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Senators players air team’s dirty laundry during uber ride


JR Ewing

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Here it is, in all its glory. The players let rip on their frustrations. The only thing new? This sort of thing being recorded.

 

 

Ottawa forward Mark Stone says the latest bit of drama in the ongoing saga of the Senators is a "hiccup," and that the team has already done work to repair the frayed relationship between players and coaches that was laid bare in a viral video.

 

Stone said Tuesday that a video showing seven Senators players insulting the team and an assistant coach during an Uber ride is an internal matter, and that it had already been addressed before the clip surfaced.

 

"It's disappointing the way the video got released," he said. "We dealt with this long before this video was released. As a coaching staff, as management, as players it was dealt with internally and the way it should be and we're going to move forward and grow from it.

 

"We don't want negative stuff surrounding our team and this is a hiccup. I think guys have made a great effort to repair relationships. This is only going to make our team stronger going forward."

 

The video was the latest bit of humiliation for the organization, which has endured numerous controversies over the past two years. Owner Eugene Melnyk threatening to move the team, a bizarre alleged cyberbullying incident involving the wife of former star captain Erik Karlsson and sexual misconduct allegations against former assistant general manager Randy Lee are just the tip of the iceberg.

 

It shows the players, including Matt Duchene, Chris Wideman, Chris Tierney, Thomas Chabot, Alex Formenton (since returned to his junior team in London), Dylan DeMelo and Colin White, discussing their ineffective penalty kill and mocking assistant coach Martin Raymond in what appears to be a recording from a camera mounted on the dash of an Uber driver's van or SUV.

 

None of the players involved, talked about their involvement in the video on Tuesday.

 

"As a leader of this team I want to be supporting my teammates," Stone said. "It's something I never want anyone to go through with it. As a coaching staff and management and players, we're trying to form a bond that turns this team into the right direction and this is a hiccup, but i think we're on the right track of doing that."

 

Defenceman Mark Borowiecki admitted the Senators would have to deal with the "consequences" and "ramifications" of the video's release.

"But we want to keep this in house as much as we can and deal with it appropriately," he said.

 

The players apologized to Raymond in a statement released Monday.

 

The incident has raised concerns about player privacy

 

"We're all totally aware that any time someone says to you this is off the record ... nothing is off the record in your life. So let's get that straight," Toronto coach Mike Babcock said at the Maple Leafs' morning skate on Tuesday.

 

Many Maple Leaf players questioned said it's imperative for players to be aware of their surroundings when having a private conversation. And defenceman Travis Dermott expressed some sympathy for the Ottawa players caught up in the controversy.

 

"I mean, tough bounce for them. They're going to have to deal with that, but it could happen to anyone, really."

 

https://www.tsn.ca/stone-sens-video-a-hiccup-team-relationship-with-coaches-strong-1.1205038

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@JR Ewing

 

I literally was just pulling this up to post. I watched THN and listened to them vacillate between blaming the players and defending the players at noon.

 

  My opinion, it happens. A bunch of young kids out on the town, they should have known better but you get all keyed up and stuff is said that they assumed was private and was not as the camera didn't stop rolling and the driver chose to put it out there. He probably thought it was cool to share this private moment with friends, someone said he should post it for the world and once the toothpaste is out of the tube it is impossible to put back in.

 

 I like a lot of the kids in Ottawa including Formenton, Chabotand White, Tierney as well, maybe they need to stay away from Duchene as he was more or less a cancer in Denver and he seems to be leading his younger teammates to a place that they dont want to go. 

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4 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

@JR Ewing

 

  My opinion, it happens. A bunch of young kids out on the town, they should have known better but you get all keyed up and stuff is said that they assumed was private and was not as the camera didn't stop rolling and the driver chose to put it out there. He probably thought it was cool to share this private moment with friends, someone said he should post it for the world and once the toothpaste is out of the tube it is impossible to put back in.

 

 I like a lot of the kids in Ottawa including Formenton, Chabotand White, Tierney as well, maybe they need to stay away from Duchene as he was more or less a cancer in Denver and he seems to be leading his younger teammates to a place that they dont want to go. 

 

I think so, too. You show me a player, and I'll show you somebody who has complained about his coach or how the team is run, just like 99% of people in the world do the same about their workplace and boss. Their mistake was not being more careful about it, and they exercised poor judgement.

 

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47 minutes ago, JR Ewing said:

 

I think so, too. You show me a player, and I'll show you somebody who has complained about his coach or how the team is run, just like 99% of people in the world do the same about their workplace and boss. Their mistake was not being more careful about it, and they exercised poor judgement.

 

Yep, pretty much it...I'm at the bar at least once a week with co-workers, and guess what, we vent...I just make sure no idiot is filming us.

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Ehh, they had a ****** day at the office and vented about it. The difference being they're in an industry where their 'day at the office' is broadcast. I doubt it'll have that big an impact on anything

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How much of a prick is that Uber driver, btw? He sent that video to reporters because he didn't feel like the tip he received was good enough, saying that the players were "cheap entitled kids".

