The Ottawa Senators pay tribute to the memory of Eugene Melnyk

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A special video tribute and a chair in his box that sat empty, surrounded by flowers, was a special tribute for the late Eugene Melnyk Sunday April 3, 2022, at the Ottawa Senators home game against the Detroit Red Wings.
A special video tribute and a chair in his box that sat empty, surrounded by flowers, was a special tribute for the late Eugene Melnyk Sunday April 3, 2022, at the Ottawa Senators home game against the Detroit Red Wings. Photo by Ashley Fraser /POSTMEDIA

The spotlight on Eugene Melnyk’s empty seat in his suite at the Canadian Tire Center told the story Sunday.

Gone far too soon, but never will he be forgotten.

Before dropping the puck against the Detroit Red Wings, the Senators honored the 62-year-old Melnyk, who passed away Monday night after a lengthy illness, with a touching video that highlighted his accomplishments on and off the ice.

The video included pictures of his daughters, Anna and Olivia, and his long time partner Sharilyne Anderson. There were photos from the dressing room when the Senators beat the Buffalo Sabers in the East final in 2007 and other highlights along the way.

It ended with shot of Melnyk’s box at center ice and his signature ‘Carpe Diem’ which means ‘Seize the day’.

It was touching, beautiful and heartfelt plus it finished with a 5-2 Ottawa win.

“Mr. Melnyk put his heart and soul into this organization to keep it in Ottawa,” said coach DJ Smith. “He had the vision to put these young guys together and building around them. It’s certainly not a finished product.

“There’s more growing pains but you can see that’s an exciting group of players. It’s unfortunate that he’s unable to be here to see it through and we’re going to do everything we can. But I think it was special for us to win that game just to honor him. To be able to leave the building a winner, is special.”

The Senators were hoping to feed off the crowd on this emotional day.

A special video tribute and a chair in his box that sat empty, surrounded by flowers, was a special tribute for the late Eugene Melnyk, Sunday April 3, 2022, at the Ottawa Senators home game against the Detroit Red Wings.
A special video tribute and a chair in his box that sat empty, surrounded by flowers, was a special tribute for the late Eugene Melnyk, Sunday April 3, 2022, at the Ottawa Senators home game against the Detroit Red Wings. Photo by Ashley Fraser /POSTMEDIA

Melnyk purchased the team out of bankruptcy in 2003 and kept the team in Ottawa. The only other parties interested at the time wanted to move the Senators to the United States and he was the only one that wanted to keep this team here to bring a Stanley Cup to Ottawa.

The Senators came close when they advanced to the Stanley Cup final in 2007 and had a magical run in the Eastern Conference final in 2017. In 2018, Melnyk made the difficult decision to do a complete rebuild with general manager Pierre Dorion and the organization is close to turn the corner.

“The guys are aware of the situation,” said Smith. “People talk about him saving the team here. But just vision with the amount of time and patience he showed allowing this young guys to grow.

“His goal was to bring a championship to the city. He’s passed and he’s not able to see it come to fruition but the pieces are there with these young guys. It’s going to take time, to me it’s not the timeline. It’s when this group comes together. You see that with some of the best teams in the league like Tampa and Colorado.”

A special video tribute and a chair in his box that sat empty, surrounded by flowers, was a special tribute for the late Eugene Melnyk Sunday April 3, 2022, at the Ottawa Senators home game against Detroit.
A special video tribute and a chair in his box that sat empty, surrounded by flowers, was a special tribute for the late Eugene Melnyk Sunday April 3, 2022, at the Ottawa Senators home game against Detroit. Photo by Ashley Fraser /postmedia

It hasn’t been an easy road, but the Senators have put the building blocks in place with the likes of Captain Brady Tkachuk along with forwards Josh Norris, Drake Batherson, Tim Stuetzle and Alex Formenton.

On defense, this team has alternate captain Thomas Chabot signed to a long-term deal and top prospect Jake Sanderson is expected to make his debut with the club in the last week of April.

“I see the pieces of a really good young team and a team that has the opportunity to do it,” Smith said. “The young guys know who they are and they want to be part of something that they can bring to the city of Ottawa.

“It’ll be Mr. Melnyk’s vision that will be finally realized if it does happen.”

A chair in his box that sat empty, surrounded by flowers, was a special tribute for the late Eugene Melnyk.
A chair in his box that sat empty, surrounded by flowers, was a special tribute for the late Eugene Melnyk. Photo by Ashley Fraser /POSTMEDIA
A special video tribute and a chair in his box that sat empty, surrounded by flowers, was a special tribute for the late Eugene Melnyk Sunday April 3, 2022, at the Ottawa Senators home game against the Detroit Red Wings.
A special video tribute and a chair in his box that sat empty, surrounded by flowers, was a special tribute for the late Eugene Melnyk Sunday April 3, 2022, at the Ottawa Senators home game against the Detroit Red Wings. Photo by Ashley Fraser /POSTMEDIA

The decision to do a full rebuild in Feb. 2018 wasn’t easy but Melnyk felt it had to be done. There’s been no shortage of criticism of the decision and Melnyk heard a lot of it, however, he wanted to do it the right way to have success.

“What’s missing is people are saying the team was close when they tore it down,’ Smith said. “I have realized in not winning, what it was going to take to win. It does take big guts because you take a lot of criticism every single day.

“When you’re going through this, people on the outside are constantly giving you flak about the team not winning and what you have to do. It does take a lot of guys to sit in there and be patient with these young guys. You look at where Brady is today, Norris and let’s think of Tim Stuetzle will be in three years.

“It took some time but the pieces are there and now they have to continue to grow. They’re not a finished product. (Melnyk) taking a step back is going to help this franchise a year two down the road when they’re a team that has to be dealt with every single night. It will be him that started that vision.”

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Twitter: @sungarrioch

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