Ottawa Senators GM Pierre Dorion says he has a lot of reasons to smile on a Monday morning.
“I’m optimistic,” Dorion told Newstalk 580 CFRA’s The Morning Rush with Bill Carroll. “I’m optimistic because of the way our team is playing, probably the youthful energy that we’ve got from some of the new players in the line-up, how there’s a lot of chemistry on the team. Every game has been very entertaining for us so far this year, the way we’re scoring goals, the way we’re playing.”
The Senators are in the midst of a major rebuild, according to the team’s management. This comes after a dismal season last year, marked by poor attendance, fan protests against owner Eugene Melnyk, and a legal battle between the wife of the team’s former star captain and the girlfriend of a former forward.
The team was coming off a 5-1 win over the L.A. Kings and preparing to welcome the Dallas Stars to the Canadian Tire Centre Monday.
Dorion said he understands the rebuild will take time, but he hopes fans are supportive.
“We knew that this would be a process and there’s some kind of evolution here,” he said. “Obviously, now, we’re a younger team, there are going to be mistakes. We hope our fans, whatever the number they are, they come out and support us and be part of us growing together.”
On the subject of the allegations of cyberbullying against Mike Hoffman’s then-girlfriend Monika Caryk, levied by Melinda Karlsson, the wife of former captain Erik Karlsson, Dorion said he missed something, in retrospect.
“Definitely. I think it’s upon us as an organization and hopefully we’ve corrected that,” he said. “I only address the team once a year; last year I did it twice.”
But he said this year he spoke to the wives as well, during the first game of the season.
“I said your husbands have all overachieved,” he said. “I just told them they represent the organization directly or indirectly. The rest of it I’ll keep to myself.”
Hoffman and Karlsson were both traded during the off-season.
Dorion doesn’t believe the issues between the wives had an effect on the team.
“I think these players are professionals. I don’t remember a time where Erik didn’t pass the puck to Mike or Mike didn’t pass the puck to Erik. I think the biggest thing for our lack of success last year was how we didn’t commit to playing defensively. That was way more a factor than anything that was going on off the ice,” Dorion said.