On Monday night the Ottawa Senators played their final home game of the 2017-2018 season. It was a disappointing season to put it mildly. After coming within one goal of making the Stanley Cup final for just the second time in franchise history last June, to this year where the fans put up billboards calling for owner Eugen Melnyk to sell the team. We heard the owner of the team saying that the franchise player, one of the best defenders in the league, may not be returning after Erik Karlsson had the gall to say he was going to want to be paid what he’s worth in the NHL. Melnyk has talked about losing money and cutting budgets, and Karlsson is going to be one of the most expensive players in the league so he can’t be let go for nothing next July.
As the final buzzer sounded in the final home game of this lost season, team captain Erik Karlsson found the game puck and tucked it into his pants, hoping to keep a souvenir of this momentous game. There’s a chance he plays again in Ottawa – he’s under contract for one more season – but there has been non-stop chatter and rumors about Karlsson being traded since December, when both Melnyk and Karlsson made vague comments about the future of the franchise and franchise player.
So, right now, it’s not too far out to ask if Karlsson will be receiving a bill for the purloined puck. The precedent has been set before – the Montreal Canadiens apparently demanded $1250 from Mike Cammalleri for his Canadiens jersey after he was traded to the Calgary Flames mid-game. Literally asking for the money or the shirt off his back. This was done by one of the richest and valuable teams in the NHL, so what would stop one of the owners most famous for crying poor from charging a player he’s not too fond of the price of a game puck.
‘It’s just $10!’ you may say, but this is also the same team who gave out $10 McDonalds gift cards…that were worthless because they weren’t activated.
Now you may call me yet another Leafs fan who’s ripping on the Senators for no reason, but….I mean yeah, I am.
We can only hope that the Senators will do the right thing in this situation, and that’s to ask Karlsson to sign the puck and then sell it on ebay to help pay the arena water bill.
Now your links!
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There’s not a lot of news right now....Enjoy your day!
