“I didn’t know about this until…”: Ottawa Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark opens up on the erroneous rumors related to his prolonged absence

As Linus Ullmark was on leave from the Senators for a personal matter, the goaltender has finally opened up about how the erroneous rumors related to his prolonged absence from the NHL have affected him mentally. The player who has been away from the club due to personal reasons has recently been the victim of massive online trolling due to his leave of absence.

However, Linus Ullmark featured in the net as the Senators locked horns against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday. As Ullmark and Sanderson left practice early on Wednesday, coach Travis Green confirmed on Thursday, “They’ll both be fine,” and each will play.”

Earlier, rumors and speculations claimed that Ullmark was involved in a cheating scandal with the Senators' players. But the Senators have addressed the issue and vehemently denied these rumors regarding any potential cheating scandal within the team, calling them "completely fabricated." After repeated clarification from the team and calling out the trolls, Ullmark has finally opened up about what he has faced recently.

Linus Ullmark opens up about the toll on mental health due to the controversial rumors

Linus Ullmark, who has been away due to his prolonged absence from the team, owing to some personal reasons, has finally opened up about the embarrassment he faced for his leave of absence. Rumors claimed that he was involved in a cheating scandal, which the team has denied, calling it a completely fabricated and false story.

To address the situation, the 32-year-old goaltender finally opened up with TSN’s Claire Hanna in an interview that will appear in full later on Tuesday on TSN.ca and on TSN’s YouTube channel.

In a small teaser released on TSN's social media page, speaking about the erroneous rumours that spread on social media, he stated, “People wonder why hockey players, professional athletes, are not talking [publicly], why we’re not showing any sort of emotions, why mental health in men and in women [is] a stigma."



He further said, “It took [people online] less than 24 hours from my [leave of absence] to try to find reasons to why I’m gone, saying that I’m a homewrecker, a person that no one likes on the team, and I can’t defend myself."

Ullmark, who is not active on social media, says that he didn’t learn of the rumours firsthand. “Like I didn’t know about this until days later,” the goaltender said.

“And it sucks because I have a family. I have a wife, I have kids. I get sent text messages asking like, ‘Hey, are you guys good?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, why?’ And then they tell you about the rumours, and you’re like ‘What is wrong with people?’” (source: TSN)

As per reports, Ullmark was last seen playing on December 27 against Toronto, where he allowed four goals. This season, Ullmark holds a 14-8-5 record with a 2.95 goals against average and an .881 save percentage in his second season with the Senators.

At the moment, he stands at 41st in the NHL in goals against average (3.00) and 49th in save percentage (.879). Ullmark will be next seen when the Senators visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday evening.


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