Travis Yost: Do You Believe in Unicorns?

I guess, EM is the director of Unicorn,s.Iam pretty sure this demanding role brings a very big salary with it

No.

tht internal budget

tht internal budget
- Jurco_28

We spent it all on scouts ,and unicorn feed

"Uh, I don't want to sound like a queer or nothin', but unicorns kick ass."

yah, i pretty much assume both ownership and management are bs-ing us anytime they talk about the budget. i don't get why they spin all these stories. they could just say: we will spend when we are in a place to contend... but instead they go off on on this bs about how "smart" we are with our money, and "how" to spend appropriately to win... even though we've never won (in recent history).

and ,if their mentality is "spend when its time to spend... when we are close to being a contender", someone should let ol' euge know that u may have to spend a bit BEFORE u can become a contender. can someone please point this boy to some stats on this?

ugh, message me when euge sells the team. this budget stuff just really frustrates me as a fan.

Again you need to ask yourself why is Melnyk seeding this debate. All this information has been floated for a reason.

"Uh, I don't want to sound like a queer or nothin', but unicorns kick ass."
- since93

Anyone who uses an 'Orgazmo' reference is immediately awesome in my books. Well done.

Again you need to ask yourself why is Melnyk seeding this debate. All this information has been floated for a reason.
- spatso

Uncle Eugene loves to talk. Most of the time it is without thinking first. You are giving him far to much credit if you think there is hidden messaging or conspiracies abound.

Sometimes the answers are the simplest ones.

Travis, I think you make a lot of good points on money and internal budgets. However, looking at BOS and SJS on this chart, a not impossible final matchup, I think this is not a very good indicator of much beyond the contradiction in "we spend lots of money on hockey ops".

Anyone who uses an 'Orgazmo' reference is immediately awesome in my books. Well done.
- redcanman

when i saw the title to the blog i couldn't resist

Whatever the Sabers paid to ottawa for hiring Tim Murray mid season definitely went into....Eugene Melnyk's pocket

Travis, I think you make a lot of good points on money and internal budgets. However, looking at BOS and SJS on this chart, a not impossible final matchup, I think this is not a very good indicator of much beyond the contradiction in "we spend lots of money on hockey ops".
- lrt512

dont think his point was "need to spend on development to win"......it was "melnyk is full of poop"

Whatever the Sabers paid to ottawa for hiring Tim Murray mid season definitely went into....Eugene Melnyk's pocket
- tuna99

What's increasingly becoming the saddest part of this mess is the fact that the non-blogging media (the people actually getting access to Melnyk, in other words), have been quiet about all of this. Credit to Gordon for finally addressing this today - but aside from that article, I haven't seen or heard much beyond a mere mention of the internal budget. No one seems willing to question him; no one seems willing to ask tough questions; no one seems willing to point out his outright lies and half-truths. In fact, they make matters worse by reporting what he's saying to casual fans without pointing out how false his claims are.

Given how obvious his lies are - in other words, no need to do much digging or research - it makes it even more galling. The second the idiot duo at the Sun stop acting as his unofficial PR folks, I guarantee it would become much harder for Melnyk to peddle this BS. Because, let's face it - people are lazy and stupid, and too many believe what he's saying. Anyone believing him when he says that he will spend when necessary is fooling themselves and helping Melnyk pocket more money.

I'm at a crossroads in my loyalty - I want to be a fan, I want to continue going to games, but i don't want to continue supporting Melnyk under these circumstances. Of course, if fan support dips, he'll just use that as justification. Ottawa fans are really f@cked. Damned if we do, damned if we don't.

The NHL really needs to step up here. They obviously can't force an awner to spend money, but I'm sure they know the reality of the finances. If the fan rumbling gets louder, it's up to the league to make strong "suggestions" to Melnyk. With the CBA what it is, and the partnership model being preached to fans all the time, it's high time for his fellow owner's and NHLPA leadership to start making noise behind the scenes. He's costing them money in a market that should NOT be an issue.

Things are definitely going to be interesting this summer. I too wish that the media people with access to the team would ask more pressing questions. If there's one thing that can come from this summer, it's that I hope Euge has to answer some tough questions, and be aware that the way he is running this team is unacceptable.

What's increasingly becoming the saddest part of this mess is the fact that the non-blogging media (the people actually getting access to Melnyk, in other words), have been quiet about all of this. Credit to Gordon for finally addressing this today - but aside from that article, I haven't seen or heard much beyond a mere mention of the internal budget. No one seems willing to question him; no one seems willing to ask tough questions; no one seems willing to point out his outright lies and half-truths. In fact, they make matters worse by reporting what he's saying to casual fans without pointing out how false his claims are...
- TreeSens

Ottawa sports media have a long history of being in the hip pockets of teams.

Sens "stuff" don't stink, it fertilizes the growth of a champion.

Whats worse, even if he is off by 50% for Ottawa, that barely moves them into the top half of the league.

Ottawa sports media have a long history of being in the hip pockets of teams.

Sens "stuff" don't stink, it fertilizes the growth of a champion.
- ght120

Or they don't want bite the hand that feeds them through speculative reporting. The blogging community has freedom to post whatever the hell they want. Different animals.

Can Carolina, NJ, Winnipeg and Columbus honestly have more money then us. I'm not asking for a cap team, just spend what less ten computable teams spend $64 million.

Melnyk doesn't care about winning anymore, this is a cash cow plain and simple. He did care at one point, but until he sells the team Ottawa will always be a sideshow team

There are certain moments where a franchise has to spend the $ for critical players. Brian Murray knows that this summer is going to set the stage for how this team is going forward. Ya Eugene is right (Dorion and the scouting staff have done a good job) but he's got to put his money when it's going to matter. Bobby Ryan, Clarke MacArthur, Marc Methot, Craig Anderson are all UFA. Eugene better back up his words.

When Mr. Melnyk says other teams are idiots for spending to the cap without getting results, does he also think his season ticket holders are idiots for spending large amounts of hard earned cash for an inferior product or at least a team that could be stronger if not for a self imposed team cap?

Uncle Eugene loves to talk. Most of the time it is without thinking first. You are giving him far to much credit if you think there is hidden messaging or conspiracies abound.

Sometimes the answers are the simplest ones.
- Cup 06

I don't disagree. He has done exactly what he said he was going to do. The team continues to stress their financial streamlining and their avoidance of bad long term deals. The fans may be unhappy but Melnyk told them exactly what he was going to do.

On the the other hand, if you are a potential investor, buyer or creditor of the team you would be impressed by their having put their books in order. Although fans may be discouraged by what has happened, the franchise has never looked better from a financial perspective.

My frustration today is not with Melnyk (I have already exhausted that line of emotion) but with some of the fans who are just now beginning to pull their hair out about his streamlining costs. Duh! He is doing exactly what he said he was going to do. He is pimping the team for new investment, sale or reorganization and recapitalization. Here is an example of somebody being a year late in terms of just getting it.

http://senschirp.ca/article/enough-enough/

When Melnyk comments that any "idiot" can max out on player budgets, he appears to be going against popular opinion of how to have a Stanley Cup contender.. But, at the same time, he is pitching to the sweet spot of investment. As a future owner I don't want a fat, older, highly successful and well paid team. I want a lean, young team that can grow into a contender on my watch.

My biggest problem with this scouting stuff is that Melnyk makes it seem Ottawa is the only team doing it. All 29 other teams scout the exact same way Ottawa does. Just because Eugene has 3 more scouts (estimate) than the average NHL squad doesn't make us the organization with the best scouting.