Brady Tkachuk blasted rumors surrounding goalie Linus Ullmark’s leave of absence from the Senators.
“I don’t think anybody’s pretty happy about a narrative being spread like that,” Tkachuk told reporters on Saturday. “I think it’s okay for people to critique our on-ice performance, but when it gets into family, it’s pretty f–king bulls–t. It’s embarrassing that it got to the point that it did.”
Ullmark has not played since Dec. 27 for what the team says are personal reasons.
Unsubstantiated rumors circulated on social media that the Senators shot down earlier this week.
“Our organization was extremely disappointed to read the completely fabricated and false stories that are spreading around social media about our hockey club,” Steve Staios, the Senators’ president of hockey operations and general manager, said in a statement on Thursday. “Linus is away from our team for personal reasons and he has the entire organization’s support. We asked that people respect his privacy, but clearly that request was not heard by the lowest forms of trolls and sick people who scour the internet.
“We are disgusted that outside forces are attempting to disrupt our hockey club. This statement will put an end to the ridiculous speculation that spread online.”
The Senators moved Ullmark to a non-roster spot earlier in the day on Thursday in order to make room on the roster for Lars Eller, who had been out since Dec. 11 with a lower-body injury.
Ullmark is 14-8-5 this season with a .881 save percentage and 2.95 goals against average.
