The Ottawa Senators returned to the ice Saturday morning for their normal game-day skate. But instead of responding to questions of what to expect in their evening battle with the Florida Panthers, Senators players and head coach Travis Green dealt with the social media discourse from Thursday.
Fabricated post
A fabricated post targeting Senators players, mainly goalie Linus Ullmark who’s currently on a leave of absence from the organization had the internet buzzing.
Senators President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Steve Staios attempted to quell rumours posted by a since-deleted account.
In a team release Staios stated, “Our organization was disappointed to read the completely fabricated statement and false stories that are spreading around social media about our hockey club. Linus is away from our team for personal reasons and he has the entire organization’s support. We asked that people respect his privacy, but that request was clearly not heard by the trolls and sick people who scour the internet. We are disgusted that outside forces are attempting to disrupt our hockey club. This statement will put an end to the ridiculous speculation that has spread online.”
Angry Senators players
A disgusted Brady Tkachuk didn’t mince his words Saturday morning, “It’s pretty (expletive expletive). I mean, I don’t think anybody’s pretty happy about a narrative being spread like that. No, I think it’s okay for people to critique our on ice performance, but when it gets into the family, it’s it’s pretty (expletive expletive). So it’s embarrassing that it got to the point that it did. And yeah, I could tell you for free, I’m not happy about it, one bit.”
The Senators captain added, “It’s not true. It’s just a (expletive) story. That’s just how it is and our society and life now, that people can just say whatever they want and no repercussions, and don’t really realize who it affects. So just, it’s just crazy that, I mean, to bring up a crazy story like that and talk about people’s families and stuff like that, I
honestly can’t really wrap my head around it.”
Like the rest of teammates and the entire Senators organization, their concern lies with their goaltender who’s away from the club.
“I really feel bad for Linus. Nobody knows what he’s going through, but the fact that he has to even deal with this, and even have to think about it, where now all we care about for him is getting what he needs. And now we said from Day one that he’s had our support, the whole organization support from Day one, now that he has to deal with this, it’s (expletive) mind blowing,” Tkachuk exclaimed.
Tim Stützle also lent his support to Ullmark, “I mean, we don’t really care what anybody said. I think this was definitely crossing the line. Linua has a great family, and, like I said, there’s nothing close to what’s been said, and I know how much he loves his family, how much he supports his family. So yeah, we really need him back, and we’re just gonna respond as a group. But what’s been said in here is the most important thing. There’s always gonna be rumours. There’s always gonna things being said, and yeah, we love each other in here, that’s the most important thing, that we stick together no matter what’s been happening.”
Stützle told assembled media including Hockey Hot Stove, he reached out to Ullmark via text when his leave was announced December 28.
David Perron noted he was disappointed with certain hockey insiders in the way they handled themselves in the wake of the X post.
“Quite frankly, a little bit disappointed, even in some people that ran with it that should know better in the hockey world. And, you know, there’s trolls and people like that that want to start things and kind of maybe affect our team. But I think people that know better should stay out of it.”
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