GM Matt Turek wrote an open letter to Belleville fans on Tuesday, admitting that the team's performance this season did not meet the standard the team expects.
Belleville Senators GM Matt Turek issued an open letter to season ticket holders on Tuesday.
The letter thanked fans for their loyalty, described some of the seasonal challenges the B-Sens faced, and acknowledged that the team's performance did not meet the standard that fans expect.
Here's the full open letter to Belleville fans:
Dear Season Seat Members,
As the 2025-26 season winds down and we continue to fight for another berth in the Calder Cup Playoffs, I want to take a moment to thank you for your continued passion, loyalty, and belief in Belleville Senators hockey, as we begin to reflect on this campaign and prepare for our 10th season in 2026-27.
Through all the challenges brought upon us — we’re proud of the meaningful growth within our group—both individually and collectively. We saw forwards Stephen Halliday and Xavier Bourgault, and defenders Carter Yakemchuk and Jorian Donovan make their NHL debuts this year, with seven other players, including forwards Arthur Kaliyev, Tyler Boucher, and Oskar Pettersson, plus defenders Lassi Thomson, Dennis Gilbert, and goaltenders Mads Sogaard and Leevi Merilainen, recalled to Ottawa to play games or further their development by practicing with the NHL club.
Our players and staff have shown resilience, professionalism, and a commitment to representing this organization and the Bay of Quinte community the right way. Those are important steps forward as we continue to build on the foundation set here in Belleville over the past nine seasons.
That said, we are not satisfied. We know that our performance this season did not meet the standard that you expect—and that we expect of ourselves, especially.
We are here to support the Ottawa Senators and develop the next wave of National Hockey League talent to bring a Stanley Cup to Ottawa, but we also understand that competing to bring a Calder Cup home to the Bay of Quinte is a priority for our fans, and there’s more work to be done there. Accountability is a key part of our culture, and we are committed to taking the necessary steps to improve.
Our approach at the recent NHL and AHL trade deadlines reflects that commitment. The decisions we made were focused on the future—on strengthening our roster, adding assets that could be good fits for the Senators, and positioning the organization for sustained success at both the NHL and AHL levels. These moves are part of a larger plan, one that we believe will bring us closer to where we all want to be.
But building a winning team is not something we do alone.
As season seat members, you are the foundation of this organization. Your commitment and belief in our team—game after game, year after year—provide the stability and support that allows us to grow and push forward. As we move into the 10th season of AHL hockey in the Bay of Quinte and continue building toward sustained success, your presence, feedback, and passion remain essential to what we’re working to achieve.
Together, we are building something that will last. And we want you to be a part of it.
Thank you again for your unwavering support.
Sincerely,
Matt Turek
General Manager
Belleville Senators
There's nothing unusual about a letter like that, except maybe the timing.
Why speak in the past tense or talk about unmet expectations when your season is still alive?
With a win on Friday in Rochester and some help, the B-Sens could be within four points of the Amerks for the final playoff spot with six games to play. It's still a long shot because Rochester would have two games in hand as of Friday, but stranger things have happened, and there will be plenty of time for retrospectives after the dreaded 'E' goes up beside Belleville's place in the standings.
But I digress.
While the tone of the letter is primarily thankful, it also carries an apologetic tone, but Belleville's hockey fans fully understand the reasons why the club probably won't get to the postseason.
In short, it was Ottawa's fault, though most of the reasons were beyond the NHL club's control.
Under previous management, the Sens surrendered some top draft picks, which has left the Belleville prospect pool in the shallow end. Earlier this month, in their latest prospect rankings, The Athletic had Ottawa at 26th out of 32 NHL teams.
Then, in the whirlwind of the trade deadline, the Sens also left Stephen Halliday, one of the B-Sens' top two scorers, ineligible to be sent back to Belleville. For every game since the March 6th trade deadline, Halliday has been a healthy scratch for Ottawa when he could have been down in Belleville playing big minutes and helping their playoff charge.
Finally, Ottawa's recent injuries simply destroyed Belleville's blue line at the most critical time of the season.
Ottawa has pulled away Carter Yakemchuk, Brad Gilbert, Lassi Thomson, and Jorian Donovan for varying lengths of time in the past few weeks, which is part of why the B-Sens have lost four of their last five games. Yakemchuk and Thomson are still up, Gilbert is hurt, and only Donovan is back down helping Belleville at the moment.
But as Turek alluded to in his letter, the Senators began to look to the future over the past few days, signing goalie Kevin Reidler along with defensemen Gabriel Elliason and Hoyt Stanley to their entry-level contracts. Reidler and Stanley will immediately report for work in Belleville on an amateur tryout basis. Elliason will likely be in Belleville next season.
Meanwhile, the B-Sens roster is rife with pending free agents like Arthur Kaliyev, Olle Lycksell, Garrett Pilon, Xavier Bourgault, Graeme Clarke, Tyler Boucher, Djibril Toure, Samuel Bolduc, Leevi Merilainen and Mads Sogaard.
They also have to decide on the long-range future of interim head coach Andrew Campbell.
So, as everyone gets healthy in Ottawa, no matter how this season turns out for the B-Sens, they'll soon be in a fine position to make wholesale changes if they choose to.
And with any luck, Turek can lay down his pen next spring.
Steve Warne
The Hockey News
This article was first published at The Hockey News Ottawa. Check out more great Sens features from The Hockey News at the links below: