‘It’s pretty f—— bull—-‘: Senators’ Tkachuk comments on recent rumors
To say the Ottawa Senators are going through the ringer right now is an understatement.
Not only are the Senators in an ugly stretch that has seen them lose six of their last eight games, topped off with an ugly 8-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday, they’ve also missed starting goaltender Linus Ullmark for a majority of that stretch after he took a leave of absence for personal reasons.
And the loss to Colorado wasn’t even the worst part about Thursday. A burner social media account shared a rumour speculating why Ullmark had left the team, and while most people in the hockey world disregarded it, it was more fuel to the fire in Ottawa.
The Senators released a statement on Thursday defending their goaltender and several other players involved in the rumour, and on Saturday ahead of a matchup against the Florida Panthers, captain Brady Tkachuk also spoke up against the rumours.
“It’s pretty fucking bullshit,” Tkachuk said to the media. “I don’t think anybody’s pretty happy about a narrative being spread like that. I think it’s okay for people to critique our on ice performance, but when it gets into family, it’s pretty fucking bullshit.”
Ullmark has missed the last six games after the team announced he was on a personal leave of absence on December 28th. The reason for his leave of absence has not been confirmed at this point of time, and only will be when Ullmark and the team are comfortable with disclosing it.
The Senators signed longtime-NHL goaltender James Reimer to an AHL professional tryout on Thursday, with the expectation he’ll eventually sign an NHL contract in the wake of Ottawa’s current goaltending crisis. The move likely indicates Ullmark isn’t expected to return to the lineup soon.
“Honestly I really feel bad for Linus,” said Tkachuk. “Nobody knows what he’s going through. But the fact that he has to even deal with this and even have to think about it. All we care about for him is getting what he needs, and we’ve said from Day 1 that he has our support. Now that he has to deal with this, it’s fucking mind blowing.”
The Senators currently sit in last in the Atlantic with a 20-18-5 record, and are six points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. Ottawa will look to end their recent slump when they host the Panthers on Saturday at 7 p.m. EST.