Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk says that he is not the one to blame for the outdoor game on Parliament Hill being cancelled.
In a letter written to the Ottawa Citizen, Melnyk said that “we rolled up our sleeves and worked hard to support an effort to bring this vision to reality and invested hundreds of hours of collective work over 18 long months with a singular focus to bring the grandest game of all time to Canadians.”
He also said the decision to not host the game on Parliament Hill, “while disappointing, involved no shortage of effort made by us to try to make it happen.”
Melnyk said the criticism against him and the Senators organization “unfairly suggests I don’t care about the city, nor do enough to support it.” He argued that he has always been committed to bringing events Ottawa like the World Junior Hockey Championships, Women’s World Hockey Championships, JUNO Awards, the NHL All-Star Game and the NHL Entry Draft.
The Senators planned to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday next year by having the game on the front lawn of Parliament Hill against the Montreal Canadiens. The game would have also celebrated the 100th anniversary of the first ever NHL game, when Ottawa took on Montreal in the capital in 1917 and the 25th anniversary of the modern-day Ottawa Senators.
Melnyk met with Mayor Jim Watson on Nov. 10 about hosting the game somewhere else. The alternative option of hosting an outdoor at TD Place still remains open for the Senators.
But the window appears to be closing as NHL commissioner Gary Bettman hinted that the game could be moving elsewhere to another team, leaving the future unclear about if there will be an outdoor hockey game in Ottawa or not.