And the Hits Just Keep Coming for Eugene Melnyk

In a summer that has been rife with speculation concerning Eugene Melnyk’s financial wherewithal and what impacts a strict internal budget could have on this organization moving forward, it was hardly surprising to see another individual lob a grenade in Melnyk’s direction this weekend.

In an article within the Ottawa Citizen that announced Alfie was pulling up his roots and selling his house – a move forecasted by the Team 1200’s Eric Macramalla because of the tax ramifications created by holding onto the property – Alfie’s friend, Tony Rhodes took a shot at the Senators’ owner.

“He’s excited. He can’t wait. The guy wants to win. He’s going to Hockeytown, and they don’t call it Hockeytown for nothing,” Rhodes told the Citizen at the time. “The organization there might be one of the best organizations in all of North American professional sports. They were one goal away from beating Chicago and going to the Cup (final in June). They’re a contender. And they have a commitment from their owner to make it work, whereas I don’t know whether that is evident in Ottawa.”

Zing.

Rhodes, if you’ll recall, was also the subject of this Wayne Scanlan tweet from a few weeks ago.

Tony Rhodes is as close to Daniel Alfredsson as anyone in Ottawa. And he points to Sens ownership in this decision to change teams.

— Wayne Scanlan (@HockeyScanner) July 6, 2013

This isn’t like Dany Heatley’s neighbor, Tom Molloy, writing a letter to the Ottawa Citizen to express frustration that the Heatley family did not have a forum to vent their frustrations with how their son was being portrayed in the days and weeks following his trade request. This is a confidante of Alfie’s. If anyone has their pulse on why Alfie left, it’s going to be him.

Province Rules on Ottawa’s Casino Situation

The hits just keep coming for Melnyk.

This morning we received news that the province would not be approving Ottawa’s two-casino bid.

Ontario’s Finance Minister, Anthony Sousa, wrote a letter to Watson informing him that “Based on this analysis, the Ontario government continues to support the OLG recommendation of developing one zone and one site in the Ottawa area.”

Melnyk addressed the City of Ottawa finance and economic development committee this morning. Although he didn’t say anything particularly new (ie. his threat to sue over the City’s lack of due process in their decision to sole-source the casino bid still exists), he extended an open invitation for auditors to look into the Senators’ finances and assess his claims that the team is losing $10M per season.

Of course, there is this, but hey, if someone wants to take a crack at Eugene’s books, now’s your chance!

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And the Hits Just Keep Coming for Eugene Melnyk

Alan Draper

Alan Draper

Alan Draper