The Ottawa Senators announced on Friday they have initiated the process to be put up for sale.
So, what happens now?
"I think it's too early to say who the new ownership group will be, but the expectation is things there will heat up around American Thanksgiving or just after and they'll start to really get that process seriously moving," reported Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman Saturday night on the 32 Thoughts segment of Hockey Night in Canada.
In a team-issued statement released Friday, Senators chairman and governor Sheldon Plener called the retaining of Galatioto Sports Partners as financial adviser for the process of a sale a "necessary and prudent step to connect with those deeply interested parties who can show us what their vision is for the future of the team."
He made it clear, too, that "a condition of any sale will be that the team remains in Ottawa."
The decision to sell comes about eight months after the death of longtime team owner Eugene Melnyk in March. Melnyk bought the team in 2003. His two adult daughters, Anna and Olivia Melnyk, inherited the franchise.
The Senators have been a team undergoing much change even before news of an upcoming sale. Plans are in motion for a new arena to be built in LeBreton Flats after a long and tenuous process, and the on-ice product is still the subject of much roster retooling as it emerges from an extensive rebuild.
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