Senators President of Business Operations Anthony LeBlanc said that the possibility of the team playing neutral site games at the Videotron Centre was "raised by Quebec government officials" during talks with Quebec City, but "never went any further," according to Bruce Garrioch of the OTTAWA CITIZEN. LeBlanc said, "Are we having discussions with the Quebec government and Quebecor? Yes, we have in the last couple of weeks, purely about the potential of hosting the world junior championship." Garrioch writes the Senators "aren’t the least bit pleased in the wake of owner Eugene Melnyk’s untimely death Monday night," that French-language newspaper La Presse reported Wednesday NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman had "spoken to the Quebec government about the possibility of Ottawa playing five of its home games there next season." LeBlanc said that the possibility of playing neutral site games in Quebec City was "raised but the talks never went any further." LeBlanc said, "In those talks, was the idea thrown out, ‘Hey, if there’s a desire for neutral site games?’ The idea has been floated but it’s never really been discussed. ... The idea that we are going to be playing in Quebec City is very disingenuous." He added, "It’s jumping the gun substantially. The real discussions we’ve had is, are we going to proceed [with] a joint bid for the world junior championship?" LeBlanc: "Has Quebecor expressed interest to host neutral site games? Absolutely, they’ve made that very clear, but we’ve told them that’s interesting but that’s as far as it’s gone" (OTTAWA CITIZEN, 4/1).
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? In Ottawa, Ken Warren writes the "speculation game about what happens next" in the ownership of the franchise in the wake of Melnyk’s passing is "off and running." Warren: "Expect weeks, if not months, of leaks over here and rumblings over there." Whether the Senators are sold or not, "vital to any discussion of what happens next (and about the franchise value)" is whether the "on-again, off-again potential for an arena at LeBreton Flats is still on the table." The team’s future is "wrapped around the path Melnyk’s daughters Anna and Olivia (and potentially, Melnyk’s partner, Sharilyne Anderson and mother, Vera) want to take from here" (OTTAWA CITIZEN, 4/1).
