The Ottawa Senators are currently in a little bit of hot water with their fans and their team owner Eugene Melnyk.
On March 19, four billboards with the slogan #MelnykOut went up in various locations around Ottawa. Spencer Callaghan, a longtime Sens fan, started a GoFundMe page back in January to raise $10,000 in order to pay for the billboards.
Over the course of three months, fellow Sens fans have been promoting #MelnykOut over social media and at games. Many feel that Melnyk has lost touch with the Sens’ fanbase and brought a lot of chaos and uncertainty about the team’s management.
But, the promotion for this campaign has gone too far.
I do not agree with the #MelnykOut campaign. Melnyk has made it clear that the Ottawa Senators will not be going anywhere, and that he’s going to try to connect with the fans and show them that he’s here to stay.
Back in December, after Melnyk threatened to relocate the team, he had a press conference a week later to explain to fans that he didn’t actually mean what he said and that the Sens were not going to be relocated. But by that time, the fans were already angry at Melnyk.
I believe that the Sens fans are acting ridiculous. They are wasting their money on billboards to anger the team owner when they could instead use the money to donate to the Sens Foundation to help children learn to skate. They could also use the money to help send kids to games that have never been to a National Hockey League game before due to low income.
But no, that’s not what they’re doing. Instead, they’re spending their money on four billboards, which will only stay up for two weeks in order to send a message to their rash owner who is actually much more unpredictable when it comes to making decisions involving his team.
Melnyk is the team owner who has saved the team from previous relocations before. And the same owner who sat in the 300-level seats with fans to experience what it’s like from the perspective of a fan at a game. This is the man who decided to host town hall meetings with fans after the billboards went up. This is the man who the fans are telling they don’t want in their city.
After the billboards went up, I fear that the impact of this campaign will cause Melnyk to pull back on what he said about keeping the team in Ottawa and he may try to relocate the team to send a message to the fans.
I also believe that if he doesn’t try to relocate the team, he’ll call up players to play for the team that the fans don’t like or he won’t try to sign back players that the fans really love. I also fear that Melnyk might raise the price of tickets and parking to piss off the fans even more.
I believe that Ottawa needs a team not just for the city but also for the fans.
Having an NHL team in Ottawa brings people together in a common love of the team and allows them to meet and become friends with fellow fans who they normally wouldn’t have met if there wasn’t a team.
So, if the #MelnykOut campaign continues, I’m afraid that Melnyk will react hastily and do something rash to send a message to the fans that he’s not going to stand for the fans’ nonsense and stupidity.
An entire city of fans shouldn’t have to lose the team they know and love because of the frustration felt by a select few.
