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Thursday, October 28, 1999
Sens sticking to hockey
But head coach Jacques Martin and his players will stick to their task at hand: playing hockey.
The Senators, who have the league's sixth-lowest payroll at just more than $21.7 million US, are reportedly going to lose $7 million this year. In the past, Bryden has said that unless federal, provincial, and municipal governments grant tax breaks to Canadian franchises -- to the tune of about $10 million a year -- the future of the Senators looked grim.
There was good news for Bryden on Thursday, when the Ontario government announced it would cut property taxes for privately owned arenas -- such as Ottawa's Corel Centre, which would save the Senators up to $7 million a year.
The move will be contingent on local governments agreeing to match the reduction in their own tax bills, Finance Minister Ernie Eves told the legislature. That's the best news to hit the Senators all year.
While rumours abound of the NHL club's departure, Bryden has never stated he wanted to sell the club. Flooded with media requests, he'll hold an impromptu meeting today to address the team's state of affairs.
"We went up to Mr. Bryden's the other night, he had a little get-together for the team like he does every year. Nothing's come from his mouth about moving the team," said Senators defenceman Jason York, who grew up in neighbouring Nepean, Ont. "Until he does say it, then it may be some cause for concern. There's nothing we really can do about it besides just play, and keep winning. When you're winning, everything is great. That's the way the business is."
When York came to Ottawa for the 1996-97 season after stints with Detroit and Anaheim, two financially stable clubs, he joined a team that was playing out of a 10,550-seat junior hockey arena and suffered through its first four seasons with a combined 51 wins. Last year, the team set franchise records with 44 wins and 103 points.
"The first few years were kind of a joke. Now it's a model franchise," York said. "The team and the city have grown every year and Ottawa's now a big player in Canada. We win, our fan support's awesome, it's a real exciting place to play.
"I would never want to see the team move. I've thought of that obviously, hearing the rumours."
Although it denied the report, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman's office was said to have received three verbal offers this week about the team's availability, and a Boston-based investment firm, Game Plan LLC, said it has two groups of U.S. and Canadian investors interested in purchasing the club and keeping it in Ottawa. The offers were said to be for about $130 million US. The original franchise price tag was about $50 million.
"That's not within our control, that's basically the ownership issues,"
Martin said after Thursday's practice at the Corel Centre. "Our responsibility is to win a hockey game, and that's what we focus on."
And the Senators have done just that. Heading into Thursday night's contest with the Calgary Flames, the Senators found themselves back among the league's elite with a 6-2-1 record, including convincing wins over Toronto and Colorado -- two teams with high expectations themselves.
Ottawa's list of troubles began with the late signings of Selke Trophy runner-up Magnus Arvedson, forwards Radek Bonk and Bruce Gardiner, and defenceman Wade Redden on the eve of training camp.
They continued with leading scorer Alexei Yashin's holdout, and new captain Daniel Alfredsson's knee injury. Alfredsson suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee Oct. 21 and is expected to be out of action until the new year.
Adding to the mix was a dust-up between forwards Bruce Gardiner and Steve Martins at a pre-season retreat, and now the team's financial woes.
"We're not talking about (the sale)," said defenceman Sami Salo. "We're just playing the games and doing our best out in the field because we can't do anything about what's happening outside the rink."
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