from James Bagnall of the Ottawa Citizen,
At some point, hopefully not soon, the City of Ottawa will have to begin a serious debate about the value of a new arena and whether it should contribute to the costs of building it.
In the meantime, Melnyk has hit upon an inexpensive formula for trying to solve the irksome issue of the Senators’ bottom line.
It’s something he outlined to former Citizen columnist Jim Kyte a couple of months before his purchase of the team. “I don’t imagine we are going to go out and sign any big name free agents,” Melnyk said. “I get satisfaction out of developing talent. Using the thoroughbred horse analogy, I had an opportunity to purchase the winner of last year’s (2002) Kentucky Derby but decided against it because I get more satisfaction out of starting with a yearling, develop it and see it prosper.”
That’s certainly the less expensive way to go, as Alfie appreciates very well. He was the role model for this sort of approach — drafted 133rd in 1994 and became steadily more valuable and expensive. There are also many more uncertainties and risks associated with developing a team of young guns — a notion Melnyk appears to have little trouble embracing. Whether Senators fans will like the results will depend entirely on how the risks pan out.
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