Ottawa Senators Going Under? The tradition continues
Ian Rooney
THE OTTAWA SUN WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1997
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SENATORS OWNERS BLOW WHISTLE
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By Stuart McCarthy
Business Editor
It's been more than 18 months since the 64 owners of the Ottawa
Senators were called to the table by majority owner Rod Bryden to
learn of the health of the team.
That chance is finally here, with a meeting slated for tomorrow
at the Corel Centre and odds are: a> the numbers aren't pretty
and b> a buy-out bid will be presented that will end the suffering
of the team's backers. But many owners are angry that despite putting
in the cash, they've seen no accounting for ages.
No financial statements for fiscal 1996 or fiscal 1997 have
been shown to the partners and except for Bryden, none of them are
in any position to intelligently discuss the finances.
As the former regional councillor and funeral lord Brian
McGarry put it, "I don't think anyone of the 64 of us would run a
business this way." McGarry says Bryden has put off the meeting on
several occasions. "A while back he didn't want to hold it in the
middle of the playoffs, then he wanted to get the year off to a good
start.", says funeral director, businessman and partner McGarry.
In fact, not since the owners -except Bryden-saw their shares
diluted again, have they had a chance to chat as one and check out the
books. That was the second time when Bryden put forward an ultimatum
over the money-losing team- pony up another $20 million worth to cover
the debts or he would, thereby increasing his majority ownership. Also
on the table was the possibility of moving the Ottawa Senators hockey
team to Portland, Oregon. They didn't invest, and Bryden did, thereby
owning 80% of the team, with the 60-plus other partners , who once had
a 48% stake, now share somewhere between 10% and 20%. Bryden has heavily
invested to keep the Senators in Ottawa.
Expect more of the same tomorrow, and then some. "I'm not going to color
the meeting, but I don't think any of us are expecting good news, says
Brian McGarry, undertaker. And that's why McGarry and his colleagues say
it is time to end the misery and let them off the hook.
"If anyone wants to step up and buy us out, then that wouldn't surprise
me-I am expecting it" he says. "I guess I question how much longer we can
go on." Now it's time for someone like Molson's or Coca-Cola Corp. to
take it off our hands."
If McGarry is right, the
n tomorrow is a real day of reckoning, one that will
likely spell the end of the road for many owners. And depending on how
much red ink is spilled, it could also bring us one step closer to the e
end of the road for the Senators calling Ottawa home.
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