The Ottawa Senators are the only NHL team that still allows credentialed media to fly on their chartered plane to and from away games. One organization appears to no longer be welcomed though. The team removed Postmedia’s Ken Warren from its chartered flight to Tampa after the Postmedia owned Ottawa Citizen and Ottawa Sun posted a YouTube video on their websites showing players criticizing teammates and coaches.
Michael Traikos, also of Postmedia, wrote that his organization is not the first to be targeted by the team.
Also on the Senators’ growing no-fly list is TSN reporter Brent Wallace who, prior to the team’s Parliament Hill game last December, had the audacity to ask owner Eugene Melnyk about a report that suggested he had been withholding bonus money from his employees.
Melnyk denied the allegation.
Once the cameras were turned off, bystanders saw him turn to Wallace and say, “I’m going to bury you.”
This is the latest in a string of bad PR for the Senators. Leaving a reporter off the team charter may not necessarily effect team morale the way, say your GM being unable to name a reason for fans to be optimistic about the team’s future is, but it is a really bad look.
