. Not really sure what to make of this one.
-Bryan Murray made the difficult decision to step down as General Manager a couple weeks ago and it seemed to be a development that caught some people by surprise. Based on everything I had heard before the announcement, it seemed like Murray wanted to come back for another year. So did Murray step aside on his own or was he politely asked to move into the advisor’s role?
-The discussion on the Senators search for a Head Coach seems to be focused around a lot of the same names in the last couple weeks but one guy who may be off the radar a little bit but could end up getting an interview is Dallas Eakins. He’s currently coaching the AHL’s San Diego Gulls and seems like someone the Senators may want to talk to if they do end up looking at an extensive list of candidates. Kirk Muller is another name I’ve heard as a possibility.
-An outdoor game in Ottawa seems like a slam-dunk at this point. It’s expected that it would take place in December 2017 and would be another huge addition to the city’s plans for Canada’s 150th birthday. While I keep waiting for people to dismiss the idea of the game being played on Parliament Hill, the rumours persist. The logistics that would go into something like this seem insurmountable but both the Senators and the city seem to be seriously considering it.
-In September 2014, the Senators announced they had extended their affiliate agreement with the AHL’s Binghamton Senators for an additional four seasons. The current deal takes them through 2018-19 season. Yet there are rumours out there suggesting that the organization may be interested in moving their AHL team to Canada at some point. Moves like that obviously don’t happen over night though and the organization has always seemed more than content with their agreement in Binghamton.
-The organization’s decision to close up shop on Capital Tickets raised a few eyebrows. While a shift to Ticketmaster better aligns the club with the majority of the league, I heard it may also be about a preference to avoid a costly technological upgrade to keep the platform running. On the surface that makes sense but it is strange that the team would voluntarily give up a significant money maker. I also wonder about the overall impact on jobs within the organization. Speaking of which, I’ve also heard that maybe things aren’t so good on that front as over the last couple months, there have been rumours about layoffs internally.
-Rumours of budget cuts. The closing of Capital Tickets. The hiring of a high-profile lawyer. The impending decision on the LeBreton Flats development. All these recent developments have sparked some wild speculation about the possibility that the Ottawa Senators may be on the market in the not too distant future. Certainly that’s just speculation right now and pretty far-fetched. As we all know, the current Owner has passionately denied this possibility in the past.
-Speaking of the LeBreton Development, it seems like there’s a chance we could hear something in the not too distant future. While the formal announcement is not expected until early in 2017, the preliminary recommendation to the NCC Board of Director was expected in Spring 2016, as outlined by the timeline process detailed on the NCC site. It just so happens that the Board of Directors meets a week from today. And now, it sounds like that decision could be revealed next week.
