Realistically Speaking, The Ottawa Senators Players Getting Caught On Camera Shit Talking Their Coach Could Be The Best Thing To Happen To That Organizaiton
Okay so by now, I’m sure that everybody has either seen or heard about the video of Matt Duchene, Chris Wideman and other Ottawa Senators players having their conversation about Senators’ assistant coach Marty Raymond being recorded without their consent by an Uber driver. And just as Grinnelli said last night, that Uber driver is a total scumbag for leaking that video footage. I understand he’s a nobody who is probably strapped for cash and a perfect opportunity to cash it presented itself to him out of nowhere. But still. That guy can fuck right off for pulling a stunt like that.
HOWEVA
I think there’s a very real chance that this scumbag actually did the Ottawa Senators a favor. Now obviously I need to preface what I’m about to say with the fact that I have never once stepped inside the Ottawa Senators locker room. I have absolutely no idea what it’s actually like within that organization right now. But from the outside looking it? Well it seems to me like the Senators just handled everything that happened over the past few months about as horribly as possible. From the owner to the GM to the coaches to the players. Every member of the Ottawa Senators organization handled what happened over the summer about as terribly as humanly possible. To me, the biggest mistake was the fact that Eugene Melnyk and Pierre Dorion were attempting to just move on from Erik Karlsson and Mike Hoffman, and roll right into talking about a rebuild instead of sitting back and admitting that there are some serious issues and flaws within the organization. Erik Karlsson didn’t even land in San Jose before Melnyk called Mark Borowiecki into his room to film some sort of propaganda shit about where this team is heading and the rebuild that was about to be underway. It seems like they went straight into PR damage mode to try to convince the fans they knew what direction the team was heading in, without first trying to make sure the players were comfortable with how things were going in Ottawa.
But the moment this scumbag Uber driver released that video of the boys talking shit about Martin Raymond? Well that might have been exactly what this team needs to figuratively hit the pause button on their rebuild and start trying to resolve some issues internally with the current roster. I know it’s definitely gotta be awkward in that locker room right now but in another sense, I also feel like it has to be freeing that some cards are finally out on the table right now. It’s obvious that the Senators players don’t feel like they can voice their concerns with the team internally which is why they have the need to vent in the Uber. But now that those words are out there and everybody has heard them? Well the Senators can work on fixing some things instead of those frustrations still just building up.This is a professional hockey team. The Ottawa Senators aren’t just some insurance agency or some shit like that. They can’t be successful if they have a bunch of coworkers being petty and talking shit about each other behind their backs. If the Ottawa Senators want to be successful as a team in the National Hockey League, then everybody needs to be on the same page. That clearly wasn’t the case before that Uber ride but now? Well now they have no other choice but to get on the same page.
So yes. That Uber driver is a piece of shit. But he may have done the Senators a favor here. Between the Hoffman/Karlsson saga, the Eugene Melnyk propaganda video, the possible burner accounts floating around out there, Pierre Dorion saying the one thing that fans have to look forward to this season is that the Ottawa Senators are a team, etc. etc. Between all the shit that has happened over the past few months, this could be the incident that finally causes the Senators to stop acting like they can just move on from Erik Karlsson right into a rebuild, and finally get them to resolve their issues internally first.
OR….
Or they could just treat this incident like they’ve treated everything else so far, try to push it under the rug and nothing will happen and the team will continue to be a toxic wasteland of talent. Either or.