Memo to Melnyk: Like it or not, the media generally mirrors what the fans are thinking

There’s a famous line in the infamous movie Cool Hand Luke that sums up the Ottawa Senators these days.

“What we’ve got here,” the prison warden says to Luke, played by a young Paul Newman, “is failure to communicate.”

Indeed, many season ticketholders and owner Eugene Melnyk don’t see eye to eye on the state of the franchise.

Traditionally, the link between fans and ownership has been through newspapers, television and radio, but Melnyk has embarked on a war of sorts with what he describes as an overly “negative” media.

Why would there be a negative vibe around a team that lost 54 of 82 games, allowing 70 more goals than it scored, finished 30th among 31 teams and is in danger of losing captain Erik Karlsson this summer?

You might have already heard a word or two about what’s happened over the past couple of days.

The Senators opened the doors to its declining season ticket base, giving them direct access to Melnyk and general manager Pierre Dorion in three town hall meetings.

Meeting with the most dedicated base of supporters and directly answering some of their issues surrounding the team and arena is a positive.

Fans have learned that Karlsson won’t be traded at the June 22 draft, but his ultimate future won’t be decided until a contract extension is offered on July 1. Melnyk said the Senators will do their best but cautioned they might be “outgunned” by a rival team that can spend more.

The Senators have also listened to fans’ concerns about parking prices, chopping the price of $20 spots to $12. We’re still waiting for word on potential changes to the $30 parking lot.

Some other answers, however, weren’t so clear.

Full disclosure here. Reporters weren’t privy to everything that was said because the team allowed media access to only the first event and didn’t allow any questions or any audio or videotaping from journalists. Their team, their rules.

The technology grapevine being what it is, though, it sure sounds like the final two town halls went along the lines of the first.

Some of the questions on the minds of fans are largely the same questions that would have come from reporters anyway.

While Karlsson queries were front and centre, Melnyk was also grilled about the state of the franchise and his commitment to the future, and he was asked to clarify his outdoor game outburst in December.

Here’s where there the communication breakdown comes in.

Those concerns were legitimate and begged to be answered.

Other than a one-paragraph statement, there has been no explanation about why Tom Anselmi abruptly left the organization as president and chief executive in February. Melnyk has since taken over the president and CEO duties. Front-office staff is thinner than the depth on the Senators’ blue line.

In terms of the alumni game comments — when Melnyk said he would consider moving the franchise if it became “a disaster” — the owner was silent for six weeks before saying, in a videotaped statement, that it “was unfortunate that his comments touched a nerve.”

Fast forward to the past couple of days. One fan asked Melnyk about the perception of management “chaos”.

Melnyk insisted he’s “all in” and that there’s too much “nonsense” floating around about what might be happening inside the operation. He repeated that he will not sell the franchise, which could bring in anywhere from $550 million to $650 million.

In terms of the controversial outdoor game comments, Melnyk insisted his original comments have been misrepresented by the media.

He’s asking fans to look at the tapes. If fans haven’t already done that, they should and then judge for themselves.

At the same time, the Senators owner acknowledged that in the future he will be “smarter and wiser” when answering questions.

In general, Melnyk says there’s far too much negativity aimed at the franchise.

In that regard, the Senators owner singled out Postmedia’s post-season survey, which asks readers to weigh in on a number of questions about what went wrong, what their concerns are, and the avenues the Senators should take to improve — in essence, the same types of questions season ticket holders were asking Melnyk and Dorion this week.

For what it’s worth, there are countless diehard fans who routinely criticize the media for not being hard enough on the franchise.

Melnyk might not choose to believe it, but the media generally provide a mirror for the views of fans. After an awful year, fans and media should both ask tougher questions.

Melnyk has embarked on a war of sorts with what he describes as an overly ‘negative’ media.