One of the more prominent storylines to come out of Ottawa Senators home games this post-season isn’t about the players on the ice but the fans watching from the stands.

The Senators have, at times, struggled to sellout seats throughout the playoffs — a fact especially noticeable when juxtaposed with the raucous full house of the Nashville Predators, who they could be meeting in the Stanley Cup Final with a Game 7 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday night. (This one’s a road game for Ottawa.)

On Tuesday, an editorial written by Don Brennan of The Ottawa Citizen pointed the finger at Senators owner Eugene Melnyk as the main reason behind the unsold seats.

“It’s hard to imagine empty seats at a playoff game if the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group that owns the Redblacks was also in control of the Senators,” wrote Brennan. “But then, it’s hard to imagine those local, shrewd businessmen making the same mistakes as Melnyk.”

Those mistakes, per Brennan, include high ticket prices and jacked-up parking rates for the playoffs, the arena’s “middle of nowhere” location, and fans’ disapproval of the manner in which Melnyk fired loyal team co-founder Cyril Leeder in January.

Melnyk wasn’t happy about being singled out, and wrote a letter in response to the criticism titled: My commitment is to making the Sens a great hockey team.

Here’s what he wrote: