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Senators owner: We’ll only play in an arena we control

New York Islanders v Ottawa Senators

OTTAWA - OCTOBER 8: Ottawa Senators team owner Eugene Melnyk attends an event before the home opener against the New York Islanders at Scotiabank Place on October 8, 2009 in Ottawa, Canada. The Ottawa Senators defeated the New York Islanders 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Phillip MacCallum/Getty Images)

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Remember yesterday when we wrote about the plan to redevelop a part of Ottawa called LeBreton Flats, and how only two proposals were submitted and that each proposal included an NHL arena?

And remember how one of the proposals was being spearheaded by the Ottawa Senators, and the other wasn’t?

Can you guess which proposal the Sens are supporting?

This is not a trick question.

“We wouldn’t consider going into a building that we don’t control completely,” Senators owner Eugene Melnyk told reporters today. “Forget about the financial part. You’ve got to control things.”

The Sens already control their current arena, Canadian Tire Centre, in suburban Kanata. (They control it because they own it.)

Melnyk said he doesn’t even know the group behind the competing proposal.

“I mean, come on,” he said. “How in God’s name do they want to build an arena? I don’t get it. Because there’s no NHL team available. This team is mine for life. The team’s not for sale. Never will be, in my lifetime for sure.”

So, basically, unless we’re missing something here, of the two proposals submitted, only one has any chance of going anywhere -- the Senators’.