Senators send out details for town hall sessions with Melnyk
‘Future is bright’: Owner wants to field questions in an open forum about plans
The Ottawa Senators have reached out to season-ticket holders for next week’s town hall sessions.
Senators owner Eugene Melnyk sent a note to subscribers Wednesday inviting them to the meetings. which will include general manager Pierre Dorion, next week in Ottawa.
The first session will be held Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Canadian Tire Centre, with the second on Wednesday at 7 a.m. at the Ottawa Conference and Events Centre.
“We are excited for the opportunity to meet with season-seat members in person to have a discussion with Pierre Dorion and I about the Ottawa Senators organization,” Melnyk wrote in the email.
“We feel that the future is bright and we are happy to have this chance to talk with you about the hockey club and also some of the new initiatives we have planned for next season.”
It’s expected those in attendance will be allowed to ask questions in an open forum, and others will submitted electronically, which was how a recent tele-conference with Dorion worked.
Melnyk and Dorion can expect plenty of queries about the future of Senators captain Erik Karlsson, plus others about what changes will be made after what has been a difficult season.
SAYING FAREWELL TO THE SEDINS
Memories started flowing for Marc Crawford as soon as he heard the news.
The phone of the Ottawa Senators’ associate coach rang Tuesday afternoon not long after the Vancouver Canucks released a letter saying that veteran forwards Daniel and Henrik Sedin would retire at season’s end. On the other end of the line was Crawford’s daughter, Kaitlin, who works for the Canucks.
“They’re great kids, and, when I had them they were kids, they were only 19 years old,” Crawford, who was then the Canucks’ head coach, said Wednesday. “That first year we had a our training camp in Sweden and that was a great happening for us because they were big entities over there.
“You saw the greatness in them. You knew it was only going to be a matter of strength and understanding of the league ( before they had success). Their work ethic was at a different level. They did things together an awful lot and that really helped our club. They were just really good at seeing each other and they had such tremendous feel.”
Crawford said he treasured the five seasons he spent with the Sedin twins. Whenever he sees them, he added, “it’s always a warm greeting.”
OFF THE GLASS
Senators goaltender Mike Condon has had a difficult end to a difficult season. He isn’t on the road trip to Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Boston after being struck in the head by a puck during practice on Tuesday. He has been diagnosed with a concussion. “It happened just before the last drill and he thought he’d be OK, and then af- ter that it wasn’t good,” head coach Guy Boucher said … The Senators recalled goalie Danny Taylor from their American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville and he dressed as the backup to Craig Anderson for Wednesday night’s game against the Sabres. Boucher said he hadn’t ruled out starting Taylor in Friday in Pittsburgh or Saturday in Boston. The Senators discussed the possibility of bringing up 19-yearold Swedish goalie Filip Gustavsson for one of the final three games, but chose the 31-year-old Taylor instead. “We’re looking at a backto-back finish against two teams that are at the top of their game and they’re meaningful games for those two teams,” Boucher said. “I don’t think that’s a good environment for somebody coming over to throw him in there, but, at the same, if the organization felt that’s what they wanted to do, then that’s what we’re going to do. Right now, that’s not the discussion we had.”
THE LAST WORDS
Boucher confirmed that winger Marian Gaborik was in Los Angeles to see a back specialist for something that had been causing him discomfort since the Senators acquired him from the Kings at the February trade deadline. Surgery hasn’t been ruled out. “I don’t know what to tell you because I don’t know where it’s at,” Boucher said. “I know it’s a nagging thing but everybody, including myself, decided let’s look into this and let’s make sure we know what we’re talking about. The medical staff is terrific and we’ve been trusting them every step of the way, so they ’ve done everything possible to take care of him” … Senators defenceman Cody Ceci hasn’t been asked to go play for Canada at the world championship in Denmark. He won gold with Canada in Russia in 2015. He’d be interested, though. “If I do hear anything, it would be great. If I don’t I’ll just train, carry on and get ready for next season,” Ceci said … Winger Mark Stone missed his 13th consecutive game with a leg injury he described as a sprain. “My goal coming on this trip was to try and play in the last two games,” Stone said. “I have to be careful for sure, but I’ve already been skating for a week and it feels pretty solid. If we were in the thick of a playoff run I’d probably be playing games right now, but it’s not one of those things that you want injure and have it hamper your summer training.”