The message board outside the Canadian Tire Centre with the words “Thank you Alex” told the story.
Accompanied by a picture of the legendary host of Jeopardy wearing an Ottawa Senators jersey while attending a game here in Nov., 2017, the words were there to mark his sad passing from pancreatic cancer Sunday.
The news hit home with Senators’ owner Eugene Melnyk and the people of Ottawa after the 80-year-old Trebek agreed to help the organization bring in a brand new era by announcing the club’s No. 3 overall draft selection of forward Tim Stuetzle last month.
Melnyk has always admired Trebek and out of a sign of respect the flags at the rink were lowered to half mast Monday as well.
“Alex Trebek never forgot his roots,” Melnyk told Postmedia Monday morning from his Toronto home. “He was a Canadian through and through and he was very proud of being a Canadian.
“Especially when you’re in the limelight of Hollywood and California, it’s nice that you’re able to step back and be connected to normalcy because California is far from a normal place to live. Alex Trebek knew where he came from, he realized the serenity of being Canadian.
“When I got the news, a friend called me, and I had to go for a long walk. It’s sad.”
Trebek was a huge hockey fan, his idol was Gordie Howe growing up and when the Senators came calling to see if he would help make the selection he didn’t hesitate one bit to be part of the festivities.
“When we asked him whether he would do the announcement of the draft there was an instant ‘Yes’,” Melnyk said. “It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, let me think about it’, there wasn’t even a pause. He said, ‘Absolutely, I’m in.’ It was great to see that.”
Trying to come up with a way to make a big splash the top selection, Melnyk was noodling over ideas with his girlfriend, Shari Anderson, an Ottawa native, when they brainstormed the though of having Trebek make the pick.
“We were just thinking about what can we do to make it a little different because we were wondering what to do with those two picks (at No. 3 and No. 5. This draft was always planned to be a game-changer,” Melnyk said. “We wanted to do something special. Originally, we were going to hold a big party at the CTC with a free concert and all the elaborate elements that make for a great party at the rink.
“Unfortunately, we got struck down by COVID-19 and we just couldn’t do what we wanted to do. We even submitted plans for an outdoor drive in and these things kept falling by the wayside the more the positive test results kept coming. We just thought that maybe there was something we could do in the announcement. Shari and I thought it would be fun to have a guy like Alex Trebek.”
Melnyk said he didn’t know that the pick would be done on the set of Jeopardy and would look the way it did. Trebek was also kind enough to do tapes of Alexis Lafreniere and Quinton Byfield in case one of those players ended up being Ottawa’s pick.
“I had no idea they were going to take this onto their stage. That was a huge bonus,” Melnyk said. “That was them, they did all of that. They took it over from the idea. The whole thing about the question and the way it was drafted was them. It was a project and it was outstanding.
“He knew his roots. He knew hockey is important to Canadians and he knows what’s important to the people in the capital region and he touched on every one of those positive nerves.”
That moment when NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told viewers the Senators “had enlisted the services of a graduate of the University of Ottawa” to make their selection went viral. It was better than the organization could have ever imagined.
“I never thought they would make it so perfect in the presentation to make it like Jeopardy,” Melnyk said. “I betcha a lot of people took and look and said, ‘Where’s my remote?’ If they have a dog, kids or thought somebody was sitting on the remote, I betcha they said, ‘What the heck is Jeopardy doing on? Get it back! This is the Senators pick’.
“I guarantee some people thought that somebody hit the remote. That was added to the moment. It was such a surprise and it came off so professionally. It was just thrilling and it turned out just great.”
Melnyk said the Senators will find a way to honour the memory of Trebek at the rink.
“We’re going to let some time go by and when we’re going to find some way to honour Alex permanently at the Canadian Tire Centre,” said Melnyk. “The best thing about him was he makes you proud to be a Canadian. He was just one of those people. That’s why you’re getting such a flood of tributes to him. He was a success story without all the glitz and glamour that goes with it.
“He wasn’t a Hollywood-type celebrity, he was truly Canadian.”
bgarrioch@postmedia.com
Twitter: @sungarrioch
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2020
