Melnyk in the News: A Senators Cup Coming Soon? Captain Tkachuk?

While the dust has settled a bit on the excitement of the draft and free agency, the hockey world is still buzzing. The Ottawa Senators are doing their part to keep the discussion lively, too. Let’s get to what made the headlines in the hockey world this week.

• There was a lot to be said about the way the Ottawa Senators Foundation ended its tenure with the team, and none of it was pretty. In particular, there were accusations made about Eugene Melnyk by various media outlets including the Ottawa Sun. At the time, the Sun issued an apology and retraction of certain statements that were published but it seems that wasn’t enough for Melnyk. On Tuesday, it was reported that Melnyk had filed a lawsuit against columnist Rick Gibbons for his damaging his reputation. Melnyk is seeking $500,000 in the lawsuit and has not named the Ottawa Sun as a defendant. Difficult not to see this as a retaliatory legal action.
• In more Melnyk news, he remains as quotable as ever amid his efforts to buoy fan confidence. By Melnyk’s standards, the article is actually pretty tame but as expected there is always one quote that is bound to get folks talking:“I truly believe that we are a Stanley Cup winner within four years,” he said. “It can happen any time, but within four years”. I mean we’re all excited about Stutzle but seriously? We’ve heard this story before, but at least this time he has a 112-page master plan to guide him along.
• If there is one player most every fan wants to see win a Stanley Cup, it’s Joe Thornton. There is no player that deserves it more at this point and the San Jose Shark really did him no favours this past season by refusing to trade him. He doesn’t seem ready to retire and it probably makes no sense for him to return back to San, Jose but what Stanley Cup contender would be willing to take on the 41-year old? If you guessed, the Toronto Maple Leafs then come on down. Not only are the Maple Leafs seemingly linked to every available player in the NHL, they’re also in an endless search for that “missing piece”. With Thornton hailing from nearby London, ON, I’m sure there will be a cute childhood picture of him in Leafs attire but honestly, I just don’t see the fit there and with few chances left for Jumbo Joe to win the Cup.
• While the rest of the hockey world awaits confirmation on the return of its leagues, the WHL has taken a step forward and announced that they will be back in action as of January 8th, 2021. The bubble format will not be implemented, however teams will only be competing amongst their own divisions. It will be interesting to see what the overall situation will look like in January and which other league will follow suit.
• There was some jersey drama among twitter last night as it seemed the Adidas app had a glitch:/

The adidas app is selling Tkachuk jerseys with the “C”...mistake on their end or is it an early leak? pic.twitter.com/CDvTnz3LV8

— Avery Smith (@SmittysDesigns) October 14, 2020

This is probably a mistake or some customization option, but some are wondering if it’s an “accidental leak”. I highly doubt it since everybody knows the next Ottawa Senators captain is Thomas Chabot.

• On a final note, it hasn’t been easy being a Sens fan the past few seasons but if we have one thing going for us it’s that we have been blessed with some fantastic media personalities that better both the Sens and Ottawa community, including Ian Mendes, Brent Wallace, and some new faces like Hailey Salvian from The Athletic. Hailey graced the Senators media world with her informative pieces and interesting takes last season, and has been a refreshing and extremely approachable addition to the Sens’ beat. I you don’t follow her already, I strongly recommend that you do so and be sure to check out her work at the Athletic./