Former NHL forward Bobby Ryan hits back at Ottawa reporter

As you may remember, the 2016-17 Ottawa Senators exceeded all reasonable on-ice expectations by taking down the Boston Bruins and later the New York Rangers in the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs, setting up an Eastern Conference Final showdown against the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins. 

By the time it was all said and done, the Senators had come within one goal of advancing to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in what would have been a decade; the image of the knuckle puck shot from Chris Kunitz beating a bewildered Craig Anderson in overtime of Game 7 still haunts the dreams of Ottawa fans everywhere. 

There were reasonable expectations for the Senators to at least get back to the playoffs in the 2017-18 season, given what they accomplished the year prior. However, no such repeated success took place. They would ultimately finish last in the Eastern Conference and 7th in the Atlantic Division, coming nowhere near the postseason. 

Things really began to fall off the rails after Ottawa played two games against the Colorado Avalanche in Stockholm, Sweden in November of 2017. And according to Bruce Garrioch of The Ottawa Sun in a recent social media message, the team essentially stopped practicing. 

"The reason the Sens were so bad after returning from Sweden is Guy Boucher was so convinced he and the players were exhausted they essentially quit practicing. Rest was no weapon. That's why the year went off the rails," Garrioch posted on his Twitter account yesterday.

But it wouldn't be long before a member of that squad in now-former Senators forward Bobby Ryan caught wind of Garrioch's words and responded.

"WTF are you talking about, Bruce?" Ryan replied

Garrioch would try and pivot by telling Ryan not to act like his co-hosts on his Senators based podcast called 'Coming in Hot'. But Ryan wasn't finished. 

"Not sure which one you're talking about as I tell them both daily they are knobs but don't say something that asinine when I can name about 5 things that mattered more during that season," Ryan responded. 

Senators fans remember all too well the drama surrounding defenseman Erik Karlsson and the reported online abuse that his wife suffered allegedly at the hands of the girlfriend of teammate Mike Hoffman. There was also the ill-fated acquisition of Matt Duchene, along with an eyebrow suggestion of potential relocation from late owner Eugene Melnyk prior to the outdoor "NHL 100 Classic" game against the Montreal Canadiens.