3:05pm: Through Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Little has released a statement on his dismissal:
I was looking forward to helping the team and the city and the Ottawa Senators. I wish the employees, the players and coaches well. They all deserve our support.
The statement made today by the team contained some language that deserves some clarification. On Valentine’s Day, the owner and I had a personal disagreement over the approach that I had been pursuing. I am a strong-willed person, and the disagreement included me using some very strong language with him over the phone, including swearing, which he did not appreciate and for which I later apologized.
It was these events, to my knowledge, which led to my dismissal. Any other inference from the statement is wrong.
9:17am: Less than two months after being hired, Jim Little is out as CEO of the Ottawa Senators. The team announced today that Little has been dismissed “as as a result of conduct inconsistent with the core values” of the team and the NHL. Little was hired for the job on January 10th, after the team went through a period without a CEO.
This is just the latest chapter in what has been a frustrating few years for the Senators, despite the strides they’ve taken to start a rebuild on the ice. Little is not the first high level employee to be let go and his departure now means the team must look for another leader for the business operations.
The last time a CEO left the Senators, they operated without one for more than a year with owner Eugene Melnyk taking on the role’s duties. It is not clear at this point if the same plan is in place this time.
the dumpster roars again
I blame this on Monster . Com, they need to do a better job of screening applicants
Eugene are to fire himself
Rumor is Jim Little was trying to win hockey games and Melnyk was having none of that nonsense!
@The Mistake of Giving Eugene Melnyk a Liver Transplant – The dirty secret is now exposed! What was Little thinking???
Liver Transplant, you are too darned funny! If it weren’t for Kenny Holland, the Leafs would be the drudges of the 2020 NHL.
He swore At Eugene and that’s why he’s fired? What an ego on that man, doesn’t he know every sens fan in the country swears at him every day they think about the sens
That’s what I’m confused about too. Obviously being disrespectful to a superior should have some sort of consequence, but being fired for swearing at someone seems a little excessive if that really is all that happened. (Although it’s possible he’s just trying to save face by making it look like that’s why he was fired.)
Melnyk wants yes men only. his itchy trigger finger on letting people go has been clear.
Hahahahaha. In the battle for worst owner, Melnyk comes up with a solid response to Dolan’s fustigation of Spike Lee
Fire Melnyk
The Sens fans expect Melnyk to spend max up to the salary cap ceiling but wont spend their own money to go to games and support the team. Can’t have it both ways. Especially for a team with a nice young core and a huge cache of high draft picks.
disagree with your first sentence. most fans don’t expect spending to the cap ceiling. they expect an effort to spend something though. this team is spending below the cap floor as they have insurance paying for injured players. only $50 million or so in actual money is being spent.
as for the fans and going, why should they go? the team tries sure but the front office has made it clear they couldn’t care about the fans. trading ALL star and fan respected players. it’s fine to deal one or two but to start a rebuild a year after a competitive playoff appearance is crazy. Columbus didn’t do that and they lost star players for nothing.
this is a standoff. Melnyk wants fans to come to games before he spends money and they want him to commit to investing in a decent team (front office and on ice) before going. unfortunately the likelihood is both sides will lose in this standoff.