General manager Steve Staios made a statement on social media on Thursday, strongly pushing back against what he described as fabricated and false stories being spread on social media.
Ahead of Thursday night’s important game against the Colorado Avalanche, the Ottawa Senators issued a statement from general manager Steve Staios condemning several social media stories that were circulated on the internet earlier in the day regarding goaltender Linus Ullmark.
“Our organization was extremely disappointed to read the completely fabricated and false stories that are spreading around social media about our hockey club. Linus is away from our team for personal reasons, and he has the entire organization’s support. We asked that people respect his privacy, but clearly that request was not heard by the lowest forms of trolls and sick people who scour the internet. We are disgusted that outside forces are attempting to disrupt our hockey club. This statement will put an end to the ridiculous speculation that has spread online.”
Hours earlier, it was revealed that Ullmark was removed from the Senators’ roster to make room for a returning Lars Eller.
There are no cap implications for Ullmark’s removal from the roster. His $8.25 million cap hit will continue to count against the Senators’ cap, but does not count towards their active 23-player limit. When players are non-rostered, it is typically due to non-injury reasons, like personal leave or work visa issues.
In Ullmark’s case, the Senators’ goaltender has missed the past five games after taking a personal leave of absence.
The reason(s) for Ullmark’s departure were never disclosed out of respect for him and his family’s privacy, but that failed to stop speculation. An anonymous account on the ‘X’ platform was created to exclusively disseminate allegations regarding Ullmark’s leave. Hours later, the account was deleted from ‘X’, but by then, the damage was done.
Over the course of the season, the Senators’ organization has been quick to quell controversy and punch back in certain situations. Michael Andlauer publicly quashed the rumours that the Senators were gauging the market on a Drake Batherson trade on the morning of his team’s alumni charity golf tournament.
The owner also took exception with a report indicating that the Senators were seeking funding from various levels of government to help finance a new arena at LeBreton Flats. And even Staios punched back during a recent media availability, when he was asked to reflect on a stretch of games in which Brady Tkachuk did not resemble his physical and engaged self.
A recurring characteristic of this organization under Andlauer’s stewardship is that it proactively goes to bat to protect its players. While that is an admirable quality, I wonder whether, in this instance, the organization was best served by addressing the rumours about an anonymous ‘X’ poster who deleted their account as soon as it was launched.
By issuing a formal press release, I wonder whether the organization’s actions will have an adverse Streisand effect, in which their attempt to dispel the rumours will simply draw more attention to them.
Graeme Nichols
The Hockey News
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