As many sports fans know, interviews are very general. It's fairly common for questions to be left unanswered, and for the interviewee to beat around the bush without giving a statement based on the truth. As hockey is on it's way back, TSN hockey analyst Bob Mckenzie sat down with Ottawa Senators General Manager, Bryan Murray, to discuss the ups and downs of last season, as well as the goals for the upcoming year. Surprisingly, that interview brought out an open and honest side of Murray – one that doesn't get seen too often.
After a frustrating season that had them missing the playoffs, the Ottawa Senators are looking for some improvements from their players this year. During the interview, Murray discussed the Senators need to play better defence as well as some more disciplined hockey. However, what got the most attention were the comments made about players Bobby Ryan and Marc Methot, which has caused some controversy in Ottawa. Both players have one year remaining in their contract and have yet to sign a deal to extend their stay with the team.
When asked about Bobby Ryan, Murray commented:
“The impression I get from Bobby and his people or his agents is that he does like Ottawa. He liked, for the most part, living there, being on the Ottawa Senators, the environment, (playing in a) Canadian city, all those good things. He wants to play more minutes. He wants to be more prominent in the core of good players.” - TSN.ca. Published: Sept. 15, 2014.
The Ottawa Senators have offered Ryan a seven year contract with the team, an offer that the twenty-seven year old isn't taking lightly. When approached about the contract offer, Ryan offered his insight,
“If you're hitching your wagon to a team for seven years it's okay to take some time to realize if it's really what you want or not.” - Bobby Ryan. OttawaSenators.com. Published: Sept. 17, 2014.
After that comment was released, it spread like wild fire that Bobby Ryan was questioning whether or not he wanted to stay in Ottawa at all. The drama certainly spread throughout the city of Ottawa, creating some worried Sens fans. The quote, however, was taken out of context. When shown the rest of his statement, it definitely settled down the dramatic rumour that was Bobby Ryan not wanting to stay in Ottawa.
“Everything that I've said and still feel is that I'd love to be here long term. You need some assurance and motivating factor. To not get it done at this early stage isn't a tragedy, we've still got a year to get there. I think everybody is fairly confident that we will.” - Bobby Ryan. OttawaSenators.com Published: Sept. 17, 2014.
Everyone take a breath. He likes it here! Sometimes it can be forgotten that hockey players are human too. Being asked to sign with a team for seven years after only being here a grand total of one season (a season that Ryan might even want to take back with all the things that went wrong) is a big deal and one that Ryan has every right to take some time to think about.
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