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Sens owner 'not embarrassed' by low payroll


drummer4now

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Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk says he has no reason to feel embarrassed about his team's lack of spending.

Ottawa's payroll of US$55,804,597 is the lowest in the NHL leaving them plenty of room to spend, but don't expect Melnyk to open his wallet any time soon.

"I'm not the least embarrassed about us spending at the bottom," Melnyk said Monday afternoon at his 11th annual charity skate for kids. "I'm happy about it because we'll be able to spend more in the future and some can't. Some are stuck."

That being said, Melnyk is in no rush to increase his team's payroll despite his team's current position outside the playoff picture.

The Senators are 11th in the Eastern Conference at 12-12-5 and would need to make some significant improvements to move into the top eight.

Melnyk said he and general manager Bryan Murray spoke as recently as Monday morning.

"We're not in any way restricted," said Melnyk. "(Murray) has not come back to me and he said there's nothing out there that he could actually spend money on."

That's not to say the Senators aren't prepared to increase their payroll. With a number of players facing restricted free agency this summer Melnyk says they won't have any choice but to spend.

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/sports/nhl/sens-owner-not-embarrassed-by-low-payroll/ar-BBgQrc6

What a cheapskate... (no pun intended)

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Now is this just because management doesn't want to spend money or are they building up for the future? I'm assuming it's the former.

If that's the case, then I don't see it being fair to the fans in a Canadian market; however, it is management's decision in the end and there's not much we can do about it.

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Now is this just because management doesn't want to spend money or are they building up for the future? I'm assuming it's the former.

If that's the case, then I don't see it being fair to the fans in a Canadian market; however, it is management's decision in the end and there's not much we can do about it.

Considering Bryan Murray is slowly dying, I have a feeling he's not too worried about his job security by spending the owner's money. If there's penny pinching going on, it's from Melnyk alone.

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Eugene Melnyk purchased the Senators (including the arena) out of bankruptcy in 2003. Since then the team was reported in the Ottawa Citizen in August, 2013 to have lost another $94 million. Further, Melnyk was for some time unable to finance the team's then-$130 million debt to weather the lockout, eventually getting a $150 million loan.

Ottawa is a small-market team. Melnyk himself has suffered other financial reverses such that, though still wealthy, his is worth considably less than when he bought the team.

I don't think it unreasonable at all for management and the owners to try to run their business in an economical way. Anyone who wants to call the owner cheap for not pumping more money in to cover additional losses or recover some of the accumulated losses is invited to put that money in himself.

In case anyone wants to read the Ottawa Citizen article cited it is at http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/under+eugene+melnyk+senators+have+lost+million/8799118/story.html

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Eugene Melnyk purchased the Senators (including the arena) out of bankruptcy in 2003. Since then the team was reported in the Ottawa Citizen in August, 2013 to have lost another $94 million. Further, Melnyk was for some time unable to finance the team's then-$130 million debt to weather the lockout, eventually getting a $150 million loan.

Ottawa is a small-market team. Melnyk himself has suffered other financial reverses such that, though still wealthy, his is worth considably less than when he bought the team.

I don't think it unreasonable at all for management and the owners to try to run their business in an economical way. Anyone who wants to call the owner cheap for not pumping more money in to cover additional losses or recover some of the accumulated losses is invited to put that money in himself.

In case anyone wants to read the Ottawa Citizen article cited it is at http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/under+eugene+melnyk+senators+have+lost+million/8799118/story.html

Thanks for posting, very informative article

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If he can't afford the Senators then he should sell them. Better yet, he should move them to a money making Canadian market like Quebec. Just because Ottawa is the capitol of Canada doesn't mean that it deserves a permanent team. I would say the same thing about Washington if the situation was reversed,

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