 

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[drumroll sound] 

And now ladies and gentlemen, pick your predictions for the next Ottawa Senators' scandal !

 

1) Senators cheerleaders publicly charge some players for sexual harrassment and assault via Twitter and the #MeToo hashtag

2) Eugene Melnyk is in trouble for setting up screen societies based in Panama, the Caiman Islands and Jersey

3) The new arena project is frozen due to allegations of a potential russian secret services direct involvement

4) Another video made surface via Youtube for a sextape shot in some sneaky motel with the Sens' management staff requiring services from hookers under 16.

5) Emission of a warrant to search the Canadian Tyre Arena for cocaine, fentanyl and heroin, according to inflitrated agents from the DEA

6) Some Senators players put in custody for illegal gambling and placing bets against their own team

7) Discovery of a secret plan to dig out a spatial shuttle project that would eventually lead to move and transplant the team on Jupiter, with possible fallback on Mars

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19 hours ago, blocker said:

It's employees complaining.  No more, no less.  Management in Ottawa would be smart to keep a copy, but otherwise, let it slide.

 

Yeah, can you imagine the coaches' comments on the players if captured? 

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34 minutes ago, Podein25 said:

 

Yeah, can you imagine the coaches' comments on the players if captured? 

 

That's just it. Hockey is a game where mistakes are just as much a part of the game as is the game plan itself, and players routinely drive their coaches crazy. You know that when the coaches on their own, it's a steady stream of complaining.

 

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3 hours ago, JR Ewing said:

How much of a prick is that Uber driver, btw? He sent that video to reporters because he didn't feel like the tip he received was good enough, saying that the players were "cheap entitled kids".

 

 

^^^^ this x100 ^^^

 

I get the whole venting issue and the fact the players have to be mindful what they say to whom and where they are, but this Uber driver is spineless jerk. 

 

Look when I was still living in Va. Beach, I was on the ice crew for the Norfolk Admirals (the AHL team to the Blackhawks) and was privy to many of player conversations both good and bad.  I also had the privilege one night to go out drinking with some of the players from both the Admirals and WBS Baby Pens.  ( I actually drove some of the players from their hotel in Norfolk to the Boardwalk in Va. Beach.)  There was lots of stuff said that I would never repeat nor did it ever cross my mind to record them.  I had a great night with them.  Many even wished me luck when a couple of weeks later I moved from Va. Beach back to Pennsylvania.   This uber driver was a complete d*ick IMO. 

 

I'm by no means excusing the players in this incident, but the driver should have kept this to himself.  *** Sigh *** It's just the world we live in nowadays.  Everyone wants their 5 minutes of fame.  ** Sigh again ***

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2 minutes ago, pilldoc said:

This uber driver was a complete d*ick IMO. 
 

 

What I really like is this guy's complete lack of irony, whereby he admonishes the players for being entitled, yet was angry about not receiving the tip to which he felt he was entitled.

 

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Ottawa is threatening legal action against the paper that published the video, arguing violation of privacy. The paper is using the public interest defence. Frankly they should have moved on, this is just drawing this whole thing out for longer.

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5 hours ago, JR Ewing said:

 

What I really like is this guy's complete lack of irony, whereby he admonishes the players for being entitled, yet was angry about not receiving the tip to which he felt he was entitled.

 

 

Straight from a player who wasn't even involved.

 

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/flyers/jakub-voracek-rips-uber-driver-posting-video-senators-players

 

 

"I guarantee that every single person who has a boss, every sports team in the world can guarantee it happens everywhere," Voracek said Wednesday. “And I can guarantee that the coaches behind the door talk about the players. It happens everywhere all the time.

 

"You go out for a beer, you go out for dinner, it happens. The coaches vent about the players when they go out to dinner about who f---ing sucks, who’s playing bad, who’s playing better. It happens everywhere. So now it comes out, they’re making a big deal. I don’t think they said anything bad, just that their PK and their PP sucks.” 

 

He is right on.

 

What punk this guy is I hope no one ever wants to ride with him/her again.

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"What punk this guy is I hope no one ever wants to ride with him/her again. "

 

I wonder how he will like it when his name is smeared all over the papers for his involvement. He will certainly gain a bit of infamy at least for a short time.

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I personally think the video is great. I think some look at it as players complaining, but I look at it as players who actually care and are fed up with the lack of instruction and coaching coming from the coaching staff in Ottawa. If anything, and if I'm management, I'm keeping a close pulse on the coaching staff to see if they overcome this hurdle or if things bomb. 

 

Remember, Guy Boucher also had early success in Tampa Bay and then floundered drastically in the second and third years. It looks like the same thing is happening in Ottawa. Maybe there's more to what the players are saying, other than some saying that they're airing dirty laundry. Maybe what they're saying is valid and maybe management needs to pay close attention to what's going on and not pretending like things are great......

