Senators staffer responds to Brady Tkachuk trade rumors with a perfect tweet

Ooo DRAMA.

Could the Ottawa Senators really trade captain Brady Tkachuk to the New York Rangers as the latter franchise deals with a mess as of late that includes the Jacob Trouba situation?

That’s the talk from the New York Post’s Larry Brooks, who reported this on Friday: “Blueshirts targeting Brady Tkachuk in trade talks in what would be a whopper.”

Getting a bruising forward like Tkachuk would absolutely be a whopper of a deal. But Sens VP of communications Ian Mendes had a very funny response, posting a picture of the synonyms for “whopper,” very much implying that it was an “untruth.”

Well then!

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Jakob Chychrun had a bloody good reason for skating to the Stars locker room for intermission

The defenseman explained why he switched locker rooms at intermission

A weird moment happened right as the first period concluded when the Dallas Stars hosted the Ottawa Senators on Friday night.

Just as the TV broadcast was heading to commercial to kick off intermission, cameras caught Senators defenseman Jakob Chychrun sauntering along with the Stars as they left their bench to head back to the home locker room.

This would’ve felt like a silly mistake, except the tunnel to the visiting locker room at American Airlines Center is much further down the ice near the goal line. And Chychrun sure didn’t look confused about why he wasn’t joining his teammates.

@sportsnet

Wait a minute 🤔 #nhl #nhlonsn #ottawasenators #dallasstars #jakobchychrun #hockeytiktoks

♬ Switching sides – Mr. America

Was the d-man the Senators acquired last March already fed up with his team? Did he get traded to the Stars mid-game? Was he trying to secure the game puck for Giannis Antetokounmpo?

As the theories ran wild online, Chychrun provided a completely acceptable answer that any hockey fan using Occam’s razor likely figured out right away: His face was totally gashed and required more serious medical attention.

Chychrun provided the evidence to prove it, too, and you may want to look away if you’re squeamish at all.

NSFW: Graphic image 

via @jakobchychrun on Instagram

Yep! That’ll do it. That right there is a good reason for leaving your teammates mid-game.

But, listen, Chychrun did have three assists in the first period of the Senators’ eventual 5-4 loss, so who’s to say he didn’t also want the puck after his repairs?

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The Tkachuk brothers’ grandmother went through the gamut of emotions watching them jaw at each other

The Tkachuks’ grandmother was going through it while her grandkids chirped at each other.

Matthew Tkachuk and Brady Tkachuk caused all kinds of chaos on Monday night, in a Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators contest that included a referee handing out a 10-minute misconduct penalty to every player involved in a brawl on the ice.

That also included cameras capturing the Tkachuks jawing at each other, which is just delightful.

You know what else is delightful? Their grandmother was in the stands to watch this all go down, and cameras also captured her reactions, which are exactly how I would have reacted if I was her.

Check all of that out below and enjoy:

NHL referee hilariously gave every player on the ice a 10-minute misconduct after big Panthers-Senators brawl

You know it’s a bad fight when every player on the ice gets penalized for it.

Monday night’s Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators game featured one of the most comical fights of the NHL season so far.

As the back half of the third period played out, a host of Panthers and Senators got into an instant scuffle on the ice that stopped the entire game and broke out into an all-out brawl.

Once the referees got hold of the game, every single player on the ice got assessed with a 10-minute penalty that would knock them out for the rest of the game.

You know it’s a bad fight when literally every single player on the ice gets penalized for it.

We’re guessing that all of these guys will have to skate laps during practice after this one, even if the Florida players wouldn’t mind as much since they had a four-goal lead when the fight happened.

As for this referee, he got to make the call of the night and one he likely won’t forget for the rest of his career.

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Why the Ottawa Senators have to forfeit a first-round draft pick over the failed 2022 Evgenii Dadonov trade

The Senators played a key role in the invalid Evgenii Dadonov trade from 2022.

The Ottawa Senators will have to forfeit a first-round NHL Draft pick from one of the next three seasons due to their actions in the Vegas Golden Knights’ failed trade of Evgenii Dadonov in 2022.

On Wednesday, the NHL announced the Senators’ punishment for their role in the failed Dadonov trade from the Golden Knights to the Anaheim Ducks that occurred at the 2022 NHL trade deadline. Days after the March 21 trade deadline, the NHL voided a deal between the Golden Knights and the Ducks due to Dadonov’s limited no-trade clause that was not complied with.

