Social media is a great tool to post newsworthy items in real time and create interesting conversation. However, there’s a downside; it has the power to digress into a land of misinformation, some of which can be hurtful. This was the case Thursday afternoon when a since-deleted X account posted a false rumour involving goalie Linus Ullmark and various Ottawa Senators players.
After Ullmark was designated as a non-roster player on the NHL media page, fabricated rumours flew across social media channels. Ignoring the fact, the move was facilitated by the Senators to add forward Lars Eller to their 23-man roster. While being away from the team. the goaltender was still taking up a roster spot, mainly due to the Senators not receiving salary cap relief on his $8.25 million contract.
Senators issue a statement
Viewing adverse interactions online, the Senators chose to clap back at those making defamatory statements, issuing a poignant statement of their own.
In an unprecedented move, Ottawa Senators President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Steve Staios issued the following release in all caps:
“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.”
Ullmark;s leave of absence
Ullmark took a personal leave of absence December 28. At the time Staios issued a statement of the organization providing their full support.
“Linus has the full support of our organization during this time. Out of respect to Linus, we will not be making any futher comments,” said Staios in the team’s media release.
Senators captain Brady Tkachuk echoed the club’s support for his teammate, “For us as teammates it’s just always be there for him and whatever he’s going through that he knows we’re always there.”
As an NHL-credentialed media member we’re subject to social media trolling on occasion. There are those that may disagree with our commentary and some which use our accounts to vent when their favourite team is losing, but what occurred Thursday crossed a line which should never be crossed.
