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Once bitten twice shy.
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Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk is not in the least upset with the NHL’s decision not to go to the Beijing Olympics in February.
There was no surprise Wednesday when the NHL confirmed that it will not release players to play in the Winter Olympics. The league is in the midst of an unplanned hiatus due to the sudden surge in COVID-19 cases and needs time in February to recover the more than 40 league-wide games that have already been postponed.
“You don’t want your players to go there and get hurt,” Melnyk told Postmedia in a telephone interview from his Toronto office on Tuesday. “It is a nightmare, I have lived it and it cost us the possibility of winning a Stanley Cup.
“I don’t want to get caught again because doing it once was enough.”
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In 2005-06, the senators allowed Dominik Hasek to dress for the Czech Republic at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. He suffered a mysterious adductor injury during the tournament and never returned to the Senators’ network that season.
There was concern across the city when Hasek, then 41, left the Czech net after coming down to stop early in his country’s 4-1 win over Germany. It was initially described as a groin injury and the hope was that he wouldn’t be out for that long.
Instead, Hasek never dressed again with the senators and that was a great success for the organization. He was 28-10-4 in 43 games when injured with an average of 2.09 goals against and a save percentage of .925.
The club lost in the second round to the Buffalo Sabers that spring to the late Ray Emery at the net. With the club trailing 3-0 in the series, captain Daniel Alfredsson and backup Wade Redden were among a group of players begging Hasek to play Game 4 in Buffalo.
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The Senators extended the series, but lost in Game 5 at home when Jason Pominville scored the winner of overtime by skating Alfredsson with the Sabers shorts.
That spring is etched in Melnyk’s memory and that is why he will never again support NHL players who go to the Olympics.
“As much as he is a great patriot of Canada, it is not fair for our organization or our fans to send players to the other side of the world, in the middle of our season, to play on behalf of their countries,” said Melnyk.
This is not the first time that Melnyk has expressed his position at the Olympics. In 2018, some players expressed interest in leaving their NHL teams to play in their countries and Melnyk stated at the time that he would not let Erik Karlsson leave to play for Sweden.
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The decision of the league and the players means that no one can be released by NHL teams to dress in Beijing.
Senators would have had some strong candidates to play in the Games.
- Blueliner Thomas Chabot was one of the favorites to play for Team Canada
- Captain Brady Tkachuk had put himself on Team USA’s radar screen and was probably guaranteed a spot.
- Defenders Artem Zub and Nikita Zaitsev would have likely been invited by Russia. Zub played for his country in the 2018 Games in Pyeong Chang when the NHL chose not to attend the games.
- Minor league goalkeeper Mads Sogaard had already been invited to play for Denmark after being part of the qualifying round in the offseason.
Those players will be disappointed by this decision because they wanted the opportunity to represent their countries.
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Melnyk is a huge supporter of Team Canada and the program, but he also likes the idea of keeping everyone healthy.
“We only had one player who was potentially going for Canada,” Melnyk said. “Why am I sending the players? It would be one thing if they went to Canada. If we had a chance to win a gold medal and they said they needed one of our players.
“I say, ‘You know what? As a patriot it’s a great idea. ‘ it was.
“What happened, which we all feared, actually happened (with Hasek hurt). You don’t have much of a chance of winning a Stanley Cup. That was our year and that was our chance and they took it from us. “
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As it stands now, senators will need that time in February to make up five games at home and more postponements could be on the horizon. The club’s three games at the Canadian Tire Center this week must be rescheduled and there is also no guarantee that two games will be played next week.
Senators have seven people on the COVID-19 protocol at the moment, including head coach DJ Smith, assistant Davis Payne, video coach Mike King and goalkeeper Filip Gustavsson. There are also three staff members who tested positive.
The club is scheduled to play the Washington Capitals on Monday at Capital One Arena, but there are no guarantees that it will take place. Many league officials would like the NHL to take a hiatus until at least January 5 to see if the spread can be reduced.
Twitter: @sungarrioch
Reference-ottawasun.com