MORE: NHL November power rankings: Not even Connor McDavid is enough to save the Oilers.

Over a year after the failed trade, we now have a clear answer as to what went wrong here. So, how are the Senators involved in all of this? Let’s take a look.

Snoop Dogg’s bid for Ottawa Senators’ ownership could be just what the NHL needs

Yes, Snoop Dogg’s bid for ownership of the Senators is real and he makes some good points!

Move over Ryan Reynolds, there’s another celebrity out there with eyes on buying the Ottawa Senators.

Yes, that’s right, Snoop Dogg is putting his bid in to buy the Senators and he’s 100 percent serious. On Thursday, Snoop Dogg confirmed his bid for NHL team ownership — as part of Neko Sparks’ group — with The Athletic, stating that this is in no way a publicity stunt

“This ain’t no joke or no gimmick. Or an image or likeness play. This is a real ownership play,” he said. “And Snoop will put his foot in the town.”

To do so, Snoop Dogg will have to beat out Reynolds and the Remington Group, with the bidding possibly set to reach $1 billion, a record for the NHL. Previously, the Pittsburgh Penguins were bought by Fenway Sports Group for around $900 million back in late 2021.

Though Snoop Dogg’s only just thrown his hat in the ring for ownership of the Senators, he’s already starting to make some good points. In his interview with The Athletic, Snoop Dogg was honest in his assessment of the NHL’s poor marketing of its stars in the United States.

Not only that, Snoop Dogg sees this ownership bid with Sparks’ group as a real chance to help improve one of the NHL’s most dire areas of need: diversity.

“Your league has Canadians, Russians, Europeans, African-Americans. So there should be a mixed variety of owners,” Snoop Dogg said to The Athletic. “So if something happens outside your race, you’ll have some understanding. Now you have a different tone in that room, instead of one mindset.”

Time will tell which group ends up buying the Senators, but Snoop Dogg already has put forth a pretty great marketing pitch.

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Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos wants to own more than the Commanders

Apostolopoulos has been linked to NBA and NHL teams in addition to the Commanders.

Earlier this week, Canadian businessman Steve Apostolopoulos was confirmed as one of two bidders for the Washington Commanders. Apostolopoulos and Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils owner Josh Harris were confirmed as having fully funded $6 billion bids.

However, A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports reported that Harris is currently viewed as the only serious contender to buy the Commanders. “Harris is the only bidder with a chance,” Perez wrote directly from a source.

Perez said some have “questions over whether he has the financial wherewithal” to purchase the storied NFL franchise.

Regardless, Apostolopoulos remains in contention for the Commanders until owner Dan Snyder makes a final decision. In the meantime, Apostolopoulos remains vigilant in his quest to enter the world of professional sports ownership.

Around the time his name was first revealed as interested in the Commanders, Apostolopoulos was rumored to be in talks with Michael Jordan to buy the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets.

Apparently, Apostolopoulos is also looking to buy an NFL team. Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun reported that Apostolopoulos was interested in the Ottawa Senators. Apostolopoulos and his group are among at least six groups moving to the second phase of the bidding process.

It sounds like Apostolopoulos has a pretty good shot at becoming an owner in the near future, even if it’s not with the Commanders.

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Top-Shelf Takes: The Senators’ surprise playoff push is fun, but don’t get too attached just yet

This run from the Senators has been fun, but it probably won’t last.

Welcome to Top-Shelf Takes, a weekly series from staff writer Mary Clarke all about the NHL. Lace up your skates as we dive deep into the epic highs and lows of this little sport called hockey.

No one saw this run coming from the Ottawa Senators.

On January 22, the Senators’ record stood at 20-23-3. The team was one day removed from the Winnipeg Jets absolutely wiping the floor with them in a 5-1 loss at home. The situation looked dire and with the powerhouses in the Atlantic Division locking down nearly all the playoff spots, it seemed as if the Senators were set to be out of luck.

Since then, however, the Senators have gone 12-4-1. This run over the last month and a half has revitalized their playoff hopes, with the Senators sitting three points out of a wild card spot with 19 games left to play. As the stragglers in the Eastern Conference — namely the Penguins and Islanders — struggle to keep their playoff positions, the Senators (and others) have slowly gained ground in recent weeks.