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On 11/8/2018 at 7:54 PM, BobbyClarkeFan16 said:

Remember, Guy Boucher also had early success in Tampa Bay and then floundered drastically in the second and third years. It looks like the same thing is happening in Ottawa.

 

And in between, the exact same thing in Bern, Switzerland, when he coached there the best team of the league:

 

1st year: perfect success, he won the title.

2nd year: so-so season, but still managed to get to the postseason, first signs of fractures in the team.

3rd year: lost the locker room and failed to make the playoffs, back in Ottawa.

 

Seems to be the same pattern repeating over and over again. According to some panelists friends in Switzerland, Guy Boucher is extremely hard on his players and is always on their back. It's working in the beginning because he gets the best of them, but the players get rapidly fed up with this attitude. Not necessarly a bad coach, but as some point the message needs to be changed, at least in its format.

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TORONTO — An Uber driver who posted footage of Ottawa Senators players disparaging one of their coaches and their team’s performance says he is sorry for sharing the video and has destroyed a second, unpublished clip.

 

James Sparklin, an Arizona father of six, told The Canadian Press he has not spoken to the players — Matt Duchene, Chris Wideman, Thomas Chabot, Colin White, Chris Tierney, Dylan DeMelo and Alex Formenton — featured in the footage he posted on YouTube, but received a thanks from a member of the team’s administration, when he reached out to offer apologies.

 

"I called the team…because I wanted to make sure they understood that I have destroyed the other tape. It will never ever see the light of day," he said, describing that video as showing the players entering his van and having a pre-ride discussion about the number of passengers. "I am extremely sorry for what happened and it is not right…I never meant harm on any of the players involved, the coaching staff involved, the owner involved, the town that was involved…I wasn’t thinking at all."

 

An Ottawa Senators spokesperson refuted Sparklin’s claim that he apologized, saying, "Based on our review, we have no reason to believe that any such conversation took place."

 

Sparklin’s remorse comes more than a week after he admitted he posted on YouTube footage of Senators players in his vehicle ridiculing their assistant coach Martin Raymond, saying they haven’t been paying attention in meetings and complaining the team has not altered its penalty kill techniques.

 

Sparklin said he "wasn’t in the best state of mind" when he put the footage online, but was hoping to show another driver how he handled seven passengers — an issue for Sparklin because he said Uber’s XL offering for large groups, which the Senators used, is for six or fewer passengers. His van can hold seven passengers, but he said he has long been afraid he wouldn’t be covered under his insurance if he carried more than six guests.

 

Sparklin said the second video shows him discussing the issue with the player, but said he ultimately gave them a lift because he was concerned his driver rating would be impacted if the Senators followed through on a remark they made about cancelling the ride.

That video never made it online, but the footage of their ride did, especially when Sparklin tweeted it to Postmedia, which owns the Ottawa Citizen and later published it on its website.

 

"I didn’t realize that I sent it to a major news outlet," Sparklin said.

 

Sparklin took the video off YouTube when Uber reached out to him requesting it be removed, saying it violated the company’s terms of service.

 

"I thought it was over and done with," Sparklin said.

 

He was wrong. By then, the video was being shared across the globe.

 

Sparklin, who said he has driven football, basketball and baseball players before but never heard them disparage their team, said he didn’t know the passengers were professional hockey players until they started discussing the sport and he asked who they played for.

Sparklin said the players should have known they were on camera because of the presence of a passenger-facing screen displaying camera’s view. He said previous passengers have noticed and asked about it.

 

Sparklin said the camera was installed in his van long ago as a safety measure that came in handy weeks prior to the Senators incident, when a another motorist had a heart attack and lost control of his vehicle, sideswiping Sparklin’s van and causing US$11,000 of damage.

 

"I was having a hard time sleeping before I picked up the players since my accident. It keeps flashbacking and reoccuring," he said.

 

"The stress of this put me in bad shape."

 

Then, following the Senators incident, Uber swiftly and permanently deactivated his driver account.

 

"They tried to keep me on because I am a high-rated driver, but the story got too big and they had a perfect opportunity to make an example and let the other drivers know there are rules," Sparklin said.

 

Uber told The Canadian Press that Sparklin was permanently removed from driving for the company, but didn’t confirm it had been trying to keep him on.

 

Sparklin said his days of driving for Uber are over because of the incident, as well as the fact that he found it difficult to make money driving for the company.

 

"I never made a single penny off this video. Not one cent," he said. "I lost a lot — my income, driving Uber, my reputation. It has brought great shame to my family."

 

 

https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/senators-uber-driver-brought-great-shame-family/

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17 hours ago, pilldoc said:

He may be sincere with his apology....however...sometimes life's lesson's are learned the hard way.

 

For his sake, I hope he can take from this something that I learned a very long time ago: behaving properly in the first place beats any kind of apology later on.

 

 

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