Bettman keeps eye on Ottawa

SEA ISLAND, GA.— Gary Bettman isn’t concerned the development deal that would have included a new downtown arena for the Ottawa Senators is falling apart. The NHL commissioner is, however, lamenting that the plan as it stands appears to be dead.

“I would say I’m more disappointed with how this played out,” Bettman said Monday at the NHL board of governors meetings. “But these are complicated matters.”

Senators owner Eugene Melnyk is suing business partner John Ruddy for $700 million over the proposed LeBreton Flats project on federal land situated just west of Parliament Hill in the nation’s capital. Melnyk’s group, Capital Sports Management Inc., started legal proceedings against Ruddy, chair of Trinity Development Group Inc., on Nov. 23 and is “seeking damages arising out of a failed joint venture.”

The statement alleges the two companies were unable to finalize a master development agreement and that there were “a number of breaches, all arising out of a conflict of interest, that directly resulted in the failure of the partnership.”

The Senators have played in Canadian Tire Centre, a facility about 25 kilometres west of downtown Ottawa, since 1996.

The team has seen attendance dip drastically in recent years, including being unable to sell out the arena during the 2017 Eastern Conference finals.

The Senators played in front of less than 11,000 fans at a recent home game against the New York Rangers.

DevCore Group, which was beaten out to develop LeBreton Flats in 2016, said in a statement Sunday it’s ready to take over the project should the current agreement be terminated.