I’ve talked up the Buffalo Sabres playoff chances before, so it’s only fair that I give the Senators some love here too.

This most recent push by the Senators has been quite impressive. The impetus for it all stems from crucial back-to-back dominant wins against the Detroit Red Wings. Like the Senators, the Red Wings had been keeping pace with the playoff hopeful pack, with those two games against Ottawa a test for the team ahead of the trade deadline.

The Senators won those two games by a combined score of 12-3.

While Ottawa’s recent five-game win streak came to a screeching halt after a 5-0 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, the Senators are the team to watch right now in the playoff race. A lot of that is thanks to great relief goaltending from Kevin Mandolese and Mads Sogaard after some unfortunate injuries to Ottawa’s netminders. Plus, the Senators offense has started to come alive in the last few weeks due to clutch contributions from Claude Giroux, Tim Stutzle, and more.

And it’s thanks to the hard work of players like Giroux that the Senators went out to make a big splash at the trade deadline for Jakob Chychrun in the first place.

There’s a lot of hype around this Senators team to play spoiler to a playoff team by sneaking into the wild card at the eleventh hour. And I get why. After all, who doesn’t love a good dark horse story come playoff time?

That being said, I would heavily advise against getting your hopes up for this Senators team. As of Wednesday, the Senators have the NHL’s second-hardest strength of schedule remaining, according to Tankathon. In the next few weeks, the Senators will have to face the likes of the Oilers and the Bruins, with two meetings each against the Maple Leafs, the Lightning, and the Hurricanes.

Talk about a tall order, especially if the Senators best goaltenders remain out long-term. It’s not completely unreasonable that the Senators find another gear this late in the season and make the playoffs off a ridiculous end-of-season run, but it has to start today. Ottawa will need to brush off that brutal Chicago loss, put it in the rearview mirror, and get back to it.

The road ahead of the Senators isn’t an easy one. These last few weeks have been a fun ride for the previously listless Senators, but now is when the real work begins. Given the competition they’ll have to face to get it done and the odds stacked against them, don’t be surprised if the Senators’ playoff dreams ultimately fall short.

Senators fan has hilarious reaction to seeing Ryan Reynolds sitting next to her at a game

This is an understandable reaction to seeing Ryan Reynolds at a hockey game.

Ottawa Senators fans will have to get used to seeing Ryan Reynolds at games if recent rumors are to be believed.

The hockey world was set ablaze recently after Reynolds — actor extraordinaire and previous Sexiest Man Alive winner — declared his interest in purchasing the Senators, who are now up for sale. If Reynolds does indeed end up buying the Senators, he’d instantly become the most famous owner of a NHL team, dethroning filmmaker Jerry Bruckheimer — co-owner of the Seattle Kraken — in the process.

So yeah, hockey fans are buzzing with excitement to see if Reynolds is able to fulfill his dream of owning the Senators. The actor even discussed the rumor on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, stating that he’s either going to buy the Senators or a real life U.S. senator if his plan falls through.

Reynolds then made an appearance at a Senators game on Tuesday, fueling the rumors even more about a possible purchase. On the ice, the Senators gave Reynolds stick taps of appreciation, but the real kicker is the hilarious reaction of an Ottawa fan sitting next to the actor.

That’s an incredibly valid reaction to have after realizing Ryan Reynolds was sitting next to you at a hockey game. It’s clear Senators fans are welcoming Reynolds with open arms, so we’ll have to see how things shake out with Ottawa ownership.

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Matt Murray trade: Who won the Maple Leafs and Senators deal?

The Maple Leafs got their starting goaltender in Matt Murray.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have their starting goaltender for next season.

On Monday, the Maple Leafs acquired 28-year-old Matt Murray from the Ottawa Senators less than 48 hours ahead of free agency. With this deal, the goaltender market continues to thin out for the rest of the league as the netminder musical chairs moves apace this offseason.

While not a blockbuster trade like the one that sent Alex DeBrincat to the Senators on draft day, this move has major implications for the Maple Leafs future after another disappointing Game 7 loss in the first round of the playoffs. Let’s take a look at how the Maple Leafs and Senators grade out on this deal ahead of the upcoming free agency period on Wednesday.